Philipps family, of Picton Castle

Family

Philipps family, of Picton Castle

The Picton Castle estate, Pembrokeshire, was acquired by the Phillips family when Sir Thomas ap Philip of Cilsant married Jane, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Dwnn, of Picton sometime before 1491. The Philipps also acquired Gelliswick and Kilgetty when Elizabeth Canon married into the Philipps family in the late 17th century.

The estate remained in the hands of the Phillips family until the death without issue of Sir Richard Philipps, 7th Bart, Lord Milford, in 1823. The estate was inherited by Sir Richard Bulkeley Grant who assumed the surname and arms of Philipp. His grandmother had been the reputed daughter of Bulkeley Philipps, youngest son of Sir John Philipps, 4th Bart. Sir Richard Bulkeley's heir was his half-brother, the Rev. James Henry Alexander Philipps (formerly Gwyther), who assumed by royal licence the surname and arms of Philipps. On his death the estate passed to his son-in-law, Charles Edward Gregg Philipps. On the death without issue of Sir John Erasmus Gwynne Alexander Philipps in 1948, the estate passed to Sir Richard Foley Foley-Philipps, 4th Bart, cousin of Sir John Erasmus, and grandson of Charles Edward Gregg Philipps, 1st Bart. The Tregyb estate became part of the Picton Castle estate in 1974.

According to the 1873 return of owners of land, Rev. John Henry Alexander Philipps, of Picton Castle owned an estimated 21,455 acres in Wales (in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire), with an estimated rental of £23,696.