File NLW MS 21834B [RESTRICTED ACCESS]. - A smuggler's autobiography,

Autobiography, apparently unpublished, of William Owen of Cardigan, 'The Birth, Life, Education and Transactions of Captn. William Owen the noted Smuggler ...', the original having been either written at Carmarthen gaol in 1747 by Owen himself whilst awaiting his execution for murder or dictated by him to the Reverend John Davies, prison chaplain, who has attested that he attended Owen during his confinement (f. 161). It contains an account of his personal life and of his smuggling exploits in the West Indies, in Ireland, and on the western coasts of Britain, with a transcript of his trial (pp. 119-60). The manuscript [watermark 1808] is apparently a copy in the hand of Daniel G. Matthias, whose name is inscribed inside the front cover with the date 12 January 1811. An account detailing expenditure on food and lodging, in a different hand, is found inside the back cover.