Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1582-1920 (accumulated [1926]-[1956]) (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
0.087 cubic metres (2 boxes)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Thomas Iorwerth Ellis (1899-1970), was an academic, teacher and author. He was born in London on 19 December 1899. His father, Thomas Edward Ellis, MP (1859-1899) had died over eight months earlier. His mother, Annie Jane Ellis, née Davies (1873-1942), of Cwrt-mawr, Llangeitho, Cardiganshire, was a descendant of the Davies family of Aberystwyth and Cwrtmawr and the Charles family of Carmarthen. She later married the Rev. Peter Hughes Griffiths (1871-1937).
Ellis was educated at Aberystwyth Grammar School, Westminster School, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and Jesus College, Oxford. He was a classics master at Cardiff High School for Boys, 1924-1928, a lecturer at University College, Swansea, 1928-1930, headmaster of Rhyl County School, 1930-1940, and a lecturer in classics at Lampeter, 1940-1941, and Aberystwyth, 1941-1946. He was actively involved with the National Library of Wales and the University of Wales and served as Warden of the Guild of Graduates, 1943-1947. He received an honorary doctorate in 1967, and the OBE in 1968. T. I. Ellis was a founder of Undeb Cymru Fydd, an organization dedicated to preserving Welsh language and culture, and served as its secretary, 1941-1967. He broadcast regularly in both English and Welsh, notably on BBC Radio's Round Britain Quiz. Previously a Calvinistic Methodist, he was confirmed at St Asaph in November 1936, and became a lay reader in the Church in Wales in 1937. He became a member of both the Governing Body and the Representative Body of the Church in Wales.
Ellis edited three volumes of The Letters of T. C. Edwards (Aberystwyth, 1952-1953) and wrote The Development of Higher Education in Wales (Wrexham, 1935) and biographies of his father T. E. Ellis (2 volumes, Liverpool, 1944, 1948), his uncle J. H. Davies (Liverpool, 1963) and Sir Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith (Llandybïe, 1969). From 1921 he travelled regularly throughout Wales in support of the Welsh Schoolboys' Camp Movement; these journeys became the genesis of his Crwydro series of books (Llandybïe, 1952-1971).
T. I .Ellis married Mary Gwendoline Headley (Mari Ellis) in April 1949 and they had two children, Marged (1950- ) and Rolant (1953- ). He died at his Aberystwyth home on 20 April 1970.
Name of creator
Biographical history
David Davies (1745-1804) of Machynlleth, Montgomeryshire, and later Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, skinner, had two sons: David Davies (1774-1824), banker, and Robert Davies (1789-1841). David Davies the younger married twice, firstly to Mabella Jones, and had a son, also called David Davies (1802-1836), and secondly to Blanche Maria Rogers (d 1846) of Carnachen-wen, Mathry, Pembrokeshire, which then became the family home. David Davies III appears to have lived at Carnachen-wen until about 1833, when he acquired Castle Green, Cardigan, Cardiganshire, where he died, in 1836, without issue. Robert Davies married Eliza Charles (1798-1876) of Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, and had several children, including the Rev. David Charles Davies (1826-1891) and Robert Joseph Davies (1839-1892), who acquired Cwrtmawr, Llangeitho, Cardiganshire. He in turn married Frances Humphreys, descended from the Rev. Peter Williams. Their children included John Humphreys Davies (1871-1926), Walter Ernest Llewellyn Davies (1874-1941), and Annie Jane Davies (1873-1942), who married T. E. Ellis, MP (1859-1899) and had a son, Dr Thomas Iorwerth Ellis (1899-1970), teacher and lecturer, who lived in Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
The deeds appear to have been inherited or collected by the depositor, the son of Annie Jane Ellis (nee Davies) of Cwrtmawr.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited by T. I. Ellis, Aberystwyth, 1940, 1956. One item deposited by T. I. Ellis and Mrs P. Hughes Griffiths [Annie Jane Davies], 1940.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Documents, including wills, letters and other papers, relating to the Davies families of Aberystwyth, Carnachen-wen, and Cwrtmawr, 1818-1885, and the family of Rev. Peter Williams, 1777-1860; deeds of the same families, relating mainly to properties in Aberystwyth, Henllys, Llanbadarn Fawr, Llanddewi Brefi, Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, and Talybont, Cardiganshire, Dinas, Little Newcastle, Puncheston, and St Davids, Pembrokeshire, and Llanedi, Carmarthenshire, 1582-1920 (mainly 1773-1920), and in particular to Coldstone, Little Newcastle, Pembrokeshire, 1773-1916.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
All records deposited at the National Library of Wales have been retained..
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
System of arrangement
Arranged as follows: Davies family deeds and documents, 1773-1920 (1-74); deeds and documents relating to properties in Cardiganshire, 1741-1888, and Pembrokeshire, 1813-1891 (reference not supplied); family papers comprising those relating to the Davies family of Carnachenwen, etc., 1818-1885 (reference not supplied); and papers relating to the family of Rev. Peter Williams, 1777-1860 (227-262); miscellaneous papers, 1582 and [19 cent.] (263-282); and one item: a deed relating to mills in Llanedi, Carmarthenshire, 1610 (283).
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Welsh.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Hard copies of the catalogue (in two volumes) are available at the National Library of Wales.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Project identifier
Access points
Name access points
- Davies family, of Cwrt-mawr -- Archives (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows ANW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.;AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
February 2003
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Compiled by Rhys Jones for the ANW project. The following sources were used to compile this description: NLW, Schedules of T. I. Ellis Deeds and Documents; NLW, Schedule of Charles and Davies Family Correspondence; Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959).