The Richard family of Ystradmeurig and the Hendrefelen records
Pontrhydfendigaid
The Bridge of the Blessed Ford
Introduction
A great deal has been written about Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig and his celebrated school. He was an exceptional schoolmaster and teacher, a distinguished classical scholar, a renowned Welsh poet and a key figure in the Welsh eighteenth-century literary circle referred to by Saunders Lewis as a ‘School of Welsh Augustans’ [1].
The work by D. G. Osborne-Jones, published in 1934 [2], is still the most authoritative account we have of Edward’s life and legacy. However, he did admit that writing ‘. . . a satisfactory account of the Richard family and school was a task of hazard and difficulty. The records he said were meagre and scrappy. It seems that Edward Richard was intent on leaving behind no lasting remnants relating to his private life or that of his parents. Following his death, no diaries were found, no written notes of any kind and of his literary activities, Saunders Lewis wrote:
. . . all that we have is what little he chose to preserve. Of the rest, songs of his youth and cynghanedd verse of his maturity, he left no trace [3].
Edward’s apparent fixation with keeping his personal affairs private and hidden has meant that some of the things written about him and his family have been, on occasion, somewhat speculative. His father, it is said, was a tailor who employed others to work for him [4] and his mother ran Tafarn y Brithyll, the village inn [5]. They had two sons: Abraham was the elder and he was born in 1710 and Edward four years later. The former attended Hereford Collegiate School, the Carmarthen Grammar School, and in 1732 he matriculated at Jesus College Oxford. Tragically, however, he met an untimely death at the age of 23 [6].
Edward, like his brother, attended the Carmarthen Grammar School and it is thought that he was also tutored by John Pugh of Motygido, Llanarth. The latter was reputed to be a highly accomplished linguist whose forte was Greek, but his well-stocked library suggested that ‘he was also learned in Hebrew and other Oriental Languages as well’ [7]. More often than not, Edward’s parents have been described as humble, poor people, but Osborne-Jones was never convinced:
. . . As to their humble station in life . . . I cannot subscribe to it for one moment, and I think they were very much above the ordinary run of folk at the time. The family was . . . no ordinary one . . . [and] . . . it is fair to conclude that . . . they . . .were, comparatively speaking, well off [8].
Naturally, the lack of information about Edward’s family life is regrettable. He did pay tribute to his mother in his first pastoral poem [9]. but he remained notably silent about his father, his occupation and social standing. Likewise, he never referred anywhere to his brother and gave us no real insight into the everday life of his village and parish. Fortunately, however, all is not lost.
The Hendrefelen records
In 1949 the National Library of Wales (NLW) acquired records of the Hughes family of Hendrefelen and their estate in Cardiganshire, Brecon and Manchester (records extending over a period from 1546 to 1885) [10]. The family home, which still stands, is situated about three miles from Ystradmeurig. It is now a ruin, but in the days of Edward Richard it was the home of Thomas Hughes Esq. who served as High Sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1716.
The latter was a close friend of the Richard family and it is not too surprising to find that the Hendrefelen records include a few documents and deeds relating to the Richards. These provide a glimpse of their family life, their financial status and social station within the local community. They also help to correct some of the misconceptions which have appeared in print from time to time.
Hendrefelen today.
Once the home of the Hughes family
(1546–1885)
Brynperfedd, Jane Morgan and Thomas Richard
One deed amongst the above records which is well worth sifting through involves Jane Morgan (a widow living at Brynperfedd, a small farm near Ystradmeurig) and Thomas Richard, Edward’s father. In the mid-eighteenth century, ready money was scarce and mortgage was a popular method for a cash-strapped individual to secure a loan by offering his/her property as security. The deed recording this arrangement was known as ‘lease and release’. It was a very common legal format at the time and involved the drawing up of two separate documents, the ‘lease’ and the ‘release’ [12] In 1746, Jane Morgan secured a loan from Thomas Richard by conveying or transferring Brynperfedd to Thomas Richard as security.
On 19 September 1746, she ‘leased’ the property to Thomas Richard for one year. Ten days later, on 29 September, she ‘released’ her right of ownership to the latter in return for a loan [13]. The ‘release’ document is long and detailed and in common with all eighteenth-century legal writing, reading it is not entirely straightforward. At that time, punctuation in law-related texts was considered unimportant and there is none in this document. Lawyers were also paid by the line resulting in an elaborate and verbose piece of writing. Fortunately, ‘release’ documents did follow a set pattern with each important section beginning with a set conventional word or phrase written in boldface or emphasized. That certainly helps to make the document a little easier to follow and to get a gist of the contents. The Brynperfedd document is interesting in that it reveals some significant details about Edward’s father. It starts with the date:
This Indenture made the eight and twentieth day of September in the twentieth year in the Reigne of our Sovereign Lord George the second by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and the year of our Lord God one thousand seven hundred and forty six.
The lack of hard information about Thomas Richard has led to the widespread belief that he died soon after his first son’s tragic accident in 1733. For instance, it prompted W. M. Davies to suggest that Thomas Richard’s ‘early death’ may have accounted for: ‘Edward’s increasing attachment to his mother, Gwenllian, and the fact that he never proceeded to Oxford in his brother’s footsteps’ [14]. Clearly, Thomas Richard was alive and active in 1746 and, as will be seen later, it was another five years or more before he passed away.
Thomas Richard, the yeoman
The second section of the Brynperfedd document refers to the parties involved:
. . . Jane Morgan of the parish of Ysbutty Ystradmeurig in the County of Cardigan widow of the one part and Thomas Richard of the village of Ystradmeurig in the parish and county aforesaid yeoman of the other part.
Thomas Richard is referred to as a yeoman. Yeomen were generally regarded as the rural middle class; they were landowning farmers with a social status one step down from the minor gentry. In the main, they were comfortably well-off rather than rich, although some had more wealth than many of the lesser gentry. They enjoyed special advantages such as voting in Parliamentary elections and were eligible to serve on juries. It was also common for yeomen to take part in other civic duties, including being churchwardens, bridge wardens and, generally, acting as overseers for their parishes. Socially, they mixed with the gentry and shared many of their traits and, perhaps, it is not surprising to find that Edward as the son of a yeoman ‘found the houses of the great families of the area well and truly open to him’ [15].
Thomas Richard, however, may not have been a typical yeoman. There is no record of him holding a small landed estate, but his wherewithal, social standing and possibly his personal demeanour may have led his legal advisors to designate him a yeoman. Certainly, he was a typical yeoman-father; many had the means to send their sons to school and university to qualify for a gentlemanly profession and to become themselves classed as gentlemen. Many eminent men were the sons of yeomen, including William Shakespeare and Isaac Newton. Thomas Richard was demonstrably ambitious for his children; Abraham was given a privileged education and the family supported Edward for years when he was reportedly engaged in full-time self-study and effectively unemployed [16].
Thomas Richard’s financial status
Certainly, Thomas Richard was a comfortably well-off yeoman. But how well-off was he? There is no way of finding out his exact worth, but it is possible to glean something about his financial situation from the Brynperfedd arrangement. One section in the document specifies the sum of money lent to Jane Morgan:
. . . witnesseth that the said Jane Morgan for and in consideration of the sum of sixty pounds of lawful money of Great Britain unto her in hand paid by the said Thomas Richard at or before the sealing and delivery of these presents the receipts whereof the said Jane Morgan doth hereby acknowledge.
Converting a sum of sixty pounds in 1746 into a present-day figure would help to give some indication of Thomas Richard’s general monetary worth. But this is not an easy task. Comparing monetary values over long periods of time is fraught with difficulties. The further back one goes, the greater the uncertainties, and calculations based on retail and consumer price indices can give very misleading results. In fact there is no single ‘correct method’ of evaluating what eighteenth-century money would be today, but it is possible to obtain rough estimates which are sufficiently accurate to be of some value [17] For instance, a figure of £110,000 is obtained by comparing the average earnings of a UK worker then and now, while a slightly higher estimate of £140,000 is obtained when comparing the relative values of the UK’s gross domestic product per capita [18]. These are rough estimates and it would be wrong to draw too many conclusions from these, but it is perfectly safe to say that Thomas Richard and his family would have been regarded locally as very well-off, and also as a yeoman he would have enjoyed a privileged position within the community.
The endorsement documents [19]
According to the original deed, Jane Morgan agreed to pay 5% interest annually. For some unknown reason, four years had elapsed before she actually made her first payment. In a separate document (the endorsement document) dated 29 September 1750, Thomas Richard acknowledged receiving: ‘of Jane Morgan the sum of twelve pounds being four years interest of money due the day and year above written by me’. Surprisingly, he signed the document with a mark (a cross: ‘X’). There is evidence to indicate that normally he was well capable of signing his own name [20] but it appears that suddenly he had beame physically unable to do so. The document was actually written by Edward Richard and all subsequent payments by Jane Morgan were made directly to him and acknowledged by him.
Almost certainly, Thomas Richard in September 1750 was frail and unwell and Edward had assumed full responsibility for his father’s financial affairs. A later document shows that Thomas Richard died intestate which suggests that his death was sudden. Exactly when he died is not clear, but it is very likely that it was soon after matters between him and Jane Morgan were brought up to date, possibly, sometime during the last three months of 1750 or the beginning of 1751, but definitely well before September 1751 [21]. Assuming that he was in his mid twenties to mid thirties when his first son Abraham was born in 1710, then he would have been somewhere between 65 and 75 years old when he passed away. Edward would have been 35 or 36 and already running a successful school at Ystradmeurig.
The Jane Morgan and Edward Richard deed
In October 1755, nine years following the date of the original Jane Morgan-Thomas Richard release document (1746), Edward Richard lent Jane Morgan a further sum of money, again with Brynperfedd as collateral:
Lent the sum of eight and fify pounds upon further security . . . date the 16th day of October 1755 and attested by Mr Hugh Rice.
Clearly, Edward was still keeping his father’s business activities alive. One year later, in 1756, he bought Brynperfedd outright from Jane Morgan for a final sum of £156. The following extract from that indenture made on 29 October 1756 between the two summarizes the agreement:
. . . the said Jane Morgan neglected to pay the said sum of sixty pounds to the said Thomas Richard at either of the said days or times in the said recited Indenture (between Thomas Richard and Jane Morgan) . . . and whereas the said Thomas Richard is since dead intestate and Edward Richard his son and heir at law and also his administrator hath this day . . . for a further sum of one hundred and fifty six pounds . . . to the said Jane Morgan in hand . . . who in consideration of the further sum . . . doth remise release for ever quit claim to the said Edward Richard his heir assigns etc.
The phrase ‘neglecting to pay the said sum of sixty pounds’ is a little misleading [22]. Jane Morgan would not have been under any great pressure in law to sell; as long as she kept paying the interest she could continue to live and farm Brynperfedd indefinitely.
In total, Edward Richard paid £274 for the Brynperfedd farm. The value of this converted to 2017 money (calulated using GDP per capita data for the years 1756 and 2017) would be just over £600,000. Assuming Brynperfedd was on sale in 2017, somewhere between £500,000 and £700,000 would not be an unreasonable asking price.
One year on
Again, one year on from the above indenture, in a deed dated 1 October 1757, Edward Richard transferred Brynperfedd into a trust to establish a perpetual Grammar School at Ystradmeurig and to provide free education for up to twelve poor children from the parish. A copy of the above deed is included in Osborne-Jones’ book :
. . . Indenture enrolled in His Majesty’s High Court of Chancery bearing date on or about the first day of October, 1757 and made between the said Edward Richard of the one part . . . the said Right Rev. Father in God, Anthony then Lord Bishop of St. David’s . . . Lord Viscount Lisburne (Trawscoed), William Powell (Nanteos), James Lloyd (Mabws) and Thomas Hughes (Hendrefelen) on the other part reciting that the said Edward Richard was desirous to erect a Grammar School in the village of Ystradmeurig in the said county of Cardigan for educating twelve poor boys of the parish of Ystradmeurig . . . in the principles of the Church of England and as far as beyond the grammar as the Master for the time should be capable of teaching [23].
Of course, in addition to a few ‘poor local children’, Edward’s school had other students drawn from different parts of Wales. In 1757, there were upward of fifty boys at the school most of whom were paying a fee of £6 per term for their education and keep. Edward presided over their education, while his mother was responsible for their board and lodgings and was affectionately known as Modryb Gwen [24].
The family contribution
Edward Richard has been widely acclaimed for his achievement, and rightly so. However, the part played by the whole Richard family should not be overlooked. Edward was fortunate to be born into a highly ambitious household which was acutely aware of the value of education:
. . . Thomas and Gwen Richard decided to give their sons a good education. The more one dwells on the period, and opportunities afforded at the time, the more one marvels at and admires the character, foresight, and ambition of this extraordinary family.25
Brynperfedd
Land belonging to Ystradmeurig School
(Surveyed by John Morgan in 1840)
The Ceredigion Archives/Archifdy Ceredigion holds a bound volume of maps (Reference [GB 0212] ADX/560) showing part of the Ystradmeurig school estate bequeathed to the School by Edward Richard (see Note 11)
This ‘extraordinary family’ provided their sons with an education which was associated at the time with power, wealth, social standing and country estates. They were living in a far-flung corner of the country, where there was little history of local educational advantages or aspirations. Thomas Richard was a landless yeoman,26 yet he and his wife sent Abraham to Oxford and, later, supported Edward for five to six years while he was engaged in self-study and effectively unwaged. The source of the family’s wealth seems to have been based largely on running local businesses. They were involved in various lucrative enterprises, including tailoring and inn-keeping, and were clearly very successful business people with one reference saying that Thomas Richard employed tailors to work for him. Tafarn y Brithyll was the only inn in the parish; it was situated close to the parish church and, undoubtedly, it was the centre of social life in the community.
There are some other surviving documents citing Thomas Richard as a mortgagor and mortgagee, suggesting that he was a person who dealt quite widely in local property. All in all, it appears that the family had exceptional business acumen and was well capable of taking full advantage of local business opportunities.27
Abraham also played a pivotal role in Ystradmeurig’s educational history. He undoubtedly inherited some of his parents’ entrepreneurial and business acumen and, on his return from Oxford in 1732, he established the first ever day-school, of any kind, in the village. In effect, he paved the way for his brother and it was at this school that Edward received his early education; it was also the school that he later resumed following Abraham’s death and which he eventually endowed
Perhaps, it was inevitable that Edward Richard would follow in the family tradition and become a highly successful businessperson himself. After the death of his parents, he kept the family business initiatives going. In addition to running his own school, he kept brewing and selling beer up until three years of his own demise. He also continued his father’s property interests and expanding it with some judicious investments. Following his purchase of Brynperfedd, he spent years creating a sizeable real estate portfolio which he subsequently used to further safeguard the financial future of his School. His last will, which he signed on 28 February 1777, is a testament to his achievement as a business person.
. . . I give and devise Swydd y ffynnon Mill, in the parish of Lledrod to James Lloyd of Mabws in the parish of Llanrhystyd . . . All the rest of my real estate, that is to say, Brynperfedd, in the said parish of Spytty Ystradmeurig, Tymawr, Penygwndwn, and Bryngarw in the said parish of Lledrod and Tyddyn y Prignant in the said parish of Lanfihangel y Croyddyn all in the said county of Cardigan I have given to the use of a free School at Ystradmeurig by a Deed inrolled in Chancery.28
Of course, any attempt to value Edward’s will in today’s money has to be highly speculative. On the other hand, a broad-brush figure would give some indication of his overall worth at the time of his death, and may be of general interest. Based on the earlier evaluation of Brynperfedd (and assuming this was a pointer to the value of the other named properties in his will) an estimated figure of two to four million pounds may not be unreasonable. The bulk of this wealth was given ‘to the use of a free school at Ystradmeurig, and to his successors he wrote that the school should not be considered ‘a sinecure . . . you must attend, and get your Bread by Labour and Industry . . . let the school and library be kept in good repair, and improved to the utmost of your Power’.29
A remarkable feat
Establishing a permanent school in a small, out-of-the-way north Cardiganshire village in the eighteenth century was no small feat. At a time when the state of education in Wales was dire, Edward’s school was providing the young men of Wales with a chance to pursue secondary and higher education in a school where Welsh was the day-to-day language. He converted an initial modest elementary school:
. . . into an agency which prepared men for the service of the Church of England, or that of any other religious persuasion, without their being called upon to take a University course . . . there were then other schools like Christ College Brecon, Ruthin Grammar School, Bangor Friars School and Carmarthem Grammar School but these were English in their tradition, and however excellent otherwise may be said to have done little to serve the nation’s needs as Richard’s institute did.30
Conclusion
| 1. | Lewis Edwards, the founder and first principal of the Bala Theological College (his son was the first principal of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth), wrote in 1852 [32]:
(. . . some of the best clergymen in Wales . . . come from Ystradmeurig . . . If there were ten or twenty men like Edward Richard, it would be easy to establish a University for Wales). |
| 2. | Following Edward’s death, Dafydd Ionawr mourned:
(Woe is Wales in having buried the renown of her famous genial teacher [33]. |
| 3. | M. Donaldson argued in 1966 that ‘Edward Richard was, on all count, a true pioneer in the field of Welsh education’ [34]. |
| 4. | Osborne-Jones expressed his own admiration for the character, foresight and ambition of the family and was in no doubt that ‘Welsh education owes a great debt to Thomas and Gwenllian Richard’ [35]. |
Notes
Acknowledgment. I have to declare my debt to the late D. G. Osborne-Jones, whose book sparked my interest in Edward Richard. Over many years, extravagant things had been said about the latter, but Osborne-Jones managed to place matters in a more correct, authoritative and historical manner. Unfortunately, the Hendrefelen records were not available to him when he was writing in the early 1930s. Access to these records (now held at the National Library of Wales) has provided me with an opportunity to add further fragments of history about the Richard family. I fully recognise however how much I have been dependent on Osborne-Jones’ earlier work, a fact which I have tried to acknowledge throughout the above article.
1. | Saunders Lewis, A School of Welsh Augustans (Bath, 1924). |
2. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig (Caerfyrddin, 1934). |
3. | Lewis, A School of Welsh Augustans, p. 56. |
4. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p. 2. |
5. | T. Williams, Teulu a Chartref Edward Richard, Ystradmeurig, Ceredigion, XVIII, 1 (2017), 75. |
6. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p. 5. |
7. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p. 7. |
8. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p. 3. |
9. | Yr Eos: sef gwaith awenyddawl Mr. Edward Richard, o Ystrad Meurig, yn Sir Aberteifi: I. Bugeilgerdd; II. Bugeilgerdd; III. Can y bont; IV. Atteb i Gân y bont; V. Emyn neu Hymn; VI. A marwnad Iorwerth Rhisiart (London, 1811), p. 33 : ‘Bugeilgerdd Gruffudd a Meurig’, 6th Stanza: Fy nyddiau’n anniddan, ân’ oll o hyn allan / Gosodwyd Gwenllian mewn graean a gro /Mae hiraeth fel cleddau, yn syn dan f’asennau,/ Fe lwyda lliw’r aelau lle’r elo. |
10. | NLW, Aberystwyth, Hendrefelen estate records, 1546-1885 (including a faculty from the bishop of St Davids enabling Edward Richard to set up a library at Ystrad Meurig). These documents were donated by Mr A. P. Hughes-Gibb of Penshurst, Kent, in 1949 and were thus not available when Osborne-Jones’ book was published in 1934. |
11. | Ceredigion Archives/Archifdy Ceredigion, Reference [GB 0212] ADX/560, a bound volume of maps of the estate belonging to the Ystradmeurig school. The latter was surveyed by John Morgan in 1840 and it includes details of the following properties: Tymawr, parish of Lledrod; Brynperfedd, parish of Ystradmeiric (sic); Penygwndwm, parish of Lledrod; Bryngarw, parish of Lledrod; Ynysygarn, parish of Lledrod; Prygnant, parish of Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn (all the farms which Edward Richard bequeathed to the School). |
12. | For a short, general guide to post-medieval title deeds, see for instance, A. A. Dibben Title Deeds (London, 1971) and N. W. Alcock, Old Title Deeds: a guide for Local and Family Historians (Chichester, 1986, 2nd ed. 2001). Nottingham University also has an excellent website, entitled Manuscripts and Special Collections. |
13. | Hendrefelen Deeds 220-1, Lease and Release 28-9 September 1746; 222 Final Concord 23 April 1747. The wording is somewhat deceptive in that it does suggest that Jane Morgan relinquishes, forever, all claims of ownership to Brynperfedd; it appears as if Thomas Richard took over full possession of the property and became the effective owner. In fact, this was not really the case; in essence it was simply a conditional or temporary transfer. Jane Morgan was entitled in law to continue living at Brynperfedd and farm the land as long as she kept paying the agreed mortgage interest on the specified date (29 September). Even the date was not set in stone; borrowers were allowed an additional time to settle their debt provided they paid the mortgagee for any losses arising from late payment. What is more Thomas Richard would have had to obtain a court order before taking possession, and that would only be granted if no interest payment had been made for a significant period of time. Jane Morgan had considerable legal protection, and it was a very safe way to secure a loan without losing her home and land. Furthermore, she retained the right to reclaim complete ownership of her property provided she paid Thomas Richard the principal sum and the interest accrued up to the point of repayment. The agreement would be declared ‘utterly void’ if these conditions were met. |
14. | W. M. Davies, Outline History of the Ystrad Meurig School, Bicentenary Celebrations of the Founding of the School, Cambrian News, 1957. |
15. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p. 9. |
16. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p.3 |
17. | A highly rated website, measuringworth.com, includes comparators which may be used to obtain several estimates using different indicators. However, deciding which is the most credible answer (or answers) can be quite challenging but, fortunately, measuringworth.com also has a guide to help make an informed choice (or choices). Using the website’s historical data and the site’s comparators, the following figures have been computed and are presented as reasonable estimates of Thomas Richard’s loan, in today’s money. Measuring Worth, https://www.measuringworth.com/ The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present : Gregory Clark, What Were the British Earnings and Prices Then? (New Series)’ MeasuringWorth, 2018, http://www.measuringworth.com/ukearncpi/ . Ryland Thomas and Samuel H. Williamson, ‘What Was the U.K. GDP Then?’ Measuring worth, 2018, http://www.measuringworth.com/ukgdp . |
18. | Wages in north Cardiganshire in the mid-eighteenth century were, surprisingly, on a par with the rest of the UK . Lewis Morris mentioned that the wages in the parish of Llanbadarn Fawr in 1755 were 12d. a day for carpenters and masons, which was equivalent to roughly £15 a year. For more detailed analysis, see Alun Eurig Davies, ‘Wages, Prices and Social Improvements in Cardiganshire, 1750–1850’, Ceredigion, X, 1, 31-56. In 1760, the lead miners in Esgair-mwyn earned from 1s. to 14d. a day (equivalent to roughly £15 to £17 a year). Naturally, they were top earners; labourers got 8d. to 11d. a day (equivalent to about £10 to £14 a year). Of course mining was pretty irregular work, often interrupted by poor weather (the country at this time was in the grip of the so-called Little Ice Age and the winter climate was severe). Agricultural workers were less fortunate than miners; headservants on farms and ploughmen were paid £3 10s. and £4 10s. per annum respectively. |
19. | The Endorsement is a separate document, and is simply a written acknowledgement by the mortgagee of having received (in this instance from Jane Morgan) the loan interest specified in the agreement. |
20. | Several earlier legal documents include signatures that appear to be those of Thomas Richard. |
21. | T. Williams, Teulu a Chartref Edward Richard Ystradmeurig, Ceredigion, Cyfrol XVIII, 2017, tud 79. |
22. | Hendrefelen Deeds 223, 28 October 1756. See also note 12. |
23. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p 147. |
24. | See Morris letters. |
25. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p 4. |
26. | See lease registered on 13 February 1751 between James Lloyd of Ffosybleiddiaid and Gwenllian Richard and Edward Richard. Williams, Teulu a Chartref Edward Richard, Ystradmeurig, Ceredigion, Cyfrol XVIII, 2017, tud 75. |
27. | We know that the family was involved in various local enterprises, including tailoring and inn-keeping. One reference says that Thomas Richard employed tailors to work for him (see Note 4 above). Also, Tafarn y Brithyll was the only inn in the parish; it was situated close to the parish church and, undoubtedly, it was the centre of social life in the community. (see Williams, Teulu a Chartref Edward Richard, Ystradmeurig, Ceredigion, Cyfrol XVIII, 2017, tud 75). There are also other surviving documents citing Thomas Richard as a mortgagor and mortgagee, suggesting that he was a person who dealt quite widely in local property. It seems that the family had exceptional business acumen and well capable of taking full advantage of local business opportunities. |
28. | NLW, SD/1777/207. See also, Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p. 152. |
29. | SD/1777/207. See also Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p 153. |
30. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, Caerfyrddin, 1934, p 54. |
31. | Lewis Edwards, Y Traethodydd, Ionawr 1852, p. 129. |
32. | Yr Eos: sef gwaith awenyddawl Mr. Edward Richard, o Ystrad Meurig, yn Sir Aberteifi: I. Bugeilgerdd; II. Bugeilgerdd; III. Can y bont; IV. Atteb i Gân y bont; V. Emyn neu Hymn; VI. A marwnad Iorwerth Rhisiart (London 1811), p 82. |
33. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p. 50. |
34. | Donaldson, Edward Richard of Ystrad Meurig, Ceredigion, V, 3 (1966), 239. (An address delivered by the then headmaster of St. John College Ystradmeurig, M. C. Donaldson, to the Society at Ystradmeurig Church, 29 June 1966.) |
35. | Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystradmeurig, p. 4. |
See also an original publication of Teulu a Chartref Edward Richard, Ystradmeurig in Ceredigion, Cyfrol / Volume XVIII, Rhif / Number 1, p. 75
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