Llandybie Old Families 1
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Edward Lhuyd, the famous Welsh antiquary, stated in 1696 that
Llandybie was a village of nine houses situated near the Church. The
majority of the people of the parish lived, of course, outside the village
in farms and smallholdings. The very old farms and mansions of that
period were Derwydd, Glyn-hir, Y Plas, Piode Fawr, Cilyrychen,
Aber-lash, Myddynfych, Cwrthenri, Cil-coll, Hendre Gored, Clun¬
henllan, Cwmllwchwr, Blaenau, &c., &c.
By 1840 it can be said with certainty that the village consisted of thirty
houses, according to the Tithe Map of that year. They were situated in
the proximity of the Church, viz. Y Felin, Glanyrafon Cottage (where
the Ivy Bush stables stand now), The Ivy Bush Inn, Y Plas, The Angel
(formerly an inn), Church House (the old vicarage), the Red Lion
cottages (five in all), The Red Lion Inn, Red Cow Inn, Corner House
Inn (with the adjoining thatched cottage), London House (with two
attached cottages), Waun LIan, Old Capel Wesle (behind the present
National School). Then, near the Tollgate House were Old Gate House
(with six adjacent cottages), the Methodist Chapel, three cottages, and
three other cottages named Piode Cottages. On the village square,
apart from Waun Llan, there was another cottage, Tan-y-fron.
The oldest and most important building of all in the village, of course,
was the Church. We have historical references to this Church as far
back as the year 1291, when it was stated that the living was £4 6s 8d
per annum (a considerable amount of money in those days). When
John Thoresby was Bishop of St. David’s (1347-49) the tithes of the
parish were claimed by him. John Emlett, the treasurer of the diocese
in 1539, states in his accounts that the sum of £5 had been received
from the parish during that year.
Tybie, the reputed foundress of the Church of Llandybie, was the
daughter of Brychan, King of Brycheiniog, whose territory extended
almost as far as Llandybie in the fifth century. According to tradition,
Tybie was slain by pagan Irish settlers in the district which afterwards
bore her name. She must have been the pioneer of the Christian faith
in the area, and tradition links her name with Gelliforynion (‘Maiden’s
Grove’) and Cae’r Groes, in and near the village.
The prescnt Church is of early English style, with a Norman tower ;
inside there is a very ancient font, which was brought in from the
churchyard many years ago. There are memorial tablets on the wails
dating from the days of Charles II. Some of the Vaughans, the Royalist
family of Golden Grove, have been buried there.
Prior to 1840 most of the inhabitants of the parish worked on the land,
but in times past (as may be seen in another chapter) lime burning and
coal mining were carried on by the people on a small scale. The
country around Llandybie was very wooded, and there was plenty of
fuel at hand to burn the lime. One of the first coal mining projects, it
seems, was at Plas y Cwm, near Clun-glas. It was here that steam
power was first used in the locality in connection with coal-mining.
Later, at Pwll y Lord (between Blaenau and Saron), there was a
Balance Pit ; a full tram of water, loaded on the surface, hauled a full
tram of coal from the bottom of the little pit. A big pond was situated
near the pithead to supply the water needed for this type of power.
The Tithe Map of 1840 shows a great number of smallholdings and
farms, with various acreages of pasture, arable land and woodland.
One of these smallholdings was at the top of King’s Road, called
Gwaith y G*r Bach. The house was a small thatched cottage, and was
in occupation sixty years ago. The biggest farms of all were held by the
DuBuisson family of Glyn-hir, and by Dafydd Thomas of Cilyrychen
(an overseer of the poor of the parish in his day). The DuBuissons also
owned a tract of the Black Mountain at that time. The land between
Swan Lane and the Red Lion Inn is marked as ‘Tir comin’, or
Common Land ; but by today this land is no longer common, for
reasons unknown to me.
The tollgate in those days extended across the Blaenau road to the Toll
House, which was situated where Cawdor Stores was afterwards built.
Another gate extended across the Cross Inn, or Amman-ford road from
the Toll House to where now stands Beynon’s Garage. No one was
allowed to pass these gates with any form of transport or cattle without
paying the toll. The Llandybie Tollgates were demolished by the
Rebecca Rioters in 1842-43. The Vicar of the parish at that time—the
Rev. John Williams—did not escape the fury of the rioters. He was a
county magistrate, and anybody connected with the law irritated them.
The vicar, it is said, complained to the Commission set up after the
Dragoons had been sent to Carmarthenshire to quell the riots.
The most important house in the village was Y Plas. It is said that
Oliver Cromwell once stayed there during the Civil War. Piode Fawr
and Cilyrychen were important houses too at that time. Charles
Phillips, Esquire, lived in Y Plas in 1700 ; and he too was the owner of
Piode Fawr which was occupied by members of his family. Gentry
families also resided at Derwydd and at Glyn-hir. The Vaughan family
had lived at Derwydd since the 14th century, and it is recorded that
King John stayed there in the year 1210 on his return journey from
Ireland. In 1485 Henry, Earl of Richmond
—afterwards Henry VIl—was entertained at Derwydd by Sir Rhys ap
Thomas. Their joint forces left together and they fought in the famous
battle of Bosworth Field. The Gulston family came to Der
wydd through marriage connections. Dr. Joseph Gulston, Chaplain and
Almoner to King Charles I, is mentioned in a Manuscript Book of
Prayers, written in 1640. Dr. Gulston preached before the King his last
sermon on Sunday, November 12th, in Carisbrook Castle, Isle of
Wight, before the King was sent to the scaffold.
By 1919, the way of life that had been unchanged for centuries was
coming to an end. High taxes compelled the gentry to reduce their
staff, and the first change I remember was the employment of one
chauffeur instead of two. There was no telephone at Derwydd in the
early years of this century, and my duties as a telegram boy gave me
the privilege and opportunity of seeing the life that went on in a
gentleman’s home at that time. On dark nights and in wet weather I
would be ushered into the servant’s quarter to await the butler, who
would come with his silver tray on which you laid the telegram. Often
there would be a reply, and one waited and had a chat with the
domestic staff. The ritual was always the same the butler returned with
his silver tray with the 6d tip which you picked off the tray, and very
often the cook would hand you a pocketful of sponge-cakes to eat on
your long return journey to the village.
At night, the servants’ quarters seemed to be filled by members of the
staff. The impression I had was that Derwydd was a very happy place ;
the atmosphere was cheerful, and the rooms were big and spotlessly
clean. There was always a nice smell of something good being cooked
there. Although these people lived in the heart of the country, they did
not appear to be lonely ; they all lived together as members of one big
family. In 1914, Derwydd employed two chauffeurs, a butler, one
ladies’ companion, one ladies’ maid, a parlour-maid, cook, a few
kitchen-maids, gardeners, and others maybe whom I had not seen.
They were a colony all on their own, and I was unaware at that time
that I saw the beginning of the end of an era which had lasted for
centuries.
The following account of the Glyn-hir family is taken (by permission)
from the Rev. Gomer M. Roberts’ Hanes Piwyf Liandybie (1939) “Our
earliest record is of a family named Powell living at Glyn-hir. ‘Powell,
Gent.’ is noted as living there in Thomas Kitchin’s Map (1754). ‘Mr.
Rees Powel of Clun-hir Gent.’ was a subscriber to Ellis Wynne’s
Drych y Prif Oesoedd (1740). There are references to the family in the
parish registers. ‘Morganus Powel Gen. Sepultus fuit l6to die Aprilis
1729’ ; ‘Mr. Rees Powel’ was one of the church-wardens in 1745 ; and
lastly ‘Elizabeth Powel, widow, late of Glynhir’ was buried at
Llandybie in 1772. Probably, Morgan Powell was the father of Rees
Powel, and Elizabeth Powel the widow of the latter.
“In 1769 the Moravians were interested in purchasing Glyn-hir, to be
used by them as a settlement in Carmarthenshire. The Sale was held at
the “Turnpike House Inn”, Llandeilo, 8 May 1770 ; but the price set
upon it by Mr. Vaughan, the then owner, was too high for the
Moravians.
“About this time a person named Peter DuBuisson was on his way to
ireland, and he heard at Llandeilo that Glyn-hir was for sale after
looking over the place he liked it very much, and he bought the estate
for £3,000. The DuBuissons came originally from Orleans, France, and
the first member of the family came to this country about the year
1685—the year of the Edict of Nantes. Probably more than one
Huguenot bearing the style of DuBuisson fled to this country when the
French government persecuted the Huguenots at the end of the 17th
century. The first of the family known to us was Peter Groteste du
Buisson ; he settled in St. George’s, Hanover Square, London, and was
accepted as a British citizen in 1706—according to the family records.
This man never lived at Glyn-hir, but Jane his wife died at Glyn-hir in
1772, soon after the family had settled in the parish. Samuel Smiles
states that Peter DuBuisson, who bought Glyn-hir, was this man’s
grandson, but he was mistaken—he was his son. According to the deed
of sale, Peter DuBuisson came from Newland in the county of
Gloucester, but Newland was his wife, Margaret’s home.
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Richard James
CarmarthenshireFHS
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