Welsh Journals

BODRHYDDAN AND THE FAMILIES OF CONWY, SHIPLEY-CONWY AND ROWLEY-CONWY I By NORMAN TUCKER, F.R.Hist.S. Bodrhyddan Hall lies some two miles south-east of Rhuddlan Castle. The an. cestral home of the Conwys is almost hidden by tall trees. The house is dignified, its red brick relieved by white window frames. A date over the garden entrance indicates that the older portion was completed in 1696 by Sir John Conwy, the last baronet. The house then had a south aspect but the former approach has been turned into an ornamental garden. In 1874 the structure was altered and the present front faces westward. A water-colour (now in the National Library of Wales) painted by Moses Griffith c. 1770 depicts an ancient dwelling at the west end. This was demolished to make room for Nesfield's building. When Dame Mary Conwy (Sir Henry's widow) drew up her will in 1679 she referred to a dining room and Banquetting house,' a Parloure & Butterie Chambers,' and a little Parlour.' What was probably its main portal now modestly hides its incongruity at the foot of the cellar steps. The wood of the heavy- hinged door is in harmony with the Tudor Masonry. An iron-barred grille has a sliding shutter. Other reminders of an earlier habitation are found in the grounds. A sundial bears the date 1637. In a shrubbery beside the drive is St. Mary's Well- the Ffynnon Vair' which Edward Lhwyd mentioned in 1699. Its religious im- plication recalls days when the Conwys like the Mostyns of Talacre were leaders of Catholicism in Flintshire. An octagonal well-house of dressed stone, dated 1612, crested with a pelican in her piety covers a well of pellucid water. It bears the name of Inigo Jones, not in NOTE When first I turned my attention to the history of Bodrhyddan, Miss Enid Roberts, M.A. was (unknown to me) at work on her Seven John Conwys which appeared in the last issue. I was unaware of this coincidence until (having heard of her interest in the Conwy family) I turned to her for advice. Miss Roberts kindly answered some questions but when I realized that she was preparing an article for print, I refrained from troubling her further, feeling that it was unfair to poach on her preserves. I soon found myself confronted with intricacies which must inevitably occur in a family which has a predilection for the name John Every heir was John (Thomas and Henry occur because the heir died young). It will be appreciated how difficult it is to write with certainty about a man known as John the son of John the son of John Circumstances have thus forced us to cover the same period. When two persons, working independently, attempt a similar work, divergence of opinion is natural. If discrepancies occur-I cannot detect any of conøequence-I would suggest that Miss Roberts's interpretation is likely to be the more reliable one.-N.T.