Welsh Journals

306 BYE-GONES. Feb. 5, 1890. The Late Mb. T. W. Hare.—We regret to an¬ nounce the death of Mr Thomas William Hare, justice of the peace for Montgomeryshire, who died at his residence Berthddu, near Llandinam, on Tuesday, January 21. Mr Hare was a native of Staffordshire, having been born at Hamstall, Rid- ware, Rugeley, on the 10th of December, 1805. He was in his eighty-fifth year. For some time he practised as a solicitor in Birmingham. In the year 1863 he succeeded to the Berthddu estate on the death of the late Rev Harry Selleck Brome, as well as to an estate in Yorkshire belonging to the same gentleman. At the death of Mrs Brome, Mr Hare came to reside at Berthddu, and continued to reside there until his death. He was a regular attendant at the Caersws bench of magistrates. He was a guardian of the poor, and took a great interest in all religious and philanthropic work. He was a Conservative in politics, and one of the principal supporters of the Llandinam National School. Mr Hare was twice married, but has left no issue. His estates go to his nephew, Mr Henry Leighton Hare, of Knysna, Cape Colony. The funeral took place on Saturday, at 2"30 p.m. The remains were in¬ terred in the family vault in the parish churchyard, Llandinam. ^he $«te #tr. & g. JR. ^zlbot, JE.f. Mr Christopher Rice M. Talbot, M.P. for Mid- Glamorganshire, the "Father "of the House of Commons, died at an early hour on Friday morning, Jan. 17, the immediate cause of death being inflam¬ mation and congestion of the lungs. His death causes a vacancy not only in the parliamentary di¬ vision of Mid-Glamorganshire, but also in the Lord- Lieutenancy of the county. He was the son of Mr Thomas Mansel Talbot, of Margam, by Lucy, daughter of the second Earl of Ilchester. He was born in 1803, and in 1835 married Lady Charlotte, second daughter of the first Earl of Glengall, her ladyship dying in 1846. He only three times had a contest during the 56 years he represented Glamorganshire. He was educated at Harrow and Oriel, and, besides being a director of the Great Western Railway, in which he held over a million in stocks, was a Fellow of the Royal Society. The deceased gentleman enjoyed the further distinction of having thrice refused a peerage. A peerage was offered him three times, twice by Mr Gladstone and once by Lord Derby, but it was declined on each occasion on a question of title. He wished to revive the Barony of Mansel. To do so, however, would have meant giving him precedence over several other peers, hence the difficulty. He voted against the second reading of the Home Rule Bill on the ground of the exclusion of the Irish members; but in his election address, dated June 24, 1886, he professed himself satisfied with the Midlothian speeches, and promised to support Mr Gladstone in future. Mr Talbot was the richest commoner in Wales. In Glamorgan alone he owned 34,000 acres, and his estates are not entailed. He was a model landlord, a good mathematician, and an expert in navigation. His commodious yacht, the Lynx, was used by the Prince and Princess of Wales on their visit to Swansea to open the Alexandra Dock. Mr Talbot was also well known as a billiard player of great skill. He was Hon. Colonel of the Glamorgan Rifles. He was also the patron of five livings. He buried his only son some years ago, and Mr J. T. Llewellyn becomes his heir. The funeral took place on Wednesday, in the family vault at Margam Church. The coffin bore the following inscription :—" C. R. M. Talbot. Born, 10th May, 1803. Died, 17th January, 1890." The funeral ceremony, which was largely attended by personal friends and the tenantry, was performed by the Vicar of Margam. FEBRUARY 5, 1890. NOTES. WELSH QUAKERS.—One of the Quakers of Montgomeryshire was Richard Davies, a true man to his Faith, who died 22nd January, 1707-8, at his own house, Cloddiecochion, near Welshpool, aged 73. Many friends from various parts of England and Wales, and other people, assembled at his house on the day of his funeral and held a solemn meeting, and several testimonies were de¬ clared, in the power and life of truth, to the general satisfaction of the people. Richard Davies was buried in a piece of land near his house by the side of his wife's grave, '' now properly called the Quaker's Garden." T.D. [Extracts from Richard Davies's autobiography ap¬ peared in the 1st volume of Bye-Gones.— Ed.] KERRY TALES.—DAFYDD OF RIVON.— Some six months ago I had an interview with an esteemed friend who is in advancing years, and a life-long resident of Kerry. Mentioning to him the fact that a number of tales current in Kerry about Dafydd Sion Ifan, alias Davies of Rivon, had appeared in Bye-Gones, I found that I had touched a string that at once reverberated, and the result was the recital of such a series of tales as to over¬ tax my memory. I had hoped for a second inter¬ view and a second edition, but have been doomed to disappointment, and am now grieved to learn that failing health is the cause of my friend's non¬ appearance. He persisted in speaking of Dafydd (not Davies) of Rivon as "Davy the Raddug," which is undoubtedly a corruption of Dafydd Ddu o Hiraddug. (How about the identity of these individuals?) He said Davy lived somewhere in the Bettws. (Bettws-y-crwyn is a hilly Shrop¬ shire parish which adjoins both Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire.) Davy was in league with the