{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf1404\cocoasubrtf340{\fonttbl\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Helvetica;}{\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;}\pard\tx560\tx1120\tx1680\tx2240\tx2800\tx3360\tx3920\tx4480\tx5040\tx5600\tx6160\tx6720\pardirnatural\f0\fs24 \cf0 Little is known of the administration of the Cwmgwili estate during the incumbency of John George Philipps, M.P. (1761-1816) but he does not seem to have alienated any part of it. Indeed, in 1790, he added to it by buying several slangs adjoining his farm of Pante from the Revd David Scurlock of Blaencorse, near St Clears, for \'a380. In 1785 he was negotiating to buy Ystradwrallt and Ty Canol, from Herbert Evans of Lowmead, both of the clear annual rent of \'a375 10 0, the price being 25 years purchase of that rent; in the event he took the properties on a lease, and later acquired the freehold. Carmarthenshire landowners were very conscious of the value of timber, and took steps to afforestation, and often inserted planting clauses in the leases they granted. Trees could be sold for high prices, especially in war-time, to government contractors for ship-building and other purposes, and at all times to local industrialists who required charcoal for the furnaces, while bark was always in demand by the numerous tanners who carried on a brisk trade in the county. It was necessary to keep a careful eye on the timber. His wife wrote on 21 February 1785, that Mr R. Morgan had asked her to remind him about the "stragglin wood" which should be cut as the tenants ("so far from Cumgwilly and from your sight") felled "ever so fine trees", and Morgan had discovered that a great many fine trees had been cut down "and the roots of them covered with grass that they might not be discovered". According to Morgan the wood could be sold for over \'a3200. On 10 May 1785, John George Philipps agreed to sell to David Lewis of Carmarthen, tanner, all timber, trees, saplings, underwoods, etc, growing upon the farms of Trefynis, Rwythfawr, Cwmhowell, and Tir Terrant Elias, in Abergwili parish, for the sum of \'a3240.CuD54 </cgi-bin/twiki/view/Historian/CwmgwiliAndItsFamiliesPartIIReferences>C/uD \par Mr Philipps entered into partnership with some of his neighbours to work a mine at Capel Dewi, and on 9 February 1785 Richard Lewis wrote from Abergwili Palace to enquire whether he could take up a one-sixth share which Mr Philipps had promised him. If Mr Philipps agreed to this, he would pay the money to Mr Stewart, the treasurer. Lewis informed him that "some favourable discovery had this week been made at the mine".CuD55 </cgi-bin/twiki/view/Historian/CwmgwiliAndItsFamiliesPartIIReferences>C/uD \par Apart from the affairs of the Borough, he was busy in county concerns, especially as a magistrate. He was a member of Llandeilo'r Ynys Turnpike Trust, and took a special interest in road communications and their effect upon agriculture. A letter from Richard Jones Llwyd written on 3 May 1790 to J. G. Philipps at the Somerset Coffee House in the Strand indicates the attitude of Carmarthenshire landowners towards taxes and tolls "A double toll upon turnpikes will materially prejudice this county. Most of the Turnpikes in this county were made originally to facilitate the carriage of coal, lime, and manure, and they depended upon the conveyance of those articles for their existence. Lime has of late years advanced in price from 6s 6d the horse-load to 4 shillings CiD(sic),C/iD so that farmers can now scarcely afford to buy it. Lay another tax upon it, it puts that article beyond their reach and they have no substitute. Farm yards and composition dunghills being in their infancy, I will venture to say that if lime and manure and coal are not exempted from double toll, it will nearly ruin the agriculture in this county"; he further hopes that tax on transfers of real property will be confined to Bonds and Mortgages "As to the tax upon deeds, it may induce the gentlemen of the law to curtail the enormous prolixity of modern conveyances and reduce them to their former conciseness and simplicity. Laymen may then have some guess at their meaning and content".CuD56 </cgi-bin/twiki/view/Historian/CwmgwiliAndItsFamiliesPartIIReferences>C/uD \par Despite long absences from Cwmgwili during his parliamentary career, his domestic life was harmonious. There is no doubt that he and his wife Anne (Ball) were deeply in love, and it is from her numerous letters to him that we obtain glimpses of their family life. He, on the other hand, does not appear to have been a good correspondent, a fact commented upon in letters from his wife and friends. \par Anne kept him posted not only with domestic news but with news of various friends and acquaintances. It is clear that she missed his company, and ends one letter (10 February 1785) with the words, "Adieu my dear, Cumgwilly is very dull without my JGP". Both were attached to the children, and Anne's letter to him on 12 February 1785 contains an account of her two small sons, "Little Griffith talks of you every day; he says that his papa is gone to London to buy him a new hat and a fine sash, so you can see the little rogue begins to grow coxcomical already as he talks of nothing but his dress. Little John is no less proud of his smart great-coat that came home today; he would not take it off till he went to sleep. . . . I dont know when to leave off when I begin to write to you. I am sure that I scribble a vast deal of nonsense for the sake of prolonging the time. Believe me my Dear that nothing can give me greater pleasure than writing to you. May you enjoy every happyness is the ardent prayer and sincere wish of your ever faithful and affectionate wife, Anne Philipps. P.S. I would give the world to be with my ever Dear JGP, believe me there can be no happyness or pleasure for me without you. Pray write every post my Dear Mr Philipps." On 7 April 1787 she wrote that she had read that the House of Commons had been adjourned till 23 April "Pray what will you do with yourself all that time? I wish to God it was in my power to make a pair of wings for you to fly home with. Since you have left Cwmgwilly I live here CuDthe world forgetting, by the world forgot <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eloisa_to_Abelard&oldid=17452689>C/uD. Your happiness is the chief study of my life". \par Shortly after his return to London in February 1784, Anne says that Griffith "has been searching for you in the parlour, the study and in our rooms, crying all the way 'Papa, papa'. . . . I love you far too much to do anything contrary to your desire". Later in the month she chides him "Why have you not written the last two posts? Hearing from you is my only pleasure". In a letter dated 28 February 1785 she again chides him for not writing oftener, for she wrote to him by CiDevery post,C/iD "Don't forget to be a Welshman tomorrow, and let little Griffith have the leek when you come home". Being a member of parliament was an expensive business and Anne was often busy getting in the rents, and raising money by other means to meet his occasions, often pressing, in the Metropolis. \par Anne kept him informed of domestic and estate affairs, the farm at Cwmgwili and sale of commodities, and particularly about local political moves. She often urged him to take steps that would advance his interests. In 1784 she told him he should pay his compliments to Mr Powell (Nanteos), who was to be High Sheriff of Cardiganshire "You know there is nothing lost by civility". \par She found her husband's aunt, the masterful Mrs Jane Davies of Penylan, somewhat of a trial. Anne had been unwell in the early part of 1785 (she was often ailing), and had allowed herself to be persuaded, against her real inclination, to accompany Mrs Davies to a dance at Kidwelly "I should not have gone had it not been for Mrs Davies of Penylan who pestered me to death two days before about it. She sent to tell me it would be so ungenteel and very odd of me if I did not go as Mr Lloyd was so kind as to come to fetch me, and Mr Billy her son was affronted with me at Kidwelly because I did not choose to dance with him. I hope I shall never see Mrs Davies at Cumgwilly again. You have always told me I behaved too well to her and I now see it myself, but I was always happy to do every thing in my power to oblige any of your family". In April 1785 she was quite ill, and everyone was most kind to her except "Mrs. Davies of Penyland, and she has behaved like a Brute". But this was a passing pique, Mrs Davies was often at Cwmgwili, and took the elder boys to Penylan when Mrs Philipps was brought to bed of her other children and when she was ill. It is not unlikely that Mrs Philipps was inclined to brood over her illnesses. In 1790 Mrs Jane Davies wrote a bantering letter to her brother, John George Philipps, "I remember you have often laughed at the idle chit-chat of the female pen, but nevertheless I have ventured your giving me a place in the list of such laughable beings, from the hope that even insignificant subjects, may for a minute or two divert my sister's attention from thinking of her complaints, which, I hope, will every day become less and less, and that very soon we may have the pleasure to see her return in perfect health". \par After her husband's death Mrs Jane Davies lived at a house in Carmarthen belonging to her brother, whom she badgered continually about repairs and improvements. "Some time past notices were given to every house to erect troughs under the tiles. It has not been done here and the cornice being rotten part of it fell down nearly on Miss B. Lloyd's head, which might have killed her. Now the rain soaks into part of the front wall. I have sent to Evans the carpenter to do it, and hope you agree. I have sent to Jas George to get lime for the brewing kitchen which was stript by wind this last week all the southerly side. I wish for your sake and my own comfort that the outside was not in so poor a state, I'll take care to keep the inside comfortable without damage done to it". \par This house proved troublesome and its later tenant, Mrs. Jane Davies' unmarried daughter Anne, proved as vigorous as her mother; for instance "Dear Uncle. I have received a letter from my brother William in consequence of yours to me last Wednesday. He tells he had receipts for everything in the house. The shelf & dresser with several other things, my mother bought of Mr Hoskins who had bought them of the tenant before him; the dog-wheel she bought of old Mrs Rice and James Evans the carpenter. We have not sold the locks as you have been told. William also has the receipt for the marble slab in the parlour, which my mother put down but that we left there. The shelf, dresser & dogwheel the man who has taken the house bought by auction at \'a31 2 6, but on being told at Cwmgwilly they belonged to the house has refused to pay for them. Do you wish to buy them? if not they will be taken down tomorrow and sold. To whom shall I deliver the key of the street door on Michaelmas day. We then leave Carmarthen for Penylan and to make some visits we have promised before we leave Wales. I hope should your Daughters be left without father or mother (which is certainly not impossible) that they may not find a Landlord or uncle as tenacious about such a trifle as we have found. Wishing you and my cousins health & happiness, I am dear Uncle, your affectionate Anne Davies". \par Anne Philipps's life was not made pleasanter by the fact that her brother, Herbert Ball, and others of the family, proved difficult about paying her marriage portion and other monies due. On 28 March 1789 she wrote to her husband that she had heard from brother Herbert, who said he had been cheated of half his fortune, but promised he would send "your money this term". She adds that "a Mob has destroyed and layd waste all the enclosures of the commons about the town this last week. I am affraid it will end seriously if there is not a stop put to it soon; the first Rebellion that ever happened in Carmarthen was about enclosing the Commons. I hope it will not end as it did then". \par In 1791 (?2) another child was born, who received the name Grismond. She wrote to her husband on 25 March 1792, "Old Mr Rogers and Mr John Lloyd called on me last Friday, the old gentleman said he was anxious to see another Grismond Philipps before he died; you cannot imagine how many old people has come here to see the child on account of his name", adding that the boys are constant at their books, and ending on a more mundane note, "I assure you I will sell fresh butter every week and have a shilling a pound for it". \par John George Philipps had considerable commitments: the expenses of living in London and maintaining the household at Cwmgwili were heavy, and in addition he had to pay an annuity to his mother (who did not die until 1810), while the education of the children, and, in due course, the portions of the daughters, added to his liabilities. Elections and petitions had proved burdensome, and in 1800 he was becoming financially embarrassed. His somewhat offhand attitude to business did not help. On 14 June 1800, his solicitor, John Lloyd of Carmarthen, implored him, "If you intend coming down, do bring the money to pay off the mortgage, if not there is no object in coming. I know your indolence in your concerns and I would wish you could get any friend of yours in Town to be active in the business and the money would soon be got. . . . I know you will excuse the liberties I have taken of digging you out of your indolence".CuD57 </cgi-bin/twiki/view/Historian/CwmgwiliAndItsFamiliesPartIIReferences>C/uD \par To meet his occasions he sold farms in the parishes of Abergwili, Newchurch, Llanllawddog, Llanarthney, and Llandeilofawr, of the estimated capital value of \'a312,000 13,000. This was done mainly to enable him to pay off the inherited \'a34000 mortgage and other debts. The purchase money for those farms amounted to \'a39000.CuD58 </cgi-bin/twiki/view/Historian/CwmgwiliAndItsFamiliesPartIIReferences>C/uD In 1805 he sold part of the woodlands for \'a31800. \par Despite indolence in some matters, he was active enough in others. He took a prominent part in raising and training the militia, served in the Royal Carmarthenshire Fusiliers, first as Captain and then as Major and second-in-command to the commanding officer, Lord Cawdor, and accompanied the regiment when it did duty, for instance, in 1798 at Wrexham, Liverpool, Pewsey (Wiltshire), and elsewhere in England, and for some time at Dublin. \par Anne had endured many spells of ill-health, and was ailing for most of 1804 and 1805. Her condition worsened, and on 2 April 1806 she was buried at Abergwili, aged about 45 years. She had been a good, affectionate wife, and J. G. Philipps felt her loss grieviously. However, he soon took a second partner, "On the rebound" so the late Sir Grismond Philipps informed me. Apparently he had proclaimed his intention to marry the first woman he met on his return to Cwmgwili from his wife's funeral. She turned out to be his servant-maid Anne Thomas, whose father kept the Black Horse inn in Water Street, Carmarthen. The marriage settlement was made on 2 December 1807, and they married at Abergwili Church on the 10th of that month. \par He had always been plump in January 1796 a friend wrote to him, "Nash says you are grown fat and indolent" and in later years grew excessively corpulent, suffering bouts of ill-health, particularly from that popular squirarchical complaint, gout. He died on 26 May 1816, aged 54, and was buried in the family vault in Abergwili church. His will, dated 19 May 1816, was proved in P.C.C. on 11 May 1822. The widow Anne afterwards married, in 1823 at Llangain, Captain Henry Harding, Adjutant of the Royal Carmarthen Fusiliers, who died on 14 September 1830 in his 64th year; on 11 August 1831 the widow married, at St George Hanover Square, her third husband, Captain John Bankes Davies of Myrtle Hill, near Carmarthen. \par After saying that Mr Philipps had been a Member of Parliament for nearly twenty years, the obituary notice in CiDThe CambrianC/iD for 1 June 1816, went on "during which time zealously devoted to the principles of Mr Fox, and warmly attached to his person, he almost invariably supported the politics of that distinguished statesman. Well-versed in the laws and history of the country, he was on all occasions an able and upright magistrate. His memory was very retentive, and possessing a fund of anecdote, his presence always enlivened the circle in which he moved. As a landlord he was most indulgent...." \par By his first wife Anne (Ball) he had seven children: \par Griffith Philipps, born in July 1782, educated at Ystrad Meurig School (Cardiganshire) and at Mr James Edwards's school in Fairford. When twelve years of age he wrote to his father (14 April 1794) ". . . my sister Eliza completes her seventh year today. Eliza and Anne are constantly in school, and merry little Grismond tells everybody 'Papa gon to Lanon, buy pitty sing for Gtsi';" the writer says he would be pleased and obliged for a present, "Not for a pretty thing but for an useful book", and ends, "Mama desires me to ask your opinion of that great, very great man, Danton as you used to call him". On 15 December 1800 he matriculated at Jesus College, Oxford, graduated B.A. in 1806, and proceeded M.A. in the following year. The payments his father had to make for his battels at Jesus College suggest that he was in no way extravagant. He did not enjoy robust health, and died unmarried at Cwmgwili, aged 25 years and was buried at Abergwili on 23 December 1807. \par John George Philipps, born in September 1783 see later. \par Elizabeth ("Eliza") Catherine Philipps, born on 14 April 1787, married Peatre Garland of CuDLincoln Inn <http://www.lincolnsinn.org.uk>C/uD, barrister-at-law (her portion, \'a32000). They lived in London and Michaelston, Essex, and had issue. \par Anna Martha Philipps ("Tiddy"), born in August 1788; married on 3 November 1807 at Abergwili, William Edwardes Tucker,CuD59 </cgi-bin/twiki/view/Historian/CwmgwiliAndItsFamiliesPartIIReferences>C/uD of Sealyham, Pembrokeshire. A man of bewildering nomenclature, he was born William Tucker Edwardes but in compliance with the request of his uncle, Admiral Tucker, assumed the name of William Edwardes Tucker but afterwards transposed his name into William Tucker Edwardes. He was High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1829, and died on 8 May 1858, aged 74. His widow died in 1876. They had nine children. \par Grismond Philipps, born on 5 February 1792 see later. \par Georgianna Jeannetta, born in April 1796, died in December 1799. \par Emma Louisa Mary, born in 1802, married at Abergwili on 7 September 1824 Dr Robert Williams, M.D., of Bedford Place, \par London, and had issue. \par By his second wife Anne (Thomas), he had an only child, Frederic Philipps, born in October 1808, and baptised at Abergwili on 24 March 1818, being then nine years old. When a youth, he lost the sight of one eye after it had been pierced by an arrow accidentally discharged by Dr Henry Lawrence. As a result he wore a black patch over the eye in the manner of a pirate, and became known as "Patch" Philipps. He was a Justice of the Peace and lived for a time at Llwyndu. His path was not wholly smooth; he amassed large debts for which he was thrown into gaol. The poor fellow eventually died of apoplexy in Bristol on 30 August 1838, at the early age of 31, and his remains were brought back for burial at Abergwili. His wife, whom he had married on 28 June 1831, was Elizabeth daughter of Lewis Pugh, publican, of the Castle inn, Haverfordwest. After her husband's death she returned to live at the inn, and was buried at Uzmaston on 23 May 1841. They had at least three children.}