 |
| My main interest is in David (Dafydd) Williams, my great-grandfather, who was
under-agent to Lady Llanofer in the 1880s. He and
his family moved from Aberystwyth to Llanofer
about 1882/3, and left about 1889. As a result of
looking for information about him and his family,
I have discovered many other interesting people
who lived and worked on the estate at that time. |
| The most
well-known of these is Thomas
Gruffydd,
domestic harper to the Llanofer family from the
middle of the 19th century until his death in
1887, when his daughter Susanna Gruffydd Richards
succeeded him. |
| Gruffydd's teacher and
predecessor was John
Jones, a harper
of distinguished lineage, who died at the
comparatively young age of 44 years. |
| Peter James was a young man living in Ty'r
Ywen, Llanofer, who was taught to play the harp
by Mrs. Gruffydd Richards. He became well-known
as a harpist in the first quarter of the 20th
century. |
| There were
carpenters employed on the estate, some of whom
became expert harp makers. One of these was Abraham
Jeremiah and
there is one of his harps on display at the
National Historical Museum in Gaiman, Patagonia. |
| Another
well-known harp-maker was Elias Francis. He made the harp that was
presented as a prize at the Harp Competition held
in Llanofer in 1869. |
| Gwilym
Griffiths seems to have been a rather disontented
young man who left to seek a better life in the
USA, much to Lady Llanofer's displeasure. |
| The school
teacher in the 1880s was Rachel Evans. Her
husband, John Elias Evans played the harp before
Queen Victoria, at the Royal Albert Hall. |
| One of the
stone-masons on the estate was Henry Morgan. He died at the age of 35 years.
Lady Llanofer looked after his widow and young
children. |
| John
Powell was a
stone-mason in Llanofer in the 1850s, but he and
his family left for America in 1856. It was
foretold that one day John would work on the
Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. |
| It is
frequently said that Lady Llanofer 'invented' the
Welsh National Dress. This causes much debate;
but she did require the ladies of her household
to dress in a 'uniform' which she designed. The
cloth for the dresses was woven on the estate,
much of it at the Gwenffrwd factory where the
Harris family lived for many years. |
