A young man who won a prize at that eisteddfod was Edward Davies, Taibach. He had been given a scholarship by Lady Llanofer after coming to Llanofer to have an audition with Gruffydd. A letter from her Ladyship's London home at Great Stanhope Street, Mayfair, to Mr. Rhys Morgan, Secretary of the Committee at Taibach, reads as follows:-
I am directed by the Right Honble Lady Llanofer to say that she has this day received your letter saying that you will send the "Boy" whose name you have omitted to mention, to Gruffydd next Saturday for trial. Her Ladyship is sorry that you have written to Gruffydd before you informed her of this, but she hopes that he will receive the letter which she sends him by this post before he receives yours, as he will not at all understand that Her Ladyship either took interest in the Boy or would authorise his being sent to him on trial without previous explanation from herself.

The letter goes on to say.....
......... The Boy's visit to Llanover on Saturday next would enable him to make acquaintance with Mr Dafydd Williams her Under Agent and also her Housekeeper and several religious people in her immediate service, who would take an interest in him & see that his Sunday was properly spent & that he had good companions.
...... signed E. Francis.

Following his visit, Edward was given a very hopeful report by Gruffydd and his scholarship began on 1st of June that same year, 1884. The conditions were -
To find himself in Lodging & food - & have his Scholarship renewed every Quarter for One Year, if deserving & well conducted or otherwise dismissal.
Gruffydd and her Ladyship must have been well pleased with young Edward Davies at the Caerwys Eisteddfod in 1886 - he gained the full number of 100 marks for his playing of 'Pant Corlan yr Wyn'.

The main harp competition at the eisteddfod was won by Thomas Gruffydd's daughter, Mrs. Gruffydd Richards. The tune was 'Penrhaw' and her mark was 93 out of a possible 100. She received £10 and a gold medal, which had the Prince of Wales Feathers on one side and a representation of the Welsh Harp and Welsh emblematic leek on the other, the medal having been given by Lady Llanofer. Lord Tredegar had given extra prizes and she received another £3 from him. Although nowadays known as Pencerddes y De, at this eisteddfod her pseudonym was 'Twynwen'.

Mrs. Gruffydd Richards was born in 1854, and named Susanna Berrington Griffiths. The name Berrington puzzles me, but thinking of Lady Llanofer's wish to name new babies, is it possible that she was named after a favourite nephew, Arthur Davies Berrington, son of Lord Llanofer's sister Charlotte and her husband Jenkin Davies Berrington of The Woodlands, Swansea?
Betha Johnes, a friend and confidante of Lady Llanofer, was supposedly very much in love with Arthur and so her Ladyship tried to make a match between the two, practically ordering Arthur to marry Betha, but Arthur would not be persuaded. Her Ladyship quarrelled very bitterly with Arthur and his family, and it was only at the time of Lord Llanofer's death in 1867 that the family relationship was re-established.

By the age of 18 Susanna was already acknowledged as a fine harpist. Brinley Richards, commenting on the Llandovery Eisteddfod of 1872, wrote ................
‘The chief prize .... was a harp presented by Mr. Rees, of Tonn, ........... The harp was won by a young Welsh girl, the daughter of the famous Gruffydd, domestic harper to Lady Llanofer. She was dressed in the Welsh costume and her picturesque appearance and her very clever playing created enthusiasm.’
Susanna married Edwin William Richards, an ironmonger, in July 1878, and they went to live in Abergavenny. Sadly Edwin died of typhoid fever just over a year later with his pregnant wife at his side and not long afterwards, on 15th December 1879, their son Edwin William Gruffydd was born at Ty’r Eglwys (Church House), Lower Llanofer. The 1881 census return shows Thomas Gruffydd and his wife Elizabeth, with their widowed daughter Susanna and her one year old son, living at Church Farm, Llanofer.

By 1891, the widowed Susanna was head of the household at Ty'r Eglwys, living with her son Edwin, her 16 year old niece Jane Anne Richards, and her 11 year old nephew Richard Thomas Richards. Ten years earlier these two had been living with their parents Roger and Eleanor Richards in Trevethin, Monmouthshire.
Something I find very surprising, in fact, hard to believe, is that on the 1891 census, Susanna and her son are both shown as speaking only English.

Thomas Griffiths, better known as Gruffydd, didn't compete at the Caerwys Eisteddfod, but he appeared on stage with his pupils, looking splendid, adorned with his many medals. He was renowned as the greatest harpist of his time, and had won many prizes. He was born in 1815 in Llangynidr, Breconshire, son of Richard Griffiths, a farmer and his wife Elizabeth. At the age of three Thomas lost an eye after falling on an axe, and as the result of another accident at school he lost most of the sight in his other eye. He was taught to play the harp by John Jones of Dolgellau and followed him as Llanofer family harper. In the early 1850s Thomas and his wife Elizabeth, had a son also named Thomas. In his teens Thomas junior suffered from rheumatic fever and died in 1870 at the age of 19.

As well as being a renowned harper and teacher, Gruffydd adjudicated at many harp competitions.
At one particular competition, held at Llanofer in 1869, he and his fellow adjudicator, Brinley Richards, caused a bit of a rumpus. The three winners tied and so they had to play a second time, and this time, the first prize, a triple harp and £2, was awarded to a 14 year old boy, Abraham Rees, of Merthyr Tydfil; 2nd prize to Robert Jones of Newtown; and third to Lewis Williams of Pontllanfraith. Among the six competitors were John Roberts, Telynor Cymru, and his son John. Lady Llanofer decided to give prizes to the three unsuccessful competitors as well, and presented £5 to E. Pugh and offered £3 to Roberts senior and £1 to his son.

However ...........'The elder Roberts ..... was dissatisfied with the ruling of the judges, contending that his harp was set in the wrong key and that he ought to have been allowed to play a second time; and he refused to accept anything or to allow his son to do so.'