The Mysterious Sale of Newport Castle
By Dillwyn Miles
Newport Castle was built by William FitzMartin, lord marcher of Cemais, early in the thirteenth century and it has been the caput of the lordship of Cemais ever since, despite being ‘razed to the ground’ by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth in 1215 and destroyed by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1257. It was soon restored and in 1277 it was a substantial building with ‘a gaole for felons’. In 1 370 it was fortified by command of the king in view of the threat of a French invasion but by 1409 it was ‘valued at half its worth ‘ on account of damage during the revolt of Owain Glyndwr’, and it was ‘in utter ruyne and decay and not valued at anything in the rent rowles’ of 1583. It remained a ruin until the middle of the nineteenth century when it was partly rebuilt by the lord of Cemais of the time.
It seemed incongruous, therefore, to read in Dr Leslie Baker-Jones’s Princelings, Privilege and Power (Gomer 1999) that Thomas Davies Lloyd, lord of Cemais, had ‘purchased for £700 the ruins of the old castle (and surrounding lands) at Newport ‘ in 1 854. The purchase implied that the castle must have been sold in the interim but no evidence of any such transaction could be found. The most suspect time for anything of the kind to have happened would have been during the period that followed the death, without issue, of William Owen of Henllys, lord of Cemais, in 1721 when the lordship was divided between h is two sisters, Anne, who married Thomas Lloyd of Penpedwast, and Elizabeth, wife of Arthur Laugharne of Llanrheithan .
John Laugharne, who had succeeded to the Laugharne moiety of the lordship, was sheriff of the county of Pembroke in 1731 but he later reduced himself to a state of penury and h is estate was sequestered in 1744. When the remainder of his effects were sold at the Ship and Castle at Haverfordwest on 8 July 1751, his moiety of the lordship was bought by Thomas Lloyd of Bronwydd who, jure uxoris, owned the other moiety, for £2000. It would appear, however, that he did not scrutinize the particulars of sale closely enough, for on 2 November 1753, Laugharne sold the castle ruins. mill, tenements, two messuages and adjoining lands to Morris Bowen of Upton Castle. How could he have sold property which Thomas Lloyd had purchased only two years previously? The answer may be found in the schedule of John Laugharne’s estates real and personal, as declared by him to the bailiff at the county gaol at Haverfordwest on 2 September 1748. A scrutiny of the document reveals that whereas Laugharne gave a list of the several messuages, tenements, mills, lands. &c. the moiety of which were held by him in each parish, no such detail is given for the town and parish of Newport. Was this omission deliberate, or did Laugharne notice it later and decided to take a chance? Thomas Lloyd, if ever he got to know about it, took no action and the sale was regarded as genuine.
Morris Bowen, descended on the distaff side from the Malefants, was sheriff in 1746. He married Alicia, daughter and heiress of Thomas Knolles of Wenallt in the parish of Nevern and had four daughters. In 1777 the Wenallt estate, which now included the castle ruins, mill, two messuages, tenements and adjoining lands at Newport, was purchased by George Bowen of Llwyngwair (1722-1810). In his will he bequeathed the castle ruins, &c. to his daughter, Easter Bowen, spinster. which she left, at her death in 1848, to her nephew, George David Griffiths of Berry Hill.
Thomas Davies Lloyd, lord of Cemais, became aware of this and in May 1852 he made an offer to Griffiths but it was not acceptable and the property was put up for sale by public auction on 10 September 1853 when it was sold to Miss Bowen, daughter of George Bowen of Llwyngwair (1800-56), for £1,775. Lloyd was then able to buy the castle ruin and grounds for £700 and to complete the purchase on 18 February 1854. Five years later, he converted the gatehouse of the castle into a private residence.