CHAPTER IV
OUR DALTON FAMILY IN CARMARTHENSHIRE, WALES

"Croeso i Gymru" (Welcome to Wales)

“Diolch yn Fawr” (Enjoy)

Note: Some of the below pedigrees of the Dalton family was researched by John Luther Dalton while on a Genealogical Mission to Wales in 1888.

(See John Luther’s history in chapter 7, Volume 2.)

Some research was done by the Wales/English side of the Dalton family and by members of the DGS. Also Rodney Dalton joined the Carmarthenshire Family Historical Society in 1998 and this Society searched for our Dalton family in hundreds of records from the years of 1651 to after 1800. Hundreds of E-Mail & documents with sources were received by Rod Dalton on these Dalton's from South Wales.

Other sources:
“Cymdeithas Hanes Teuluoedd Sir Gaerfyrddin”

Carmarthenshire Family History Society of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.

South Wales. Owners: Richard and Pauline James.

From the personal FTM program of Anthony Burchette, the Vaughan Family, England to Wales; 1200 to 1800.
"The Historical Homes and Families of Carmarthenshire" by Major Francis Jones.
E-Mail from Elaine Barsosky; " the History of the Vaughans"
E-Mail from Bettye Kirkwood, "The Vaughans of South Wales"
The Vaughan Family in Monmouthshire, Wales; from "A History Tour Through Monmouthshire" by William Coxe.
The Internet site of the Vaughan Family History.
"The John Dalton Book of Genealogy" by Mark A. Dalton.
The LDS Church IGI data files on the Vaughan family in Wales.
The LDS Church Ancestral File at the LDS FHL in SLC Utah.
The FHL at the Lee Library on the BYU campus in Provo Utah.

From the Internet, libraries, mail lists, and books, film’s and fiches.
The personal genealogy history on the Dalton and Vaughan connection in South Wales 1651-1800; by Rod Dalton.

“The Dalton Book” by Mrs. Frances Edith Leaning (Dalton)

The Oxfordshire FHS.

The Dalton Genealogical Society Journal, England

In this chapter of our Dalton Family in Carmarthenshire Wales I have included a pedigree chart from my Dalton database to show the descendants of Walter Dalton III -1603. Generation No. 1 is Walter Dalton III and generation No. 5 is Thomas Dalton -1731.

Also there are many photos of Wales and of Dalton places taken by Rod Dalton and Arthur Whittaker when they attended a meeting of the Dalton Genealogical Society in the first week of June 2003.

Lets now continue with a pedigree chart and more history about Walter Dalton III that we left in chapter 3.

Descendants of Walter Dalton III

Generation No. 1

WALTER DALTON III was born in 1603 in Witney, Oxfordshire England, and died 1666 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire Wales. He married JANE NEEDHAM about 1638 in Witney, Oxfordshire England. She was born about. 1607 in Cambridge, Oxfordshire England, and died May 01, 1714 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire Wales.

Children of WALTER DALTON and JANE NEEDHAM are:

i. CHARLES DALTON, b. 1639, Witney, Oxfordshire, England; d. October 23, 1707, Penybedd, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

ii. THOMAS DALTON, b. 1643, Witney, Oxfordshire, England; d. Abt. 1644, Witney, Oxfordshire England.

iii. ORMAND DALTON, b. 1645, Whitney, Oxfordshire, England; d. Abt. 1646, Witney, Oxfordshire, England.

iv. JOHN DALTON, b. 1647.

v. WALTER DALTON IV, b. 1648, Witney, Oxfordshire, England; d. Abt. 1649, Witney, Oxfordshire, England.

vi. JAMES DALTON, b. 1650, Witney, Oxfordshire, England; d. May 18, 1721, Caldicot Farm, Pembrey, Wales.

vii.JOHANNA DALTON, b. 1653, Witney, Oxfordshire, England;

m. JAMES BUTLER, 1679, Witney, Oxfordshire, England.

viii. MARGARET DALTON, b. 1657.

Generation No. 2

CHARLES DALTON was born 1639 in Witney, Oxfordshire, England, and died October 23, 1707 in Pen y bedd, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire Wales. He married JANE SHEDD 1665 in Witney, Oxfordshire, England. She died May 01, 1714.

Children of CHARLES DALTON and JANE SHEDD are:

i. WILLIAM DALTON, b. Abt. 1667; d. June 24, 1738, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

ii. ANN DALTON, m. JAMES WILLIAMS, September 12, 1710; b. Of Llanrhidian, Pembrokeshire Wales.

iii. SEVEN OTHER DALTON'S.

JAMES DALTON was born 1650 in Witney, Oxfordshire, England, and died May 18, 1721 in Caldicot Farm, Pembrey, Wales. He married (1) JOYCE BEVAN, December 24, 1674. He married (2) JOYCE VAUGHAN 1677, daughter of ROWLAND VAUGHAN JR. and UNKNOWN. She was born 1647 in Trimsaran, Pembrey Parish, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died March 10, 1730/31 in Caldicot Farm, Pembrey, Wales.

Children of JAMES DALTON and JOYCE VAUGHAN are:

i. JOHN DALTON, b. 1678, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. February 22, 1723/24, at Clog Y Fran, St. Clears, Carmarthenshire.

ii. JAMES ORMANDE DALTON, b. 1679, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. February 13, 1761, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Co. Wales.

iii. CHARLES DALTON, b. 1682, Of Court House, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

iv. RICHARD DALTON, b. 1683, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. October 03, 1742, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Co. Wales.

v. EDWARD DALTON, b. 1685, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. 1766, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Co. Wales.

vi. THOMAS DALTON, VICAR OF DAUELLY, b. 1688, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. February 06, 1739/40, St. Clears, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

vii. MARGARET DALTON, b. Abt. 1690, Of Caldicot House, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. (1) GRIFFITH JONES; m. (2) ANTHONY MORRIS, 1712; b. Abt. 1690, Gower, Wales.

Generation No. 3

JOHN DALTON was born 1678 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died February 22, 1723/24 at Clog Y Fran, St. Clears, Carmartenshire. He married MARY POWELL April 17, 1707 in Pembrey, Wales, daughter of HOWEL POWELL. She was born 1690 in of Hurst House, Langharne, Wales, and died August 25, 1757.

Children of JOHN DALTON and MARY POWELL are:

i. ESTHER DALTON, b. 1709, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. REV. LEWIS BAYLY; b. Abt. 1705, Wales.

ii. MARY DALTON, b. June 07, 1711, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. March 04, 1740/41, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. DAVID MORRIS.

iii. JAMES DALTON, RECTOR OF STANMORE, b. June 23, 1713, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. March 31, 1788, Stanmore, Middlesex, England.

iv. ELIZABETH DALTON, b. August 17, 1715, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. JAMES BEVAN; b. Abt. 1710, Of Laugharne, Wales.

v. HANNA DALTON, b. May 18, 1717, Of St. Clears, Carmarthenshire Wales.

vi. ANN DALTON, b. December 1708, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

JAMES ORMANDE DALTON was born 1679 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died February 13, 1761 in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Wales. He married AYLIFFE EDWARDS Abt. 1704 in Pembrey, Wales, daughter of JOHN EDWARDS and DOROTHY ELLIOT. She was born Abt. 1693 in Rhyd-y-gors (St. Clears), and died May 17, 1731 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Children of JAMES DALTON and AYLIFFE EDWARDS are:

i. LAETITIA DALTON, b. April 08, 1712, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. April 26, 1783, Llanrhidian, Grwer, Glamorgan.

ii. JAMES DALTON, b. June 23, 1713, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. February 13, 1766, Of Lletter y chen, Pembrey, Wales.

iii. DAVID DALTON, b. January 12, 1724/25, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Wales.

6. CHARLES DALTON was born 1682 in Of Court House, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He married MARY ROGER July 19, 1712 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales. She was born in Of Lanynyth, Glamorgan, Wales.

Children of CHARLES DALTON and MARY ROGER are:

i. JANE DALTON, m. EDWARD DALTON.

ii. DOROTHY DALTON, b. 1702, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. CHARLES HUGH, December 07, 1752, Pembrey Parish, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

7. RICHARD DALTON was born 1683 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died October 03, 1742 in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He married MARY MANSEL.

Child of RICHARD DALTON and MARY MANSEL is:

i. RICHARD DALTON 2ND, d. July 24, 1738, Carmarthen Town, Carmarthenshire.

EDWARD DALTON was born 1685 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died 1766 in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Wales. He married ELIZABETH BEVAN, daughter of JOHN PENYCOED and BARBARA AUBREY. She was born 1688, and died April 05, 1757 in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Wales.

Children of EDWARD DALTON and ELIZABETH BEVAN are:

i. JOHN DALTON, b. 1706, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

ii. MARY DALTON, b. 1707, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. JOHN BEVAN, Abt. 1733, St. Clears, Carmarthenshire; b. Of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

iii. JOYCE DALTON, b. 1709, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. JAMES MORRIS; b. of Getthygatrog.

iv. MARGARET DALTON, b. 1711, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. (1) REV. F. ANDREWS; b. of Premdergaskoe; m. (2) JOHN WHITE; b. of Alba Domus.

v. JAMES ORMANDE DALTON, b. 1713; m. LAETITIA DALTON; b. 1712.

vi. THOMAS DALTON, VICAR OF FISHGUARD, b. April 06, 1714, Of Oxwich, Gower Glamorgan; d. St. Peters, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

vii. ANNA DALTON, b. 1715, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. REV. M JONES, VICAR OF MEYDRYN.

viii. EDWARD DALTON, b. 1717, Of Pool House, Llanelly, Carm. Co. Wales; d. 1808.

ix. RICHARD DALTON, b. 1719; d. March 10, 1741/42.

x. GEORGE DALTON, b. 1720, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. 1729, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

xi. ELIZABETH DALTON, b. 1722, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Wales; m. MR. JAMES.

xii. WALTER DALTON, b. 1723, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Wales; d. June 20, 1723, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Wales.

Generation No. 4

JAMES DALTON, RECTOR OF STANMORE was born June 23, 1713 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died March 31, 1788 in Stanmore, Middlesex, England. He married (1) GRACE ELLIS. He married (2) MARY BOX WOODWARD September 26, 1747. She was born 1726, and died November 15, 1790.

Children of JAMES DALTON and GRACE ELLIS are:

i. JOHN DALTON, d. August 30, 1785.

ii. JAMES DALTON, b. October 23, 1740; d. 1767, East Indies; m. UNMARRIED.

iii. WILLIAM DALTON, b. March 29, 1741; d. August 29, 1742.

iv. SARAH DALTON, b. January 24, 1741/42; d. July 01, 1821.

Children of JAMES DALTON and MARY WOODWARD are:

v. JOHN DALTON, b. November 30, 1748, Stanmore, Middlesex, England; d. October 30, 1785; m. ELIZABETH FORBES, November 07, 1777; d. December 23, 1790.

vi. JONATHAN DALTON, b. April 28, 1750; d. May 05, 1751.

vii. JOHANNA DALTON, b. April 12, 1751; d. January 01, 1752.

viii. WILLIAM EDWARD DALTON, b. January 30, 1754, Of Stanmore, Middlesex, England; d. December 05, 1797.

ix. ARTHUR DALTON, b. March 02, 1757, Stanmore, Middlesex, England; d. December 24, 1772.

HANNA DALTON was born May 18, 1717 in Of St. Clears, Carmarthenshire Wales. She married ZACHARIAS BEVAN September 12, 1741 in St. Clears, Carmarthenshire, son of ZACHARY BEVAN. He was born Abt. 1715 in Of Glasfryn, Carmarthenshire Wales.

Child of HANNA DALTON and ZACHARIAS BEVAN is: i. ANN BEVAN.

LAETITIA DALTON was born April 08, 1712 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died April 26, 1783 in Llanrhidian, Grwer, Glamorgan. She married JAMES ORMONDE DALTON Abt. 1737, son of EDWARD DALTON. He was born January 1712/13 in Of Penclawdd House, Gower, Wales, and died May 11, 1789 in Llanrhidian.

Children of LAETITIA DALTON and JAMES DALTON are:

i. JAMES DALTON, b. 1732, Of Penclawdd House, Gower, Wales.

MARY DALTON, b. 1739, Of Penclawdd House, Gower, Wales;

m. CARTWRIGHT MORRIS; b. Abt. 1731.

iii. EDWARD DALTON, b. Abt. 1740, Of Penclawdd House, Gower, Wales.

iv. AYLIFFE DALTON, b. 1741, of Penclawdd House, Gower, Wales.

v. MARGARET DALTON, b. 1743, Wales; d. July 07, 1817, Penclawdd.

vi. THOMAS DALTON, b. 1743, Cardiff, Wales; d. 1818.

vii. ANNE DALTON, b. Abt. 1744, Wales.

viii. BRIDGET DALTON, b. Abt. 1744, Wales.

ix. JOHN DALTON, b. Abt. 1745, Wales.

x. LOVE DALTON, b. Abt. 1747, Wales.

xi. ELINOR DALTON, b. Abt. 1756, Wales; d. August 15, 1765, St. Peters, Wales.

JAMES DALTON was born June 23, 1713 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died February 13, 1766 Of Lletter y chen, Pembrey, Wales. He married MARY BONVILL Abt. 1731, daughter of JOHN BONVILL and CATHERINE ROGER. She was born October 01, 1706 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died March 23, 1779 in St. Peters, Carmarthenshire Wales.

Children of JAMES DALTON and MARY BONVILL are:

i. THOMAS DALTON, b. November 25, 1731, Pembrey,

Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. about 1791, in possibly New York State.

ii.MARY DALTON, b. 1734.

iii.Elizabeth Thomas- Dalton (See note on her below)

JOHN DALTON was born 1706 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He married (1) ELEANOR HUDSON, daughter of JOHN HUDSON. He married (2) MARY PENNY WILLIAMS.

Child of JOHN DALTON and ELEANOR HUDSON is:

i. EDWARD DALTON.

Children of JOHN DALTON and MARY WILLIAMS are:

ii. ARTHUR BEVAN DALTON.

iii. MARY DALTON, m. JOHN GWYNNE.

iv. EDWARD DALTON, b. Abt. 1729; m. AYLIFFE DALTON.

THOMAS DALTON, VICAR OF FISHGUARD was born April 06, 1714 in Of Oxwich, Gower Glamorgan, and died in St. Peters, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He married the DAUGHTER OF CANON PROPERT OF ST. DAVIDS.

Children of THOMAS DALTON are:

i. THOMAS DALTON.

ii. MARIA DALTON, b. 1750, Oxwich Gower Glamorgan; d. 1751, Oxwich Gower Glamorgan.

iii. MARGARET DALTON, b. 1752, Oxwich Gower Glamorgan; d. June 15, 1754, Oxwich Gower Glamorgan.

iv. THOMAS DALTON, REV. OF ST. ISSELL, b. 1753.

EDWARD DALTON was born 1717 in Of Pool House, Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died 1808. He married JANE DALTON March 14, 1738/39 in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, daughter of CHARLES DALTON. She was born in Of Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Children of EDWARD DALTON and JANE DALTON are:

i. JANE DALTON, b. Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. EDWARD MANSEL, December 02, 1799, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

ii. EDWARD DALTON, b. 1738, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales;

m. DOROTHY PRESCOT.

iii. MARY DALTON, b. 1741, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

iv. RICHARD DALTON, b. 1742.

v. JAMES DALTON, b. 1748, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

vi. CHARLES DALTON, b. 1759, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

vii. JOHN DALTON, b. 1761; m. MARY BEVAN.

viii. MARGARET DALTON, b. 1747.

ix. THOMAS DALTON, b. 1756, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

RICHARD DALTON was born 1719, and died March 10, 1741/42. He married ELIZABETH MANSEL.

Children of RICHARD DALTON and ELIZABETH MANSEL are:

i. WILLIAM DALTON.

ii. THOMAS DALTON.

Generation No. 5

SARAH DALTON was born January 24, 1741/42, and died July 01, 1821. She married WILLIAM CORVELL.

Children of SARAH DALTON and WILLIAM CORVELL are:

i. MARY CORVELL.

ii. SARAH CORVELL.

iii. ELIZABETH CORVELL.

iv. ANNE CORVELL.

WILLIAM EDWARD DALTON was born January 30, 1754 in Of Stanmore, Middlesex, England, and died December 05, 1797. He married ANNE COVELL October 21, 1777 in London, daughter of GEORGE COVELL and MARY LAMING. She was born November 10, 1754, and died February 04, 1821 in Margate.

Children of WILLIAM DALTON and ANNE COVELL are:

i. JAMES DALTON, b. December 21, 1778; d. January 30, 1781.

ii. JOHN DALTON, b. August 25, 1780, Stanmore, Middlesex, England; d. November 29, 1851, Camberwell; m. (1) CATHERINE CHAMBERS; m. (2) HANNAH NEALE, May 06, 1806, St. Pauls, London. England; b. January 03, 1784; d. May 05, 1822.

iii. MARY DALTON, b. January 30, 1782; d. April 17, 1858; m. WILLIAM ALLIES, May 19, 1803.

iv. ANNE DALTON, b. November 30, 1783; d. 1839; m. EDWIN ALLIES.

v. JAMES FORBES DALTON, b. April 25, 1785, Stanmore. Middlesex, England; d. October 28, 1862, High Cross, Tottemham, England.

vi. EDWARD DALTON, b. May 22, 1787, Of Dunkirk House; d. January 1877; m. (1) ELIZA BROWN; m. (2) ELIZABETH HEAD LLOYD, 1832.

vii. ELIZABETH DALTON, b. April 09, 1789; m. JOHN BUDDEN.

viii. SARAH DALTON, b. December 27, 1790.

ix. ARTHUR DALTON, b. March 20, 1794, Pembrey, Wales; d. October 25, 1858, Carmarthenshire, Wales; m. (2) MARY DALTON; b. Abt. 1794.

AYLIFFE DALTON was born 1741 in of Penclawdd House, Gower, Wales. She married EDWARD DALTON March 31, 1767 in Llanrhidian. He was born Abt. 1740 in St. Peters, Carmarthen, Wales, and died October 23, 1802 in St. Peters, Carmarthen, Wales.

Children of AYLIFFE DALTON and EDWARD DALTON are:

i. JAMES DALTON, b. February 25, 1770, St. Peters, Carmarthen, Wales; d. September 19, 1823, St. Peters, Carmarthen, Wales; m. CATHERINE AUGUSTA (RITSO), October 20, 1801, India; b. Abt. 1781; d. 1813, Madras, India..

ii. MARY DALTON, b. Abt. 1772, St. Peters, Carmarthen, Wales; d. March 23, 1779, St. Peters, Carmarthen, Wales.

iii. FRANCIS DALTON, b. Abt. 1777.

iv. SUSANNAH DALTON, b. Abt. 1781.

v. JOHN DALTON, b. Abt. 1783.

THOMAS DALTON was born 1743 in Cardiff, Wales, and died 1818. He married MARY DOWNS. She was born Abt. 1749 in of Deepfield.

Children of THOMAS DALTON and MARY DOWNS are:

i. MARY DALTON, b. Abt. 1794; m. ARTHUR DALTON; b. March 20, 1794, Pembrey, Wales; d. October 25, 1858, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

ii. THOMAS DALTON, b. 1798, Cardiff, Wales; d. 1878.

JOHN DALTON was born Abt. 1745 in Wales. He married MARTHA MUSTO.

Children of JOHN DALTON and MARTHA MUSTO are:

i. HARRIET DALTON, m. WILLIAM DALTON.

ii. MARTHA DALTON.

THOMAS DALTON was born November 25, 1731 in Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and died Abt. 1791 in New York State. He married MARY (POLLY) FREELAND Bef. 1763 in Unknown. She was born Abt. 1743 in Ireland, and died in America.

(This Thomas Dalton is our emigrant to America)

Children of THOMAS DALTON and MARY FREELAND are:

i. JOHN DALTON, b. January 02, 1763, Conococheaque, Frederick Co. MD; d. October 07, 1838, Freedom Township, Washtenaw, Michigan; m. ELIZABETH COOKER, Abt. 1784; b. December 26, 1767, Bucks Co., Pennsylvania; d. September 21, 1858, Hazelton, Buchanan Co. Iowa.

ii. JAMES DALTON, b. 1765, Maryland.

iii. CHARLES DALTON, b. Abt. 1767, Hughs Forge, Pennsylvania.

iv. POLLY DALTON, b. 1769, Pennsylvania; m. GEORGE ODEWALT, 1790, Little York. Pennsylvania.

Read the history about Thomas Dalton and his family in America in Chapter 5.

The above picture is a present day view of the Castle and village where our Walter Dalton III and his family reportedly settled in the later fall or winter of 1651 after fleeing from Witney, Oxfordshire, England.

Before we continue with the story of the Dalton family in Wales, let read some history of Kidwelly, where our Walter Dalton first settled.

KIDWELLY was originally the name of the district, which included part of the coastlands lying between the estuaries of the Towy and the Loughor. In 1106, after the death of Howell ap Gronw, Henry I granted these lands to his minister, Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, who erected a castle at the mouth of the Gwaendraeth Fach. This formed one of a series of Norman strongholds designed to secure their newly won conquests in South Wales and to command the passage of the rivers across which the road to the west passed. A mention of the hall of the Castle in a document of 1115 or earlier shows that the building of Kidwelly must have been practically completed by that year. During the rising which followed the death of Henry I, the Battle of Maes Gwenllian was fought a short distance away from the castle (1136).

The Welsh chronicles record that, in 1190, the Lord Rhys built the castle of Kidwelly. This entry probably reflects a native conquest of the settlement, but the Norman’s must have recovered it before 1201, when Meredith, son of Rhys, was slain by the garrison of the castle. In 1215 Rhys Grug, another son of the Lord Rhys, captured Kidwelly and burnt the castle. He remained in possession until 1220, when Llywelyn the Great forced him to restore these conquests. The male line of the de Londres had become extinct during these troubles, and Kidwelly had passed to an heiress, Hawise. In 1225 she married Walter de Braose, who died during the campaign of 1233-4. Kidwelly Castle was by that date again in the possession of the Welsh as a result of the rising of 1231, when Llywelyn the Great, previously a supporter of the royal authority, had turned his arms against Henry III. Hawise de Londres, left a widow, was unable to regain possession of Kidwelly which, in 1242, was still held by Rhys's son Meredith. Two years later Hawise married Patrick de Chaworth, who seems to have recovered these lands soon after this date. The Welsh rising of 1257 involved the destruction of the settlement at Kidwelly, but the invaders failed to capture the castle.

The prominent part taken by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in the civil wars of Edward II's reign led to his execution after the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322, but the forfeited title and estates were later restored to his younger brother, Henry. The extinction of the male line in 1361 caused a temporary partition of the Lancastrian possessions, but on the death of the elder co-heiress, Matilda, in the following year, the whole inheritance fell to her sister Blanche, wife of John of Gaunt, who became Earl and later Duke of Lancaster. On the accession of Henry IV, Kidwelly, together with the other Lancastrian possessions, passed into the hands of the Crown, and was of little importance during the fifteenth century. Henry VII granted the castle to Sir Rhys ap Tudor, whose grandson Rhys ap Griffith forfeited it in 1531. Later it was again alienated and passed to the Earls of Cawdor. The castle had long ceased to be habitable, but certain repairs were carried out during the nineteenth century. In 1927 the owner placed the ruins under the guardianship of the Commissioners of Works (now the Department of the Environment).

Since that date extensive works of preservation have been undertaken. In 1930 and 1931 excavations were carried out by Sir Cyril Fox and the writer in order to recover the earlier history of the castle. The results are embodied in the present guide, and the interesting series of relics recovered may be seen in the National Museum of Wales.

The earliest remains at Kidwelly, dating from the beginning of the twelfth century, are the semi-circular moat surrounding the castle together with the rampart under the outer curtain, the true meaning of which was revealed by the investigations of 1930-1. Of the hall mentioned in the deed of 1115 and the other buildings of the twelfth century no trace remains, though it is possible that an extensive search under the 2ft to 7ft of debris with which the whole interior of the castle was leveled in the early fourteenth century would lead to the recovery of their plan. The only tangible relic of Norman buildings is a small capital belonging to an attached column and probably forming part of a fireplace. This was found walled into the masonry of the hall of c1300, and may be ascribed to a date at the end of the twelfth century. The ramparts and moats surrounding the northern and southern outworks cannot be exactly dated, but analogy with other sites shows that they may well belong to this early period.

The oldest surviving masonry is that of the towers and the curtain enclosing the inner ward. This occupies a rectangular area with a circular tower at each angle. There are two gates, on the south and north sides, each protected by a portcullis. The erection of these defenses within the circuit of the original bank and stockade marks the beginning of the re fortification of the castle in accordance with the ideas of the late thirteenth century. The awkward way in which the two western towers are brought close to the foot of the earlier bank can only be understood when the pre-existence of this defense is relapsed, while the simple character of the gates, so different from the elaborate gatehouses of the normal concentric castle, must be similarly explained. The south-east tower was designed for occupation, but the hall and other structures of the earlier castle probably remained in use. Most of the dressed stonework of this period has disappeared, but the few remaining details are of thirteenth-century character, and this taken in conjunction with the plan suggests that the construction of the inner ward was carried out by Payn de Chaworth, c1275.

KIDWELLY is one of the Norman foundations strung out along the coastal plain of South Wales. There is no evidence of any occupation before the grant to Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, and even if a small Celtic settlement existed, it has been without influence on the subsequent development of the site. Like many other Norman settlements, which were then continually threatened by a hostile attack from the mountains, Kidwelly stands at the head of an estuary where the river was still navigable at high tide. This situation ensured a line of communications when the castle was surrounded and the roads cut by a Welsh rising.

The settlement consists of two parts, the castle and the walled town on the west bank, and the priory church with the new town on the other side of the river. The two are joined by a two-arched bridge of fourteenth- or fifteenth-century date. This carried the great road to West Wales, probably replacing an earlier structure. Modern development has greatly altered the appearance of the new town, the last of the picturesque medieval houses having recently been destroyed (1931). The priory church of St. Mary was founded by Bishop Roger before 1115, and became a cell of the abbey of Sherborne. Such foundations are typical of the Norman settlements in South Wales, the alien monks being introduced as a counterpoise to the patriotic sentiments of the native monasteries, which too often served as focuses of anti-Norman feeling. The present building dates from the fourteenth century.

From the bridge the road to the castle leads through the defenses of the old town. The walls have mostly disappeared, but the main gateway, apparently of early fourteenth-century date, still spans the road. The line of the defenses can still be traced by the earthen bank, which preceded the walls. It encloses about eight acres including the castle, which it surrounds on all sides except the east. A transverse ditch running west from the castle moat divides it into two nearly equal halves, of which it is probable that only the southern was walled. The defenses consist of an earth bank and ditch except on the east, where the steep scarp above the river formed a natural protection. The date of these ramparts is not certainly known, but as the walling of the southern part is to be connected with grants of murage, c1280, and the erection of the gatehouse during the following century, there is good reason for suggesting that they form part of the original Norman settlement.

Although the medieval buildings within the walls have been replaced with modern houses, the line of the existing roads probably follows the original layout. Another feature of exceptional interest is the ruins of the medieval mill, which with the contemporary weir and leat can be traced on the low ground between the old town and the river. At a comparatively modern date this was replaced by a more efficient type of mill, which in its turn is now disused.

Our Walter Dalton must have visited this great castle many times. As you can see by the Picture, the castle is next to the Township of Kidwelly!

After Walter Dalton and his surviving family settled down at Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, his financial position appears to be good and he sent his son James to the Inns of Court of London where he qualified as a barrister-at-law. James, probably through both the Vaughan’s and Dalton connections, acquired the post of Receiver for the Duchy of Lancaster, which was in turn held by his eldest son John. Another son, Richard become Sheriff.

Why Walter Dalton should have gone to South Wales can be explained on several logical grounds. In the maps showing the balance of forces in the Civil War, Wales was almost entirely Royalist. Kidwelly and Monmouth were ancient Lordships of the Crown. Llanstephan and Langharne were others. The Lancashire influence was strong, which was the ancestral home of the Dalton’s, and the king had strong ties in South Wales. William Ashburnham was a Major General in the Royalist cause and John Ashburnham was in personal attendance to the King. The Dalton’s and the Ashburnham’s would later in Wales have many dealings with each other. Rowland Vaughan Jr. was with Walter at the Battle of Worcester and was his good friend. Walter’s son James later married the daughter of Rowland Vaughan Jr. The Vaughan’s were a large and wealthy family in South Wales. South Wales is known as “The land of a hundred castles”.

Here is some of what’s in Walter Dalton III’s Will:

Note: I have copies of all the wills listed in this chapter.

Walter Dalton, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales, Gentleman

Date of Will: 12- 3- 1666

Probate Date: 5 - 26 - 1666

Walter Dalton of Penbre Parish, by his will dated 12 Mar. 1666, proved 25 May 1666, & witnessed by Richard Brown & Robert Fisher, of Kidwelly, gave to St. Davids Cathedral 4d to the poor of Penbre parish 4 bushels of barley: to his niece Mary Hoskins, some cattle on the lower Burrows, a silver beaker &: to his nephew Walter Hoskins some cattle on the Lower Burrows, and to the same Mary & Walter, some more cattle that were relicts left of their fathers goods after his debts were paid," to be equally divided between them. To his nephew John Hoskins all the standards and household stuff in the house at Kidwelly where William Philip liveth, and also "my black horse" To Mary the daughter of "my brother in law" Thos Richard, one sheep: To Margaret Fisher dau of Robert Fisher of Kidwelly, one sheep. To Robert Fisher younger son of Rob Fisher, a 2 year-old mare. To Davis Thomas "my servant" 1 bushel of Barley & 1 Bushel of oats, or 10/- in cash; To David Jenkins my servant 5 /- To "my daughter Joan" some cattle, a cedar plank, 2 silver spoons, a feather-bed and 30p when she attains the age of 18years. To my son James Dalton all the stock on the Court lands, other cattle & corn. To my loving wife Jane Dalton and our son Charles Dalton, all my lands, tenements & houses, between for her life, and afterwards to Charles. They were also appointed residuary legates and joint Executors. Should one of the other 3 children die before marriage his or her share to be equally divided between surviving two. Wife Jane to be tutrix & guardian over Joan Dalton & Mary and Walter Hoskins during their minority.

(signed) Walter Dalton

Charles Dalton -- W Dalton James Dalton

John Dalton Rich Dalton Edw Dalton

The above are the actual signatures of Walter Dalton, his two sons; Charles & James with Charles son William & James sons; John, Richard and Edward.

According to family legend Walter Dalton is buried inside the church in Pembrey.

There are a few photos of this church along with the grave of James & Joyce Dalton at the end of this chapter.

A Brief History and Guide to the St. Illtyd Church, Pembrey or in Welsh;

Eglwys IIItud Sant, Pen – Bre.

By John A Nickolson

The Pembrey parish church is in the Deanery of Kidwelly, the Archdeaconry of Carmarthen and the Diocese of St. David’s. Pembrey is a name derived from the hill or ridge, which overlooks the village and juts out in a southwesterly direction towards Carmarthen Bay. Penbre the Welsh form is precise in its meaning, 'Pen' meaning head or end and 'bre' meaning ridge or hill.

The church is dedicated to St. Illtyd, who it is believed lived about 450 to 525 A.D., during the Age of Saints 5th to 8th Centuries; although not canonised his festival is celebrated on 6th November. It is generally accepted that he was an Amorican, a native of Brittany in Northern France. He was a well-known scholar and teacher at the monastery of Llanilltyd Fawr or Llantwit Major in Glamorganshire, then a famous centre of learning in biblical studies, law, literature and medicine. One of his disciples or followers may have named the original church after him.

During the Age of Saints hundreds of devout and saintly men journeyed throughout Wales teaching and preaching the Christian message and helping the needy. Usually one of them would eventually settle in a particular place and preach to the local people from the most suitable spot, rise or mound; this chosen spot or enclosure gradually came to be regarded as hallowed ground, known in Welsh as 'Llan'. In time a simple crude church of wattle and timber would be established within the enclosure and the saint's name added to the 'Llan', resulting in hundreds of place names in Wales beginning with Llan, as in Llanelli and Llandeilo.

No exact date can be given for the foundation or building of the church, but it is one of several churches in this area mentioned in the 'Liber Landavensis' or 'Book of Llandaff' which dates from about 1066- 71. It also names three priests serving at that time in Pembrey, namely Cadfor, Gwrhi and Sedd. Pembrey parish was then in the diocese of Llandaff, with Herwald as bishop. It was he who consecrated the church and ordained the forementioned three priests. For several hundred years this church in common with other: churches in England and Wales owed allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church until the reign of Henry VIII, who declared himself head of the Anglican or English Church and ended all papal authority.

Before we continue with the histories of Walter Dalton’s descendent's in South Wales, here is a description of some of the place name’s they lived in.

Clog-y-fran: home of John Dalton and Mary Powell in early 18th Century.
Court House: (Cwrt Pen bre): home of the Dalton's in early 18th Century.
Dalton's Point: headland on the north coast of Gower.
Gellygatrog: home of the Morris Family into which the Dalton's married. in particular, Joyce Dalton, daughter of Edward Dalton of Llanelly, married James Morris of Gellygatrog.
Glasfryn: A home of the Beven family into which the Dalton's married.
Hurst House: possible site of Host House where the Powell family lived. Mary Powell of Host House married John Dalton.
Iscoed: home of Sir William Mansell. Richard Dalton, son of James Dalton and Joyce Vaughan, married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Mansell in 1710.
Laugharne: home of Zachary Beven, Sheriff, whose sons, James and Zachariah married
Elizabeth and Hannah Dalton. Also the home of Sir John Powell.
Llanelly: Thomas Dalton, 5th, son of James Dalton and Joyce Vaughan was the Vicar of Llanelly.
Llanddowror: John and Mary Dalton are buried in the Church here.
Pembrey: Walter Dalton and his son, James, among other Dalton’s are buried here.
Penclawdd: James O. Dalton, son of Edward Dalton, of Llanelly is described as "of
Penclawdd House, Gower"
Pwll: possibly the location of Pool House, home of Edward Dalton of Llanelly.
Rhyd-y-Gors: home of Ayliffe Edwards who married James Ormande Dalton.
Rhyd-y-Gors House is just outside Carmarthen, and was still the home of the
Edwards family in 1815. Ayliffe and James Ormande Dalton married in 1700.
St. Clears: nearest village to Clog-y-fran where John Dalton and Mary Powell lived.

Sources: Rodney Dalton of the Dalton Family Research Group of Utah.

Richard and Pauline James; The Carmarthenshire FHS, Wales.

Before we continue with the Dalton pedigree in Wales, lets view some notes from “The History of the Dalton Family in Pembrey, So. Wales” complied by the author while doing research on his Dalton family in Wales.

Some History of the Dalton Family in Pembrey, South Wales:
In 1700, Pembrey parish was situated in the Commote of Kidwelly, and was divided into three hamlets; Llan (Pembrey village), Penrhyn and Liandyry. Pembrey village amounted to about twenty houses. James Dalton, 1650, leased Caldicot Farm and Charles Dalton, 1639, leased a mansion in Pen y bedd.

James Dalton, tenant of Lord Ashburnham at Caldicot Farm, estate at Pembrey in Carmarthenshire, c.1706

Source: English Landed Society in the 18th Century, G E Mingay, 1963

Pembrey Parish in modern days is situated in the South of Carmarthenshire with the Towy Estuary to the West the Loughor Estuary to the East and Burry Estuary to the South, overlooking the Gower Peninsular, with the Parishes of Llanelly to the East, Kidwelly to the North West and Llangendeirne in the North, The Principal town of Pembrey Parish is Burry Port, also the villages of Pembrey, Trimsaran and Pwll.

Source: From the book, "Pembrey and Burry Port" by John A. Nicholson.

Below is the transcription on the tombstone of James Dalton found in the churchyard of St. Illtyd, Pembrey church. It is a flat stone and is inscribed as follows: (It is copied as it is wrote upon the stone)
"Here Lieth the body

of James Dalton of Caldicote

Farm of this parish Gent who

Departed this life on the 15th day

of May Anno Domini 1721 aged

71 years son of Walter Dalton of

the parish of Witney in the

County of Oxford Gent

Here also Lieth the Body of

Joyce the wife of the said J ames

Dalton who Departed this Life the 10th

day of march Anno Domini 1731

Aged 84 Years

Sacred to the Memory of Mrs Dalton

Wife of Edward Dalton of Pool

House in this Parish Gent who

Departed this Life the 14th Day of

April 1 806 aged 87 years a faithful Wife

And tender Parent to a Numerous

Family

Also Sacred to the Memory of the

Said Edward Dalton who departed

This Life on the 10th day of November

1808 aged 91 Years and 6 Months

He was an affectionate Husband a

Tender Parent a Sincere friend and a

Truly pious Christian

The Edward Dalton of Pool House, mention above was a grandson of James Dalton, His father was Edward Dalton of Llanelly. His wife was Jane Dalton, his first cousin, the daughter of Charles Dalton of Court House.

The tomb of James Dalton and his family

At this point in this history of our Dalton family I would like to tell you about the trip of a lifetime I took to these very same locations our Dalton's lived & died at. In late May – early June of 2003, myself and a cousin, Arthur Whittaker had the opportunity to travel to England and Wales to attend the annul yearly meeting of the Dalton Genealogical Society. This meeting was held in a nice hotel in Gover, So. Wales.

After meeting some 42 DGS members, most who are distant cousins, we then traveled to Carmarthen, Pembrey and Kidwelly, places our Dalton's lived. It was a great feeling to walk in the same footsteps our Walter Dalton and his descendants did.

In Pembrey on that Sunday we attended a church service at the same church where these Dalton’s worshiped. What a moving experience! We took many photo’s inside and outside in the graveyard where some of the Dalton’s are buried. - Rodney Dalton.

Some notes about Charles Dalton:
The first son of Walter Dalton III.

From the Muddlescombe Deed Books; Film # 0104420, LDS FHL in SLC Utah.

Item #1083 Nov. 12 1683.
1- John Jenkins of Llanelthy, Gent

2- Charles Dalton, of Pembrey, Gent

Lease of parcels called Parke Maur and Parke Baugh, alias Kay ur ithin and Randyr situate in Penrynne.

Item 1084 Nov. 30 1683.
1- John Jenkins, of Pembrey

2- Charles Dalton, of Pembrey

Lease of a messuage called the Prosperity or Shagog.

On July 14th, 1687, Charles Dalton, agent for the Carmarthenshire property of Lord Ashburnham, compiled a Particular of the Pembrey estates, which listed 29 tenants paying yearly rents.

From the"Cawdor Reference Book" from Golden Grove.

Copy of an actual lease:
"DALTON, Charles of Pembrey (1703)

Dalton, Jane (1704)

DALTON, Charles of Pembrey, Castell Gorfod Deeds 12 (1695)

There is one lease on "30th, April 1688” (Cawdor Volume One) between John Vaughan, Lord of Vaughan, Baron of Emlyn, Knight of the Honorable Order of the Bath, Earl of Carbery and Charles Dalton of Pembrey, Gentleman.

Charles Dalton was the Estate Agent for the Vaughan Family at this time.

"Cawdor Books (Golden Grove)"

1688 30th, April

1- John, Lord of Vaughan, Baron of Emlyn, Knight of the Honorable Order of the Bath, Earl of Carbery. 2- Charles Dalton of Pembrey, Gentleman.

Leased for 99 years or three lives, whichever is shorter, a house and garden within Bayly Walls, a dyehouse near Kidwelly Bridge, and lands at Pain Kidwelly, Skbor Britt Park Mayne, Sundayes Well, Park Sumer Way, Kyver Back, Park Louland, Ridges and Lords lands, in the town and parish of Kydwelly, in consideration of a fine of 20p an annuel rent of 7.7.4d and heriot of the best beast.

Witness: William Davies, Thomas Beale, Dau: Powell - dated 10th, March 1704 wherein a fine of 20p is commuted to 7.10.0d.

10 March 1704

(Same as above but)

This lease was granted upon the surrender of an earlier lease dated 30th April 1688 wherein the fine to be paid was 20p, otherwise conditions same in this lease.

Witness: Jane Dalton, Evan Price, Morgan Davies.

Mayors, Recorders, Chief Stewards and Town Clerks of Kidwelly:

Mayors:
Charles Dalton (Oct. 3, 1698)

Town Clerks:
Charles Dalton (Aug. 19, 1697)

"Pen y bedd, Pembrey".

On a low coastal plain between Pembrey village and the estuary of Gwendraeth Farw, and about 1-1/4 miles n-w of old Cwrt Penbre Mansion. This was a superior farmstead, home of yeomen and minor gentry. It formed part of the Cwrt Penbre estate in the days of the Vaughans who owned it prior to 1642, and then passed by marriage to the Lords Ashburnham. It was held on lease in the 18th century by the Dalton's who acted as agents to the Cwrt estate. Pen y bedd is the mansion of Charles Dalton, Gent.

Kidwelly Parish Registers 1700-1700, 1706, 1707.

Rawliegh Mansell, Esquire and Charles Dalton were Church Wardens.

From the Burgesses Records: 1618-1790 Cydweli Borough (Kidwelly)

June 6, 1686 - Charles Dalton, Gent.

Source: Off the Internet.

From The book; The Ashburnhams and their Pembrey Estate:
Coal has been mined on the western slopes of Pembrey mountain, facing the Pinged hamlet, for a very long time. Two of its main sources were Coed Rhial (Royal Wood) and Coed Marchog (Knight’s Wood); both woods have an ancient association with the Manorial lands of Pembrey Court, which was part of the Norman Lordship of Kidwelly. The coal was mined from a variety of outlets, including bell pits, adit mines, levels and slants, particularly from Coed Rhial.

It is worth noting here that Coed Marchog (rear of Butchers Arms) off the Pinged road is overlooked by the precipitous craggy western face of the famous Garreg Lwyd (Grey Rock). This was a traditional pilgrimage site for local children on Good Friday, for the twin purposes of sliding on the long smooth rock and to gather bunches of blue-bells from the adjacent hill. The rock is known to have been a prehistoric defensive settlement. A fierce fire during the prolonged hot summer of 1976 (which destroyed the Forestry Commission conifers and also the undergrowth on the rock hill) exposed some interesting defensive features. Excavations by the Dyfed Archaeological Trust in 1977 indicated that it was a settlement and that there were some "finds" of at least the "Early Iron Age".

A section of the 1796-1818 Canal, from Pinged Road to Ty Mawr. Although overgrown, the canal is still well defined and the original towpath is now a public footpath.

Details of all coal experts between 1714 and 1721 have been recorded in a ledger by the brothers John and James Dalton, who were then joint estate agents of the Ashburnham Pembrey Estate. All the coal was carried by pack horses, and continued to be so carried for many years afterwards, from Coed Rhial and Coed Marchog and other nearby mines, to the Gwendraeth Fawr River estuary for export in small sailing ships. The vessels carried the coal to ports in Devon, Cornwall, Ireland and France.

Towards the end of the 1700s, Lord Ashburnham (2nd Earl 1724-1812) perhaps enviously inspired by the success of Kymer’s Canal, from Kidwelly to Carway, decided to build a canal from near the coal mines to the Gwendraeth estuary. The canal would enable a far greater amount of coal to be shipped, and would allow Lord Ashburnham to dispense with the slow and costly pack horses and their owners, known as hauliers. All the hauliers fiercely opposed the plan, as they realized that they would lose their livelihood, but in spite of their opposition the building of the canal began in 1796. It started from a field near Waun-cae-Philip, below Coed Farm, off the Pinged to Pembrey road, and continued towards Ty Mawr Farm, then across Pinged Marsh (present R.A.F. and Motor Sport area) and, by 1801, ended at Pill Tywyn on the river estuary. Two shipping places and a dry dock had been built there by 1817. In 1805, a branch canal of 300 to 400 yards to the Ffrwd Farm was added. The canal was 1- ½ miles long with no locks, it cost and the size of its barges are unknown. During the canal’s "life", there was no railway (1852) nor main road (1850) to cross, but several agricultural access bridges were built across the canal. It was not used after 1818, as the mines had become exhausted.”

As you read in the above paragraph, members of the Dalton family were Agents for the Ashburnham Pembrey Estate, so they witnessed quite a few leases. Details of all coal experts between 1714 and 1721 have been recorded in a ledger by the brothers, John and James Dalton.

"Local resident agents administered the Pembrey estate on behalf of the Ashburnhams. Charles Dalton, who lived at Pen y bedd, appears to have started as agent, from about 1656, for the Pembrey Vaughans, but after the marriage of Bridget Vaughan to John Ashburnham, in 1677, he became agent for the Ashburnhams. He was followed by his two sons John and James, who remained as agents until at least 1724. The brothers lived at Caldicot Farm, which is referred to as early as 1282. Caldicot sometimes was also called Cornel Mawr or Tywyn Point, which is the western end of Cefn Sida Sands."

"The brothers John and James Dalton, in a meticulously kept accounts book, recorded about 700 shipments of coal dispatched from the parish between 1714 and 1721. Each vessel's name, Master, home port, weight of cargo and cost was noted. Coal was regularly sent to Devon and Cornwall, Appledore, Northam, Falmouth, Barnstaple, Clovelly and St. Ives. Dublin and France are also mentioned. The main coal source was the Coed Rhial and Brindias areas on the western side of Pembrey mountain, and the coal was carried by pack horses to the Gwendraeth estuary to be loaded on the waiting vessels."

"Detailed records were kept by Lord Ashburnham of all aspects of farming and the other activities on the estates. Terse reminders were sent to the Dalton brothers, his Pembrey agents, that the rents were due and were to be paid in full and punctually every six months, on Lady Day, March 16th and Michaelmas Day, Sept. 29. One such note reads;" Why Mr. Dalton, the way to remove my displeasure is to pay me up all you owe me, on other way can ever do it"

Note: In the about statements it tells us the “The sons of Charles Dalton” I believe this to be wrong, as I have found no names of the sons of Charles Dalton. Our James Dalton was the younger brother of Charles and he and Joyce Vaughan had a son named John and a son named James. I bet these are the two sons that are mentioned.

From the burials list, Parish of Pembry, St. Illtyd:
Extracted from the Original Parish Register.

Charles Dalton lived at Caldicot Farm, Pen y bedd and Tywyn area. Family members are buried in box tombs adjacent to the Rhys, Cilymanellwyd Vault, near south wall of churchyard.

Here is the will of Charles Dalton, 1639-1707:
Charles Dalton 1707 - Pembrey, Carmarthenshire Gentleman

Date of will - 7th, June 1707, Probate date, 23rd, Dec. 1707.

“Charles Dalton of Penbre by his last Will & Testament dated 7th, June 1707, proved 23 Dec. 1707 and witnessed by Ann DeLaNoy, Wm John and Thomas Morgan, Cleric, gave to the poor of Penbre parrish 40/- To the poor of the Town of Kidwely 20/- To his wife Jane, all his real and personal Estate to be divided as she liked among their children, having respect to the eldest son William. He appointed her sole executrix and desired and entreated her not to marry again. He nominated his brother James Dalton and Anthony Morris, Trustees, to require Jane to give them an account of her proceedings in relation to the estate.”

People mentioned:

Cathedral of St. Davids.

Poor of Pembrey.

Town and parish of Kidwelly.

Jane Dalton - wife

William Dalton - eldest son

James Dalton - brother trustee

Anthony Morris - trustee

Executors: Jane Dalton - wife

Witnesses: Ann Delaney, William John, Thos. Morgan, clerk

The Vicar of Pembrey, Thomas Morgan, made the following entry in the Pembrey Church's burial register of 1701-1721. “Dalton Family members are buried in box tombs adjacent to Rhys, Cilymanellwyd Vault, near the south wall of the churchyard.”

Of note is there are photos at the end of this chapter showing these box tombs and this is where the patriarch of the Dalton family, Walter Dalton may also be buried. It is said in a few places that Walter may also be buried in a tomb inside the church.

"Charles Dalton. Gentleman, my dear friend, died around 5 o’clock in the afternoon of the 20, Oct. 1707 and was buried around 6 o’clock on the 23, Oct. 1707."

Thomas Morgan - Vicar.

Source of the above is from the book “Pembrey Parish Church Resisters –

Selected Entries from 1701 to 1900” by John A. Nicholson

More from the book: "Historic Carmarthenshire Homes and their Families" by Major Francis Jones.

"The Daltons of Pen-y-bedd, Pembrey." This was a superior Farmstead home of yeomen and gentry. It formed part of the Cwrt Pen bre estate in the days of the Vaughans who owned it prior to 1642, and then it passed to the Lords Ashburnhams. It was held on lease by the Daltons who acted as agents to the “Cwrt” Estate. "Pen-y-bedd is the mansion of Charles Dalton, gent."

Notes on John Dalton:
The first son of James and Joyce Dalton who was born in 1677, and lived on a farm in St. Clears, Carmarthenshire. This farm was called "Clog-y-fran, and is on a scarp above the river Fenni, 2 -1/2 miles west of St. Clears. John Dalton held a lease on the property, and was a receiver for the Duchy of Lancaster.

Today there is a farm called Clog-y-fran half-way between Whitland and St. Clears and half a mile to the south of the main road.

Across the river and about a mile and a half to the south east of Clog-y-fran lies the village of Llanddowror. It is in the Llanddowror Church that John and Mary Dalton are buried. Their memorial stone is to be found set in the wall to the right of the chancel steps. The inscription reads as follows:

"Here lieth the body of John Dalton, of Clog-y-fran, Gent, who departed this life, the 22nd, of Feb. 1724, in the 47th year of his age, and likewise the body of his wife Mary who died 25th Aug. 1757. They had issue, five children. The Rev. James Dalton, A.M. Esther, Maria, Elizabeth and Hannah."

A Rent Roll of the Manor of the Prior of Kidwelly in the County of Carmarthenshire for the year 1725 and 1726.

Tenants Names:
Executors- James Dalton, house, Garden & 3 parcels of Land.

Executors - John Dalton, house & 4 parcels of Land.

From film #825300 at the LDS FHL in SLC Utah.

Item #13852 Date: April 2, 1709.

1- Zacharis Bevan of Laugharn County, Carmarthen.

2- John Dalton of Penbreyn, Gent.

Bond for the payment of 100 pounds and interest.

Eighteen Sermons of the Rev. Griffith Jones were published including hundreds of letters.

Letter 117 - Jan. 9, 1736-7.

"I will go at your advice on Weds. to Markam, but shall leave Mr. Dalton at Swansea to be your guide. Mr. Rees shall convey the in-closed to Mr. Baily.

The above Mr. Dalton is the son of John Dalton, Esq. who was Rev. Jones chief parishioner. He lived at Clog y fran, an ancient seat of Sir John Phillips, near Llanddowror, and died in 1724. Mrs. Dalton died in 1757. (Mary Powell) Their only son, afterwards the Rev. James Dalton, M.A. Rector of Great Stanmore, Middlesex, was coached for the University of Oxford by Griffith Jones.

"Clog y fran" or St. Clears in modern Welsh spelling, was on a scarp above the river Fenni, 2-1/2 miles west of St. Clears. A Gentry residence from medieval times, it eventually became a farm in the late 18th century. The earliest reference to it occurs in 1335 when William, rector of Llanddowror, and his son William, granted a lease to John Londrey of Clogyvran, of a sandpit and the two roads at Clogyvran, to be held from Michaelmas 1335, while not used by lessors."

Source: From the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society Books Vol. 15:

Here is an extract from the Life of Griffith Jones:
Griffith Jones was a famous preacher in South Wales and who was very close to our Dalton family.

“In these meritorious labours of love, the hands were strengthened by his chief parishioner, John Dalton Esq., who at that time occupied the mansion house at Clog y Fran, an ancient seat of Sir John Phillips and his progenitors; this patriarchal, numerous household, was then a pattern of the primitive devotion, order and regularity, where the fear of God was displayed in goodness, charity, neighborly love, family affection, and

consequent happiness. Mr. Jones assisted in preparing their only son for the ministry; and when the youth left home for the University of Oxford he gave him such very excellent counsel, and prayed so cordially with him, both in the family and in private, that this child of many prayers. (This was the learned Rev. James Dalton M.A., afterwards the Rector of Great Stanmore, Middlesex) Through this family Mr. Griffith Jones became intimate with their benevolent kinswoman, Mrs. Bridget Bevan, the pious and richly-endowed widow of Arthur Bevan Esq., K.C., who honoured him with her friendship, and made him the almoner of her bounty, which was very large.”

"It is interesting to note here that the Rev Griffith Jones was promoted to the Rectory of Llanddowror by Sir John Philips in 1716. Clog-y-Fran, an ancient seat of Sir John was close by. It was occupied at this time by Sir John Dalton Esq. who became a great supporter of Griffith Jones. This School became in 1731 the first Welsh School in the great Welsh movement initiated by Griffith Jones."

Source: Sir John Philipps of Picton, the SPCK and the Charity School Movement in Wales 1699-1737. By Shankland, Thomas[Rev]. From Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion.

The will of John Dalton; 1677- 1727:
John Dalton - Clogiven, St. Clears, Carmarthenshire, 1727.

John Dalton of Clogyvran, in the parish of St, Clears, by the last will made the 22 Feb. 1724-5, proved 3 June 1727, and witnessed by G. Jones, Cleric, Evan Owen, and James Beven. He gave all his goods together with the several leases of Clogyvran, and Clanygorp, which he obtained & held of Sir John Philipps, Bart. To his beloved wife Mary, 7 he committed to her the care of their children, to educade, maintain, settle and portion, as her means would admit. He appointed her to be sole executrix.

People mentioned were:
Mary Dalton - wife. Leasehold of land in Clogvran, Lanygor

Jno Phillips, lessor, Baronet and minor children.

Executors was Mary Dalton, wife.

Witnesses; Geo. Jones, clerk, Evan Owen, James Bevan.

Notes on Richard Dalton, the son of James and Joyce Dalton:
Richard Dalton was sheriff in Pembrey Parish in 1729.

From the Will of John Bonvill, parish of Pembrey 1747:

"Also a house and the lands thereto belongs in the parish of Pembrey which I bought of the widow of Richard Dalton Attorney at Law now in the tenure of David Hopkin."

There is an Indenture from 1725 made between Richard Dalton and Mary his wife of the first and Richard Dalton the younger son of the second part and Arthur Bevan, Esq. of the third part.

Also a copy of indenture of a lease for 1000 years for driving coal vain dated March of ???? made between Richard Dalton the elder and Mary his wife and Richard Dalton the younger of the first part, James Dalton of the second part and said Earl of Ashburnham by the name of John, Lord Ashburnham, of the third part.

Previous to 1922 the Ashburnham Estate controlled 3,300 Acres of Pembrey Parish comprising the greater part of Pembrey Village and consisted of:
25 Freehold Farms

17 Compact & Choice Village Farms

55 Houses with land & small holdings

35 Cottages & Gardens

180 Freehold Rents

65 Choice Building Sites

A Valuable Salt Marsh

3 Fine Residences (Court Farm, Pembrey House & Rock House)

The sale of the Estate came about when the 6th Earl, Thomas Earl of Ashburnham who in 1922 was in his 67 year, and had no children to continue the line of the Ashburnhams after his death, obviously decided to sell his estate before his death. He died without issue on 12 May 1924 when the title became extinct, and long connection of Pembrey with the Ashburnhams came to an end.

Until 1677 the Lords of the Manor were the Vaughan’s. Walter Vaughan lived at Pembrey in 1653, he married Alice Bond daughter of Thomas Bond and sister of George Bond of Ogbourn, Wiltshire.

Walter died in 1660, and of several children, only one survived Bridget. Bridget sole heiress of Pembrey and last of the Vaughans, married John Ashburnham of Sussex, in Westminster Abbey on the 14 July 1687, when the Manor of Pembrey became the Lordship of Ashburnham. They lived at the Sussex seat, with occasional visits to the Welsh estates.

John Ashburnham died at Bloomsbury on 21 January 1709 aged 44. Bridget died at Ashburnham House, aged 59 on 12 May 1719.

Above information by; Carmarthenshire FHS 1993, 2002.
Source: Richard James

The following extract are taken from transactions of “The 29 years of the Calvinistic Methodist Historical Society Book”. It is written in Welsh and was transcribed by two nice ladies in Wales.

TEULUR DALTONIAID, PEMBRE, SIR GAERFYRDDIN.

gan Miss Mary Clement, m.a. Llanelli.

"Bu cyfeiriadau mynych at Edward Dalton, Llanelli ynnetholiadau o Ddyddiaduron Howell Harris sy’n ymddangos ar hyn o bryd yn y Cylchgrawn Hanes.

Daeth teul'r Daltoniaid o Loegr i Pembre, Sir Gaerfyddin, tua chanol yr ail ganrif ar bymtheg.

Ye oedd Edward Dalton yn bumed mad i James Dalton, Bargyfreithiwr, a fu farw Mai 5ed, 1721.

Ei fam oedd Joyce Vaughan (un o Fychaniaid Trimsaran neu Lanelli yu ol pob tebyg) a bu farw ar y iofed o Fawrth, 1731, yn 84 mlwydd oed.

Walter Dalton, Witney. Prynodd ystad yn Mhembre. Profwyd ei ewyuys yn 1666."

Here are two English translations:
Teulu'e Daltoniaid Pembre, Sir Gaerfyrddin. Story of the Dalton family of Pembrey, Carmarthenshire.

The Dalton family came from England to Pembrey in the mid 17th century. Edward Dalton the 5th son of James Dalton Barrister who died 5th May 1721, his mother was Joyce Vaughan one of the Trimsaran Vaughan’s who died on 10th March 1731, 84 years old. Walter Dalton of Whitney bought an estate in Pembrey. His will was proved in 1666.

Source: Pauline James, Carmarthenshire FHS. 1999.

Here is translation # 2
THE DALTON FAMILY, PEMBREY, CARMARTHENSHRE

by Miss Mary Clement MA, Llanelli.

There have been many references to Edward Dalton, Llanelli, in extracts of

"Nowell Harries's Visits to Birmingham, 1747 and 1763. Extracts from his Diaries", that can be seen presently in the History magazine. The Daltons came to Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, from England, in the middle of the seventeenth century. Edward Dalton was the fifth son of James Dalton, Barrister, who died May 5, 1721. His mother was Joyce Vaughan (one of the Fychan’s from Trimsaran so it is said), and she died on March 10, 1731, aged 84. Walter Dalton, Witney, bought an estate in Pembrey. His will was proved in 1666.

Source: Sian Bowi, Member of the Carmarthenshire FHS, Wales.

There is another 12 pages of this book in Welsh that I am having transcribed.

Below is Research from the Carmarthenshire County Historical Society, Wales Richard and Pauline James, Owners.

I have connected all but a few of these Dalton's and their In-laws to our Dalton family and added it to my Dalton Genealogy database. Also notice that our Dalton's marries first cousins! I have copies of most of the Wills listed below.

SOUTH WALES MARRIAGE BONDS & FIATS, 1612-1800:

year name spouse

July 2 1733 Mary Dalton John Bevan

Apr. 2 1737 James O. Dalton Letitia Dalton

Mar. 13 1738 Anne Dalton

Mar. 14 1739 Edward Dalton Jane Dalton

Mar. 14 1739 Jane Dalton Edward Dalton

Dec. 9 1741 Hannah Dalton Zachariah Bevan

Nov. 5 1743 Elizabeth Dalton Mr. James

May 23 1744 Edward Dalton

Oct. 30 1751 Francis Dalton

Nov. 7 1752 Dorothy Dalton

Aug. 28 1753 John Dalton

Feb. 14 1767 Ayliffe Dalton Edward Dalton

Mar. 19 1767 Richard Dalton

Aug. 16 1773 James Dalton

Dec. 16 1795 Margaret Dalton

Feb. 12 1799 Jane Dalton

CARMARTHENSHIRE MARRIAGES, 1745-1837:

year name bride parish

1711 Thomas Dalton Elizabeth Davies Llanelly

1744 Edward Dalton Elizabeth Bevan Llanelly

Llanelli, St. Elli Baptism Records:

date name status father

Nov, 4 1722 Elizabeth Dalton daughter of Edward Dalton

June 4 1723 Walter Dalton son of Edward Dalton

Pembrey Parish Marriage Records, 1701-1895:

date bride groom

Sept. 12 1710 Ann Dalton James Williams

Mar. 4 1714 Joan Dalton Jacob Butler

Oct. 12 1752 Dorothy Dalton Charles Hugh

Dec. 31 1799 Jane Dalton Edward Mansell

St. Davids - Testators Wills, 1564-1858:

year name parish

1666 Walter Dalton Pembrey

1707 Charles Dalton Pembrey

1721 Edward Dalton Llanelli

1727 John Dalton St. Clears

1737 Thomas Dalton St. Clears

1750 Priscilla Dalton Carmarthen

1761 James O. Dalton Llanelli

1766 Edward Dalton Llanelli

1823 Silvanus Dalton Swansea

1839 Thomas Dalton Cruwear, Pembroke

1856 Margaret Dalton Swansea

Baptisms - Carmarthenshire County:

date name father

Jan. 10 1738 Thomas Dalton John Dalton

Sept. 13 1739 Thomas Dalton Richard Dalton

Feb. 25 1770 James Dalton Edward Dalton

Mar. 19 1772 Mary Dalton Edward Dalton

Mar. 2 1777 Francis Dalton Edward Dalton

Jan. 1 1781 Susanna Dalton Edward Dalton

Sept. 26 1783 John Dalton Edward Dalton

Llanelli, St. Elli burial records, 1693-1847:

date name age status

June 20 1723 Walter Dalton infant

Feb. 4 1741 Mary Dalton

Apr. 15 1757 Elizabeth B. 69 Wife of Edward Dalton

Feb. 13 1761 James Dalton 82

Aug. 6 1766 David J. Dalton 81

June 28 1783 Mrs. Mary Dalton 77

Carmarthenshire Master Burial Index 1700-1840:

date name age parish

June 20 1723 Walter Dalton St. Peter

July 24 1738 William Dalton Llanelly

Feb. 6 1740 Thomas Dalton St. Peter

Mar. 4 1741 Mary Dalton Llanelly

Mar. 10 1742 Richard Dalton St. Peter

Aug. 15 1750 Priscilla Dalton St. Peter

Apr. 5 1757 Elizabeth Dalton 69 Llanelly

Feb. 13 1761 James Dalton 82 Llanelly

Aug. 15 1765 Elinor Dalton St. Peter

June 8 1766 David J. Dalton 81 Llanelly

Mar. 23 1779 Mary Dalton St. Peter

June 28 1783 Mrs. Mary Dalton 77 Llanelly

Nov. 14 1808 Mr. Dalton 91 Pembrey

Apr. 18 1806 Mrs. Dalton Pembrey

Mar. 8 1833 Mary Dalton 72 Pembrey

Carmarthenshire, Wales - Master Baptisms Database - A to J.

Surname – DALTON

31 records

Source: Carmarthenshire FHS.

Year Date First name - Surname Father - Mother Parish

1756 23/11 Thomas DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1753 23/10 Thomas DALTON Rev. Thomas Pembrey

1732 07/05 Thomas DALTON James - Mary Pembrey

1714 06/07 Thomas DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Pembrey

1742 30/11 Richard DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1719 31/03 Richard DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Pembrey

1761 17/04 Mary DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1741 23/04 Mary DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1711 17/06 Mary DALTON John - Mary Pembrey

1707 03/02 Mary DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Pembrey

1747 19/10 Margaret DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1711 30/06 Margaret DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Pembrey

1712 08/04 Laetitia DALTON James - Ayliffe Pembrey

1709 03/01 Joyce DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Pembrey

1751 31/07 John DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1750 07/09 John DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1706 14/05 John DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1753 07/11 Jane DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1748 25/10 James DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1717 18/06 Hannah DALTON John - Mary Pembrey

1720 03/01 George DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Pembrey

1709 05/03 Esther DALTON John - Mary Pembrey

1715 17/08 Elizabeth DALTON John - Mary Pembrey

1744 05/02 Edward DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1717 08/04 Edward DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Pembrey

1702 05/01 Dorothy DALTON Charles - Mary Pembrey

1759 28/08 Charles DALTON Edward - Jane Pembrey

1715 21/12 Anne DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Pembrey

1708 21/12 Anne DALTON John - Mary Pembrey

1723 06/04 Walter DALTON Edward – Elizabeth Llanelly St. Elli

1722 11/04 Elizabeth DALTON Edward - Elizabeth Llanelly St. Elli

High Sheriffs of Carmarthenshire 1552-1781:

Starting in the year of 1552 the first Vaughan was appointed High Sheriff of

Carmarthenshire, Wales. Other names relating to our Dalton's are also shown.

Note: Many of these names are listed in my FTM database.

Surnames listed: Vaughan, Mansel, Bowen, Bevan and Edwards.

A new sheriff was appointed every year.

1552 Sir John Vaughan of Whitland

1553 David Vaughan of Kidwelly

1557 Walter Vaughan of Pembrey Court

1559 David Vaughan of Kidwelly

1563 John Vaughan of Golden Grove

1564 Sir John Vaughan of Whitland

1566 Thomas Vaughan of Pembrey Court

1570 Thomas Vaughan of Pembrey Court

1572 Richard Vaughan of Whitland

1575 Griffith Vaughan of Trimsaran

1585 Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove

1587 Griffith Vaughan of Trimsaran

1595 Francis Mansel of Muddlescomb

1605 Sir John Vaughan of Golden Grove

1611 Francis Mansel of Muddlescomb

1615 Morris Bowen of Llechdwnny

1616 William Vaughan of Torycoed

1620 Sir Henry Vaughan of Derwydd

1626 Walter Vaughan of Lianelly

1631 Richard Vaughan of Cwrt Derllys

1634 Lewis Bevan of Penycoed, St. Clears

1635 Thomas Vaughan of Cwmgwili

1636 David Vaughan of Trimsaran

1643 John Vaughan of Plasgwyn

1659 John Vaughan of Llanelly

1661 Philip Vaughan of Trimsaran

1662 Sir Edward Mansel, Bart, of Muddlescomb

1673 William Bevan of Penycoed, St. Clears

1679 Rawleigh Mansel of Killay, Glamorganshire

1683 Walter Vaughan of Lianelly

1685 Edward Vaughan of Penybanc

1686 Richard Mansel of Iscoed

1689 Edward Mansel of Trimsaran

1703 Zachary Bevan of Laughame

1714 Rees Edwards of Llanddeusant

1729 Sir Edward Vaughan of Trimsaran

1730 Rawleigh Mansel of Cwrt, Pembrey

1735 Thomas Bevan of Penycoed

1746 Eugene Vaughan of Plasgwyn

1773 Gwynne Vaughan of Dolgwm

1781 Sir William Mansel, Bart, of Iscoed

Source: Richard James, Carmarthenshire FHS, Wales.

Now let’s continue on with the Dalton pedigree in Wales.

17 - JAMES DALTON; of Caldicot in the parish of Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, the 5th, son of the preceding Walter Dalton, died at aged 71 in 1721 leaving issue by Joyce, his wife, who died 14 Mar 1731, aged 84, both being buried at Pembrey.

Children:

1. John, of Pembrey.

2.James Ormonde, of Gillyvychan, Esq., who married Ayliffe, daughter of John Edwards, Esq., of Rhydygors and left issue.

(Note: His son James married Mary Bonvill, and who’s son Thomas Dalton come

to America sometime between 1750 and 1760)

3. Charles, of Court, died single.

4. Richard, Attorney at Law and Sheriff in 1729.

5. Margaret, married Anthony Morris.

6.Edward, Collector of Llanelly, had issue, John born 1706, Mary born 1707,

Joyce born 1709, Margaret born 1711, Thomas born 1714, Anne born 1715,

Edward born 1717, of Pool House, died 14 Nov 1808 aged 91 years 6 months.

Richard born 1719, and George born 1720. The last two both died young.

7. Thomas in Holy Orders, died single.

The HISTORY of JAMES DALTON, 1650-1721:
James Dalton, the fifth child of Walter Dalton III, and Jane Needham was born in Curbridge, a little village just west of Witney, Oxfordshire England. James had 9 brothers and sisters. James Dalton was only 1 year old when his father had to pack up and leave the Witney area after the defeat of the Royalist forces at the Battle of Worcester in Sept. of 1651.

James Dalton was only 1 year-old when he took the long and terrible journey through one of the worst winters in history, where three of James’s brothers died during the trip, little James and his family arrived in South Wales and settled near Kidwelly. Some time later the Dalton Family moved to Pembrey, which is only 5 miles from Kidwelly. Pembrey in the 1700's only had about 20 houses, and most of these were farms, Pembrey today is still a small place, the old Church is still standing and there are 3 public houses, one paper shop, one small store, and that is all.

The History of Pembrey Court or Court farm, Pembrey:
On a slope overlooking the western approach to the Village of Pembrey was Court Farm. This manor was held by the Butler family as early as 1361, and remained in their hands until the early part of the 16th Century when it passed by the marriage of the Butler heiress, to the family of Vaughan of Bredwardine and Dunraven.

Our Dalton family has a long history with this farm and Manor, having been tennets and Estates Agents for the Lord Ashburnham family. We can believe that some of our Dalton members actually lived in part of this very large Manor house.

Walter Vaughan of Pembrey Court was High Sheriff in 1557, and his son Thomas served the same office in 1566 and 1570. The Vaughans in due course ended without male heirs and the mansion and estate came to Bridget Vaughan, sole heiress, who married John Ashburnham of Sussex in 1677, and thereafter remained in her Ashburnham descendants. Ashburnham made a tour of his wife's extensive Welsh estates in 1687, and noted in his journal that he had seen Pembrey House, which is an old stone house, large enough, and kept in pretty good repair. Two years later he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ashburnham. The third Baron was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Ashburnham in 1730.

The original caput of the manor of Pembrey was probably the mound castle now called 'the Twmpath' which is located about a mile and a half to the north-east of Burry Port Station. This tumulus is 100 feet in diameter, with a ditch about 12 feet wide and about 5 feet deep surrounding it.

The Twmpath has extensive views, but at some stage it became inconvenient and the caput of the manor was relocated to the site of the present Pembrey Court (Pen + bre meaning the top or end of a hill). The manor house is also known locally as Court Farm or simply Court or, in Welsh, as Cwrt Penbre or Cwrt-y-dre.

This location is about half a mile north of the church of Pembrey, next to the present Mountain Road that climbs up towards Penllwyn Uchaf and the uplands of Mynydd Penbre (Pembrey Mountain). However, Pembrey Court was originally approached by means of the Ffordd Fawr (the Big Road) which now forms the public footpath immediately below the house and which exits at Danlan Road, Pembrey.

A knight's service to his lord consisted of: aids, relief, wardship, marriage and escheat and some of these feudal obligations were recorded at the Court of Foreignry, held at Kidwelly, where the jurors returned that:

The manor of Pembrey was held under the lord of Kidwelly by military service of one knight's fee; John Boteler was to do suit of court monthly 'at the Court of Foreignry of Kedewelly'; the lord of Kidwelly was to have wardship and marriage; in time of war John Boteler was to provide five archers to follow the lord so far as the limit of the 'Patrie' (ie the lordship) for one day according to custom; tenants were to pay 10 shillings to the lord by the hands of the Beadle of Penrhyn; and the nativi were to give a day's ploughing to the lord at 2 pence and 1 penny for food, and to help with the hay for one day.

Near Pembrey Court is an open strip of land locally known as the Llathed Fain, or Narrow Yard. There are three such fields in the parish of Pembrey, and two on Court land. The one near the house is one furlong long by one chain (220 yards) wide and was granted or leased by the lord of the manor to a favoured yeoman or servant, who marked-out his new territory with a hedge.

The John Butler lineage and its extinction with Anne Butler:
The Butlers favoured the Christian name John and no less than six John Butlers succeeded each other to the Pembrey and Dunraven estates.

Members of the Butler family married into other key Norman families in south Wales, including the de Londres, de la Bere, Tuberville and Cantelupe families.

The Butler link with Pembrey Court ended when Anne Butler, daughter of John Butler and Jane Basset of Beaupre, in Glamorgan, married Sir Richard Vaughan who became Sheriff of Bredwardine in Herefordshire (originally Breconshire) in 1530, and who was a descendent of the illustrious Moreiddig Warwyn, Lord of Brycheiniog.

After the marriage, Sir Richard went to live with his wife at Dunraven Castle where their son, Walter, was born in 1500.

The Vaughan family and Pembrey Court:
Sir Richard Vaughan built the present Pembrey Court as a wedding gift for Sir Walter in about 1530.

Evidence suggests that the Vaughan's L-shaped house was built eight feet away from the Butler's original first floor hall and that the two buildings were later fused into one dwelling by the addition of a two-story porch wing on the south side.

Sir Walter Vaughan was High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1557 and had two sons, Thomas and Charles. Thomas succeeded to the Bredwardine, Dunraven and Pembrey estates upon the death of Sir Walter, in 1578. At that time the estates had a yearly value of £1,500, and to them Thomas later added the Fallersdon estate in Wiltshire.

Thomas became a justice of the peace and High Sheriff (1566 and 1570) for Carmarthenshire, and had two sons, Walter and John, who lived on the Fallersdon and Dunraven estates.

As the eldest son, Walter inherited the Vaughan estates. After Walter's death George, his eldest son by his second wife, succeeded him.

Sir George Vaughan was a keen Royalist. In 1648 he was imprisoned by Cromwell at Southwark, in London, and fined the huge sum of £2,609 by the Parliamentary party for 'delinquency'. The fine meant that Sir George had to sell the Dunraven estate for £600 in 1649 and thereafter the Fallersdon estate.

In 1651 the Parliamentary party also confiscated the Pembrey estate, which was only returned when the monarchy was restored.

Sir George died without any legal issue, and so his younger brother, the Reverend Frederick Vaughan, succeeded to the family estates. Frederick was blinded by smallpox not long after birth and lived at Gussage in Dorset and Salisbury.

Frederick's son, Walter, lived at Pembrey Court and Porthaml mansion. Walter married Alice, daughter of Thomas Bond, and they had a daughter, Bridget, who was born in 1660. In 1661 Walter died (one year before his father) and in 1665 Alice married William Ball, a London lawyer of Grey's Inn, who became High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1682.

William Ball died in 1701, leaving Bridget Vaughan as the sole heiress of Pembrey Court.

During the reign of Charles II, when portraiture was fashionable, the painters Van Dyke, Lely and Reynolds passed through Pembrey Court, and were kept busy painting portraits of members of the Vaughan family.

One of Pembrey Court's more impressive architectural features are the seven tall chimneys, made up of five single stacks and two diagonal twin stacks.

These reflect a house of substance with many hearths, but the 1672 Hearth Tax records the house as having only two fireplaces.

As an economy measure, many of the original fireplaces were blocked up in order to avoid paying Hearth Tax at the then substantial rate of two shillings per hearth.

On 22 July 1677, Bridget Vaughan married John Ashburnham of Ashburnham, Sussex, who became Baron Ashburnham on 20 May 1689.

The Ashburnham family had started out as modest Sussex gentry, but within a hundred years they had acquired extensive estates in Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Lancashire and Wales.

John Ashburnham was Member of Parliament for Hastings on three occasions, and was Custos Rotulorum of Breconshire. The family lived in Sussex, but paid occasional visits to Wales.

On a visit to Pembrey Court on Sunday 3 July 1687, John Ashburnham noted in his diary:-
"I saw Pembrey House (Court), which is an old stone house, large enough and kept in pretty good repair. The land hereabouts is very good."

The blocking up of the windows: A
In 1697 the government introduced a window tax of three shillings per window, and in order to reduce the amount of tax payable, the Ashburnham estate arranged for many of Pembrey Court's stone and wooden mullion windows to be blocked up.

Window tax was repealed in 1851, but the large windows on the west of the house have remained blocked to the present day.

The Mansel and Dalton families:
After the death of William Ball, Pembrey Court was leased to Rawleigh Mansel of Beaulieu (in Llangunnor parish) and was clearly marked on Kitchen's map of 1701 as 'Court, Mansel, Esq.'

Rawleigh Mansel was High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1679 and, according to The Red Dragon (1886) he went to live at Pembrey Court:
"Thoroughly repairing that old mansion for the purpose, and lived there for three or four years, and died there on 27 November 1702 in his 73rd year"

Rawleigh Dawkin Mansel succeeded his grandfather to the lease of Pembrey Court, and during the latter period of his tenancy the house was divided into two units. Walls were added or removed, several doors and windows were blocked and new ones opened, additional stairs were fitted and at least two attic rooms were added.

Rawleigh Dawkin Mansel was High Sheriff for Carmarthenshire in 1730 and died 'under the agonizing pains of the Gout' in his 44th year in 1749.

After the end of the Mansel's lease, the Pembrey estate was looked after by a series of estate agents, stewards and water bailiffs. They were also responsible for the disposal of wrecks and cargoes found along the coast.

The agents included three generations of the Dalton family, who appear to have come from Whitney in Oxfordshire, and some of whom are buried in Pembrey churchyard.

John Ashburnham died at his London residence in Southampton Street, Bloomsbury, on 21 January 1709-10 aged 44. His eldest son, William, succeeded him as second baron but died of smallpox on 16 June 1710.

The Ashburnham estate then passed to his brother John, who became third baron.

On 14 May 1730, John became Viscount St Asaph of the Principality of Wales and Earl of Ashburnham (a viscount being one step up in rank from the lowest rank of baron). He died on 10 March 1736-7 at the age of 49 and his only son, John, succeeded to the estate as second Earl.

The second Earl died on 8 April 1812 aged 87 and his only son, George Ashburnham, succeeded as third Earl.

In 1813, George Ashburnham took legal action to bar the entail of his Pembrey estate so that he could regain the freehold.

After that he could mortgage the estate, which he did on 15 June 1824, together with his other Carmarthenshire and Breconshire properties.

Lord Lovaine and Robert Vyner, Esq. of Gautby, Lincolnshire were the mortgagees, and the loan was £19,403,4s, 6d.

George Ashburnham died on 27 October 1830 and his son Bertram became fourth Earl.

When visiting the Pembrey estates George Ashburnham usually stayed at Pembrey House, which the family had built on the slope to the north east of Pembrey church in 1823. The house was occasionally let, with rooms being reserved for family use.

In 1831 Mr. Edward Driver, a surveyor, made a "Survey and Valuation of the Manor of Pembrey and Estate" on behalf of Bertram Ashburham.

At this time, Pembrey Court comprised 194 acres plus 12 acres of marshland, tenanted by Mr John Thomas (later succeeded by his son Hugh) who paid a yearly rent of £88.10s.

Mr John Thomas occupied a part of the mansion, whilst a Mr. T.E. Biederman occupied the other part.

Mr. Driver reported as follows:
"One portion of the Old Court House is occupied by Mr. Biederman. The other portion comprises a very good large kitchen, small cellar, old Entrance Hall, a parlour not inhabitable but now undergoing repairs and filling up, and a new staircase has been lately made to lead to two new formed bedrooms. At the back of the House is a range of offices comprising (besides some held by Mr. Biederman) a dairy and a cheese loft. A newly erected cowhouse and stable with slated roof, and enclosed yard. Adjoining the House is a good barn with cowhouse; coach-house at the end, hereafter described, and held by Mr. Biederman; a stock yard with cowhouse, and another barn, slated, and a lean-to carthouse, thatched, at the back…"

Later in the survey, Mr. Driver wrote:
"Part of the Court House and buildings, heretofore generally used by the Agent, but for the last 3 or 4 years was occupied by his brother and T. E. Biederman. The buildings comprise the old Court House, and was formerly a good residence; it is stone built with slated roof; part has been kept for the accommodation of the Agent to the Estate, and this is now occupied, and has so been for 3 or 4 years by Mr T. E. Biederman, and consists of the large principal room, now subdivided, leaving a good Parlor, a bedroom without a fireplace, and a passage leading to another bedroom; another bedroom, kitchen, and small scullery, and a small bedroom for a servant; a cellar under a part; coalhouse and room over; and a coach-house at the end of the barn; a stable in two divisions for four horses: all the above occupied by Mr. Biederman."

The Tithe Schedule and map dated 7 June 1839 shows Pembrey Court with 209 acres, a slight increase in landholding since the survey of Mr Driver, with Mr. John Thomas as tenant.

Generations of the Thomas family had tenanted Pembrey Court, from around 1738 to 1902, and most of their baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded in the Pembrey church registers

The enterprising Thomas family undertook a number of different activities. They were farmers, butchers, shopkeepers, and ship owners. David Thomas was also well known in the locality as a self-taught bonesetter.

The 1878 Ordnance Survey map includes the first known ground plan of Pembrey Court.

The map indicates Pembrey Court as an L-shaped structure, with two wings enclosing a courtyard in the rear. Nearby, on the south side, is the barn. A large enclosed garden is outlined together with the Court Wood (said to have been planted by the Vaughans).

Roof alterations at Pembrey Court;

During its early period, Pembrey Court had a high, open trussed roof, visible from the floor of the main hall and of an elaborate design, with double roll and hollow moulding.

Bredwardine Court and Porthaml Mansion, two other ancestral homes of the Vaughans, have similar roofs.

Unfortunately, part of the original roof of Pembrey Court was lowered and flattened during alterations made during the 1800s, and the carved ornamental detail of the original trussed roof was lost.

In addition, the original stone tiles, which needed a more steeply pitching roof, were replaced with Caernarvon slates (as reported in Mr. Driver's survey), and the roof valleys were finished off with lead flashing.

In the returns of Owners of Land in 1873, Bertram Ashburnham is shown as having substantial estates in Wales, with 5,685 acres producing an estimated annual rental of £3,547 in Carmarthenshire, and 1,881 acres producing an estimated annual rental of £1,963 in Breconshire. In Sussex, the family seat, 14,051 acres produced £13,069.

Bertram Ashburnham died on 22 June 1878 aged 80. His eldest of seven sons, also named Bertram, succeeded as fifth Earl and actively participated in the development of industry in Pembrey. He died in 1913 leaving an only child, Lady Mary Cathleen Charlotte Ashburnham.

The title thus passed to his younger brother, Thomas, the sixth and last Earl of Ashburnham, who had married Maria Elizabeth Anderson of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada in 1903. By 1897 the mortgage debt on the Welsh properties had increased to £87,600 and in order to repay the loan, the Porthaml estate was sold in 1913 and the Pembrey estate in 1922.

Thomas Ashburnham died without issue on 12 May 1924, leading to the extinction of the Ashburnham title.

By 1902 the last of the Thomas family had left Pembrey Court and, in about 1902, William Bonnell (senior) and family became the new tenants, and the house once again became a single dwelling.

The Bonnell family farmed Pembrey Court until August 1922, when the whole of the Ashburnham Estate was sold.

At the auction, Mr William Bonnell (senior) purchased Penllwyn Uchaf Farm and thereafter vacated Pembrey Court.

Mr James Butler of Theorchy bought Pembrey Court at the auction of the Ashburnham estate in 1922.

The manor was then let to the family of Mr Sidney Thomas. They remained as tenants after the death of Mr Butler, in 1937, and the purchase of the manor by Mr Charles Harding from the Links, Pembrey.

Mr Harding bought Pembrey Court as a business proposition. He developed the Garreg Lwyd quarries, located on Court land, as a brickworks, and used material from the quarry for his brick mixture.

The brickwork project failed when the brick making machinery ran into technical difficulties. Probably as a result of these activities, a large front section of the quarry collapsed.

In 1942 Mr Harding sold Pembrey Court to Mr William Bonnell (Junior).

However, the Thomas family remained as tenants until about 1948, after which Pembrey Court was left empty.

Mr William Bonnell (Junior) continued to live at Penllwyn Uchaf Farm until his death in January 1962 and during this time Pembrey Court was used for storage.

On the death of Mr William Bonnell (Junior), Pembrey Court passed to his younger brother, Mr Owen Bonnell. He died in January 1976 and the Court then passed to his nephew, Mr John Bonnell Davies, who remains the present owner.

Source of above article is: The National Trust of Wales. www.sirgaerfyrddin.com/history

Information about the Pembrey area:
Copied from the web pages of the Carmarthenshire Historical Society.

The Landscape from Llanelli via Pwll, Burry Port (which was known only as Towyn Bach at the time) Pembrey and on to Kidwelly, has changed considerably during the last two hundred years. Mainly because of man’s will to build harbors and change river courses during this time, and the receding seas from this part of the world (whereas on the East coast of the United kingdom the sea is reclaiming the land) have all helped to change the coastline of the Burry Estuary to a shallow inlet barely navigable except at high water.

The sea at Stradey used to reach what is now known as Stradey Bridge at high tide and almost up to Pembrey road as far as Pwll which was a Rabbit warren, A road ran from Pwll to Achddu which was basically a dirt track, this was the main road, there was a pedestrian track over the burrows to PwH there was also a track from the main road from Pwll to the sheep pastures at Towyn Bach, this is now called Church Road and Elkington Road similar, from the sheep pastures (the sheep pastures stretched from Dafad-ty (meaning sheep fold) to the Derwydd in the West) at Towyn Bach another track lead to the Derwydd and farther onward to Pembrey Village. From the end of PembreyMountain West as far as the Gwendraeth River was a long stretch of sand hills called Towyn Mawr and Towyn Canol which were littered with rabbit burrows. A part of the these low lands (flats) were being worked as farms named 'Towyrf’, 'Pen-y-Bedd' and 'Pwll- du'. The shortest way to Kidwelly was over the burrows to the point where the river Gwendraeth was crossed by a ford, this ford was used until the Commissioners Bridge was built in 1842, which is still known as 'Pont-y-Rhyd (Bridge over the ford).

From the end of Pembrey Village (where the Butchers Arms now stands) to Kidwelly and as far as Lldyry were known as the the “Pinged Marshes” which were flooded at high tides, Further East and South of Towyn Bach (Now Burry Port) were the ‘Bacau’ or marsh lands which was covered by the sea at high tides.

Pembrey Village was still very small and mainly centered around St. Illtyd's Church with farms scattered around, further along towards 'Towyn Bach' was 'Gors Farm and further north only a few farms existed and some cottages on the Graig. The whole of Pembrey Parish only had 1455 inhabitants in 1801, and LLanelli Parish only 2972, of the 2972 inhabitants of Llanelli Parish in 1801, it is stated that in 1795 less than 500 people lived in Llanelli Town. In comparison Pembrey Parish had 6448 and Llanelli Parish 32,034 inhabitants in 1891.

Although 1800 seemed to be the turning point of Carmarthenshires introduction into the Industrial Revolution, Industrial development did not arrive overnight, intact industry had arrive in Trimsaran as early as 1540 in the shape of coal mining and shortly after at Pinged. A small Brewery was started in Llanelli in 1700, later to become Buckleys Brewery. Kidwelly lower tinplate works was founded in 1734, and in 1766 'Kyrners' Canal was built at Kidwelly, which was the first Canal in Wales. A Dock was also constructed at Kidwelly in 1766, Achddu Mill was built in 1770, the 'Wem' iron-foundry was established by Yaldon in 1784 in Llanelli, and by 1797 Eleven Coal Pits were mentioned in the Llanelli area. All the above industry had arrived before 1800 on the north coast of the Burry Inlet, between Llanelli and Kidwelly, and after 1800 the industry was about to change the way local inhabitants had lived for hundreds of years, and without doubt the Industrial Revolution changed the shape of the Burry Inlet Coastline.

Before 1815, West Wales had two Mail Coaches Daily: One from London Via Gloucester, Brecon. and Carmarthen Another from London, via Bristol, Swansea, Pontardulais, and Carmarthen. Llanelli was not on the main line from London to Carmarthen, because at that time the Loughor Bridge had not been built, and Llanelli was a long way off the main route. Local coach services did run via Llanelli, the route was Swansea, Pontardulais, Llanelli, Carmarthen and back. The Coach fare to Swansea was 3 shillings and to Carmarthen 4 shillings. Poor people obviously could not afford to travel by Coach, they would either walk, or travel by stage wagon, if they ever traveled at all, they would then sleep in the straw and hay at the inns they came across on there travels.

Canals were the best means of transportation, as they could transport large amounts of merchandise from one place to another reasonably quickly compared to the horse and cart on uneven unkempt roads which were not very good at all.

The first canal was the Kymer Canal. Thomas Kymer Originally from Pembroke obtained permission to build a Canal from Kidwelly Quay to Pwllyllygod, which is near Carway. The Canal was said to have opened in 1769, from then until 1800 Kidwelly appears to have grown as a small port and shipbuilding town.

The Earl of Ashburnham Canal started at a coal level at Ffrwd near Pembrey, with a shorter branch built later at Coed, and served also by tramroads to other collieries near Pembrey, from there it ran straight to the far side of Kidwelly-Llanelli road, and then turned sharply to take it into what was later called Swan Pool Drain, and on to a creek called Till Towyd on the south side of the Gwendraeth Fawr. This Canal was built around about 1796.

It had been suggested around about 1793 to build a Canal with nine locks up the Gwendraeth Fawr valley to a point below Pontyberem. And a Canal branch from Spudders Bridge on Kymer's Canal to Llanelly. But the work on this Canal was delayed for some considerable time and was probably started at around 1815. The Canal was to run from Kymer's Canal at Spudders Bridge to Penn-y-Bedd on the way to Pembrey with a lock at 'Ty-Mawr'. This line passed the end of 'Bowser's' level and ended at a junction with the 'Earl of Ashburnham' Canal about half a mile from FFrwd. From this 'Spudder's Bridge' - 'Pen-y-Bedd' line a short branch about three-eighths of a mile long to Moat Farm which was continued to Trimsaran Colliery by a tramroad. Lastly, from a point near the top end of Kymer's Canal, the company extended their line up the river valley with two locks to Pontyates, at these points construction stopped for many years probably because of lack of money. Eventually in about 1825 when the New Harbour was built at what is now Burry Port, the canal was extended to end at the New Harbour.

Pembrey’s Old Harbour was built in 1819 and towards the end of 1823 a private canal was began by Gaunt & Co. It was about two miles long with one lock near Penn-y-Bedd, and ran to a point about 400 yards from Pembrey Old Harbour, too the Pier it was connected by a tram-road, with branches of tram-road connecting the Harbour along a specially built embankment for about half a mile northwards to Pembrey New Pit.

Source: Richard James. Carmarthenshire FHS, Llanelli, Wales.

End.

We start again with our story of James Dalton who lost his father, Walter at the age of 16. What did this do to a young man whom now had to support himself and provide for his future career as a Barrister-at-Law.

James survived because he was an able and attractive young man who enlisted the sympathies of those who knew him, and that won him the hand of his future wife, Joyce

Vaughan, who was the daughter of Rowland Vaughan Jr. who was a friend of James’ father. James Dalton and Joyce Vaughan married sometime in 1677 and with it the eventual possession of Caldicot House, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean

This gave James Dalton the support of the famous Vaughan family. And then the title to the Vaughans land at Caldicot farms. Joyce Vaughan is thought to be of the Vaughan Family of Trimsaran, which is only a few miles from Pembrey.

Some history about the Vaughan family and Joyce Vaughan:
As Sir Walter Vaughan (knighted in 1603 son of Thomas Vaughan) had decided to live on his Fullerston Estate, rather than Pembrey Court, which was then unoccupied, he agreed to allow his nephew Rowland Vaughan Sr., the fourth son of his brother John, to live at the Court until the next Vaughan heir, Rowland Jr. was old enough to occupy it. Rowland Vaughan Sr. has married Anne, the daughter of Sir Francis Mansel, Bart of Muddlescombe. After Rowland Vaughan Sr. departure from the Court, it was occupied by Charles Vaughan (Sir in 1608) son of Sir Walter by his first wife, but after living at the Court for some years, Sir Charles bought Porthaml Mansion and its small estate near Talgarth Brecs., where he lived for the remainder of his life. In the meantime Pembrey Court became the home of George Vaughan (knighted 1643) who was Sir Charles son by his second wife, he inherited the Pembrey and Porthaml Estates, and also the 320 acre
Caldicot Farm after his father’s death.

Sir George Vaughan, as a fervent Royalist supported King Charles 1 and his Cavaliers, against Oliver Cromwell and his Parliamentarians, in the Civil War of 1642-52. In 1648 Sir George as a result of his Royalist support was imprisoned by Cromwell, but far more serious for Sir George, was the huge sum of £2,609 he was fined for his 'Delinquency'. The year 1648 may be significant, as it is claimed that Oliver Cromwell and some of his soldiers passed through Pembrey parish in that year, and it is possible that his representatives may have visited the Court (home of the Vaughan’s), to charge and apprehend Sir George. After his short imprisonment, Sir George returned to the Court, but due to Cromwell's crippling fine, he was forced to sell, later in 1648, his Dunraven Estate, and in 1649 he has to sell his Fullerston Estate. By a remarkable coincidence, two Ashburnham brothers, early members of the family which succeeded the Vaughan’s, owners of the Court, were among King Charles's closest friends, and Cromwell also took revenge on the Royalist Ashburnhams after the King's execution, by sequestrating part of their large estate and imposing a heavy fine.

In 1636 Sir Walter and his son George leased Caldicot for a further 21 years to John Hughe, yeoman of Pembrey at a yearly rent of £22 and four pairs of conies.
Eventfully after the lease had expired, Joyce Vaughan, the daughter of Rowland Vaughan Jr. took control of Caldicot and when she married James Dalton in 1677 they moved onto the property. Later they must have moved into Court House. This is how our James Dalton started his life towards being called "Gentleman"

James Dalton may have had another wife:
We have also just learned (Dec. 2002) of some contrasting evidence regarding on just who James Dalton married. James was born in 1650 in Witney, Oxfordshire England. He was the sixth son of Walter Dalton III and Jane Needham. For many years the Dalton family tradition or legend that has been passed down to us, tells us James Dalton married Joyce Vaughan sometime in 1677 in Pembrey, Wales. She is of the famous Vaughan family of South Wales. There have been many articles written about this Dalton and Vaughan family connection. The Journal of the Dalton Genealogical Society of England, which was first organize in 1972 has always claimed this Joyce Vaughan as being married to James Dalton.

Mrs. Frances Edith Dalton Leaning in her “Dalton” book wrote between 1935-1951 states that Joyce Vaughan married James Dalton. On page 118 of this book is the following.

The F.B. (Family Bible) tells us that he was born in 1650, and lived to be 71, being “of Caldecot in the Parish of Pembrey, Carmarthenshire” and buried there; and that he had seven children, and his wife’s name was Joyce. He died in 1721, and she ten years later on Mar. 14, 1731, age 84.

The entry in “Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage” adds to this that he died on May 5, 1721, and was buried “under a monument describing him as Son of Walter Dalton of Witney, Oxfordshire, Gent…..” and further that he was a barrister-at-law. His wife’s family name was Vaughan.

Among the family papers, besides the entries from the family bible, is one on a different plan, in six columns. The first has the name of this James alone; the second, his children; the third their children, and so on, each getting fuller and fuller. I shall refer to this as the Six-Column pedigree, and we find that James in it is not only barrister-at-law, but a Receiver for the Duchy of Lancaster; and that Joyce his wife was “daughter of Rowland Vaughan of Caldicot House, Esq.” (end)

“I come to the conclusion that James Dalton was an able and attractive young man, who enlisted the sympathies of those who knew him; that won the hand of Joyce Vaughan, and with it the eventual possession of Caldicot House, Pembrey, and the support of the Vaughan alliance”

So according to the research that Mrs. Leaning did between 1935 and 1951 she found some records that show that in fact our James Dalton did married a Joyce Vaughan.

The Vaughans are mentioned many times in relationship to Walter Dalton, James’ father and his brother Charles also is mentioned.

Our own John Luther Dalton in his records as far back as 1889 lists Joyce Vaughan as the wife of James Dalton. These records of John Luther Dalton has on the cover page; “A Family Record Gotten up by John Luther Dalton” View this cover page below. John Luther Dalton history can also be read in Cousin Leslie Dalton Crunk’s two books about our Dalton family.

We know that John Luther Dalton lived in Wales for a time and he must have found records on the things he wrote in his Dalton Family notes. He also must have talked to the Parish people who kept the records on these Dalton's.

James Dalton and Joyce Vaughan are also found in the following book:

THE JOHN DALTON BOOK OF GENEALOGY

Author and Compiler

MARK ARDATH DALTON

4622 East 15th Street

Long Beach 4, California

PUBLISHED BY THE DALTON FAMILY ORGANIZATION

Printed by in the United States of America 1964

Now comes the most recent news from my contacts in Wales; Richard and Pauline James, owners and operators of the Carmarthenshire Family Historical Society and they sent me the following copy of a Parish Church record.

Marriage date; 24th December 1674

James DALTON and Joyce BEVAN

Marriage place; The Parish Church in Llansadurnen Parish, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

The parish church where the marriage took place was in Llansadurnen, which is in between Laugharne and Pendine, on the coast. Llansadurnen, is only a small parish, but this area was also covered by Laugharne, St Clears, Llanddowror. It was not a very populous place, and only about 3 marriages took place in the same year.

When you look at map of South Wales, you will see Pembrey at the bottom of Carmarthenshire, there are three inlets, Pembrey, St Ishmaels and Laugharne, and these are to the left of Pembrey. People would have traveled to these places by boat - not by trekking around the coastline, which would be the longer route.

Source: Pauline James, Carmarthenshire Historical Society, South Wales.

It this James Dalton the son of Walter III ? – Was he married first to this Joyce Bevan, and then to Joyce Vaughan. All research points to Joyce Vaughan as being his only wife.

Read below for an explanation!

Here is some information on the Bevan family of Penycoed, St Clears, Wales:
“A large country house above the western banks of the Dewi Fawr, 2 and a quarter mile north of St Clears. It is a 17th century house to which additions and rearrangements have been made, and continues to be well maintained. The earliest known owners were the Bevan’s. The family emerges from the haze in the 16th century with Evan ap Howel. Evan Griffith described as faber lignarius, who married a daughter of John David Rees of Meidrim.

So what do we think of this new development? Did our James Dalton marry a Joyce Bevan in 1674 as this record tells us, and did something happen to her before he married Joyce Vaughan in 1677 or did all these other early Dalton researchers make a big mistake? Did the Rev. of the Church in Llansadurnen Parish write down the name of Bevan instead of Vaughan, not likely. This James Dalton could also be a son of James Dalton’s older brother Charles. In my Dalton FTM genealogy database I have two children’s names listed for Charles and Jane Shedd Dalton, it also lists “seven other children” so as you can see there maybe is one named James. Now the thing wrong with this is there is no mention of any other James in all the records that the Carmarthenshire Historical Society sent to me.

This is one of the many mysteries that we Dalton researchers in the upcoming years must find the truth too!

Some notes on Edward Dalton:
Edward Dalton, the fifth son of James and Joyce Vaughan Dalton was born in 1865 in Pembrey and died in 1766 in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire Co., Wales. He married Elizabeth Bevan.

Edward Dalton, known as the collector, is buried in the St. Elli church in Llanelly.

There is also a will for Edward Dalton, which I have a copy. (RD)

The area of Carmarthenshire, South Wales had a changing role in the free trade, but even before the smuggling explosion of the 18th century, the Bristol Channel was notorious for smugglers and pirates. The shape of the channel partly accounts for the ease with which vessels could avoid duty: when the King's men were being unusually diligent at Bristol, the ships' masters simply headed for the south Wales coast, and added only a few hours to their journey time.

In the 18th century, coal ships from Neath were the principal smuggling vessels, trading with Ireland and returning with concealed contraband. What makes the Neath area exceptional though, and possibly unique, is the nature of the involvement of women in the trade. The local smugglers were led by Catherine Lloyd, who was the landlady of the Ferry Inn of Briton Ferry. The women were evidently of stern stuff, and when in 1726 a 'sitter in ye boat at Briton Ferry' seized some brandy and wine, four of the smugglers rescued their contraband, and 'abused' the revenue man. Eight years later Catherine Lloyd was still running the pub (now called the Bretton Ferry) and still smuggling. She made the mistake of offering contraband India cotton to an off-duty customs collector from Llanelly. This custom man was Edward Dalton.

“Stop'd at the publick house to drink a Pint of ale, the woman of ye house, one CATHERINE LLOYD a widdow not suspecting him to be an officer bro't out the s'd goods and offer'd the same to sale as India Goods, moreover told they were RUN GOODS she had secured the night before...Said Widdow is very well to pass in ye world and Suppos'd to have All Her Riches by Running of Goods for SHE is an old offender and NOTED SMUGGLER”

The trade continued through the century, still under the control of women. An anonymous informer wrote from Gower to the tidesman at Briton Ferry in 1758, giving the names of four women who had gone from Neath to Bridgewater to buy unaccustomed tea. What is not clear from any of these accounts is the exact role of the women involved. Most probably, Catherine Lloyd would have been financing the operation and storing the contraband in the pub, rather than a sea smuggler.

Later in the century it seems that the Briton Ferry smugglers had progressed from tea and cotton to brandy: in 1771, custom inspectors found 18 kegs of the stuff on the sands at Briton Ferry, with ropes attached ready for carrying. They commented that the brandy came from Guernsey, and probably came ashore as a raft...'as is the practice made use of by smugglers'. If this is true, it is a rare Welsh example of goods being rafted in.

Guernsey smugglers continued to land goods in the area, and in November 1787 custom men seized the Polly of Guernsey at Neath Abbey. Their searches were interrupted by a mob of colliers and copper men who tried to storm the vessel, stoning the customs men. A second attack, at midnight, was only repelled by firing on the crowd.

Source: Off the Internet.

Here is an extract from a local history book about Caldicot House:
Source: Richard and Pauline James of the “Carmarthenshire Family History Society.”

In 1610, sixty acres of land called “Campos de Coldicott” or Caldicot farm area was claimed by Sir Richard Vaughan, who arranged a lease for the warden and game of Caldicot. Many years later the Caldicot shore became a matter of dispute between the Lords Ashburnham and Candors. Lord Candor claimed the rights to all shipwrecks along the sands, but after years of friendly inquiries an agreement was signed in 1820. The agreement confirmed Lord Ashburnham’s rights to wrecks on the Pembrey side of Caldicot Point and Lord Candor to the Kidwelly side. Caldicot is believed to mean “a cold inhospitable place” which in understandable in view of its exposed location to the ocean.

Eventually Caldicot become know as Tywyn Mawr Farm, which remained so until all its land was brought by the Air Ministry in 1938 and transformed into an RAF Airfield.

Part of this airfield is now a motor sports park and the other part is used for small aircraft.

Pembrey Forest occupies the greater part of Pembrey (or ‘Towyn’) Burrows, an area of sand hills of comparatively recent origin. The Burrows developed at the mouth of the River Gwendraeth Fawr over a long period. Alongside this a series of reclamation’s occurred around an initial nucleus formed by a tongue of dry land at the foot of Mynydd Penbre, partly represented by the Medieval Manor of Caldicot. The Burrows themselves have developed since the 17th century at least but, according to James, are no earlier than the Medieval period - the earliest date to which shell-midden sites observed within the area can be attributed. Sea walls constructed during the 18th- and early 19th-century extended dry land further north and west of the airfield area, into the area of the Burrows, and dune slacks appear to have developed to the southeast of an original tongue of dry land. The Manor of Caldicot had been merged with the Manor of Pembrey (under the Ashburnhams) by the early 19th-century, when the coastline had extended almost to its present line.

Caldicot Farm was a Vaughan family estate before our Dalton family ended up with it by inheritance. James Dalton married Joyce Vaughan in 1677 in Pembrey. Charles Dalton, his brother also lived there before moving to Pen-y-bedd. Pen-y-bedd was a farm a couple of miles from Pembrey and was part of the estate of Court Farm.

More history of the Vaughan Family:
Sources: Pauline and Richard James of the Carmarthenshire FHS. Llanelly, Wales

Mrs. Edith Leaning (Dalton); from her book “The Dalton Book”

Elaine Barsosky; from research in Carmarthenshire Wales

Bettye Kirkwood; from research in Carmarthenshire Wales.

Morag Simpson; from an article in the Dalton Genealogy Society Journal.

“The Vaughans was a very important family in South Wales. In Marchall’s “Genealogists Guide” he gives references to ten pages in Sir Thomas Phillip’s “Carmarthenshire Pedigrees.”

In the “Marriage Registers of Gray’s Inn Chapel” there are 47 entries under the Vaughan name, and the lives of Sir Henry Vaughan 1587-1659 and his nephew Richard Vaughan II, Earl of Carbery are in the D.N.B.

This Sir Henry Vaughan was a son of Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove, elected M.P. for Carmarthen in 1621-1629, and Knighted at Oxford in 1642. Richard Vaughan was given command of the Royal forces in Carmarthen, Cardigan and Pembroke. Other Vaughans were John Vaughan of Llanelly, Sir George Vaughan of Pembrey, a Colonel in the King’s army and Sir William Vaughan.

In Nicholas’ “Annals” the builder of the old house of Golden Grove was a Hugh Fychan (Vaughan) of Cydweli, gentleman usher to King Henry 7th, and from that reign onwards through all the changes under Edward 6th, Mary and Elizabeth, Charles 1st, Richard Cromwell and the Restoration. We find Vaughan’s of Cydweli, Pembrey and Llanelly as holding office as Sheriff and Mayor of Carmarthen.

Here is a list of the homes that the 11 branches of Vaughan’s lived in:
Cwrt Penbre - Pembrey Court. c. 1537; five miles from Llanelli

Llanelli House - in the town center, early seventeenth century

Derwydd Mansion - Druid Mansion; built 1560 at Llandybie

Cwrt Derllys - Oak Court; Approximately 1620 on the Tenby Road.

Llether Cadfan - Slope on the hill; early seventeenth century.

Gelli-aur - Golden Grove

Cilgwyn Manor at Llangadog

Dirleton, now demolished

Ashburnham Mansion - Demolished in the 1950’s

Bryncaerau Castle, Llanelli; now Howard Mansion and Museum

Aber Glassney Mansion, Llangathen, west of Llandeilo

Muddlescombe, first in the seventeenth century and second in the eighteenth century.

Durvaven Castle - The Fort of Tryfan, demolished

Berllandywyll - Dark Orchard

The male Vaughans ownership of the Manor of “Court Pembrey” in due course ended without male heirs and the Manor and Estate of Vaughan come to Bridget Vaughan, sole heiress, who married John Ashburnham of Sussex in 1677 and thereafter remained with her Ashburnham descendants.

The latter day Vaughan’s and Ashburnhams never resided in the old Manor house, but it was by no means neglected and was lived in by a series of Estate Agents and yeoman who kept the buildings in good trim. John Dalton, the eldest son of our James and Joyce Dalton and later his sons, James and Charles, would be these above-mentioned Estate Agents.

History of the Vaughan surname:
Submitted by Susan Vaughn.

This material was given to me about 15 years ago by my brother who is now deceased. I do not know how accurate it is but it might serve as a map for someone's research.

“The ancient history of the name Vaughn also emerges from these same Welsh chronicles. It was first found in Shropshire where they were descended from Tudor Trevor, the Earl of Hereford, and Lord of Maylors. His wife was descended from Howel Dda, King of South Wales, in 907. Descended was Gronwy, Earl of Herford, through a series of Lords of Maylors and Oswestry. They descended to John Vaughan, son of Rhys Ap Llewellyn, of Plas Thomas in Shrewsbury. From some of the many early records researchers examined, manuscripts such as the Domesday Book, the Pipe Rolls, Hearth Rolls, the Black Book of the Exchequer, the Curia Regis Rolls, the Vaughn family name was traced in many different forms. Although Vaughn was mentioned in several different records, it was spelt Vaughan, Vaughn, and these changes in spelling frequently occurred, even between father and son. It was not uncommon for a person to be born with one spelling, marry with another, and still have another on the headstone in his or her resting place.

The Norman Conquest of Wales was less than conclusive. A testimony to the Welsh fighting spirit is that there are more castles, or ruins of castles, to the square mile in Wales than anywhere else in the world. The Welsh tactic was to thrust, then retire to their bleak mountain homes to plan their next attack. As peace gradually returned to this country, the Welsh, attracted by the economic opportunities, moved eastward into the English cities. This distinguished Welsh family name emerged in Shropshire. They remained seated at Dudliston in that shire for several centuries, playing an important role on the English/Welsh border. They branched to Burlton and Plas Thomas, and to Chilton Grove.

The chief of the line in the 11th century was Sir Robert William Vaughan, who married into the descendants of Meuric, ancesor of the family of Nanau. The Vaughan’s branched to Merionethshire where they had a distinguished history of political involvement in that shire. They were seated at Dolymelynllyn in that county. Their present seats are at Shoborough House, Humphreston, Nanau, Burlton Hall, the Castle at Builth Wells, and Hallowell in Maine.

Prominent amongst the family during the late middle ages was Sir Robert Vaughan. For the next two or three centuries the surname Vaughan- Vaughn flourished and played an important role in the local county politics and in the affairs of Britain in general.

Religious conflicts followed. The newly found passionate fervor of Cromwellism found the Roman Church still fighting to regain its status and rights. The power of the Church, and the Crown, their assessments, tithes, and demands imposed a heavy burden on rich and poor alike. They looked to the New World for their salvation. Many became pirates who roamed the islands of the West Indies such as Captain Morgan.

Some were shipped to Ireland where they were known as the 'Adventurers for land in Ireland'.

Essentially, they contracted to keep the Protestant faith, being granted lands for small sums, previously owned by the Catholic Irish. In Ireland they settled in Ulster in the 16th century. The New World also held many attractions. They sailed across the stormy Atlantic aboard the tiny sailing ships, built for 100 passengers, but sometimes carrying 400 or 500, ships which were to become known as the "White Sails". The overcrowded ships, sometimes spending two months at sea, were wracked with disease. Those that survived the elements were often stricken with small pox, dysentery and typhoid, sometimes landing with only 60 to 70 % of the original passenger list.

In North America, one of the first migrants which could be considered a kinsman of the Vaughn family or having a variation of the family surname spelling, was:
George Vaughan who settled in Maine in 1629;

Patrick Vaughan settled in Virginia in 1635;

Elizabeth Vaughan settled in Virginia in 1654;

John Vaughan settled in Virginia in 1636;

Christopher Vaughan settled in Virginia in 1652;

Rowland Vaughan settled in Virginia in 1635;

Lewis Vaughan settled in Virginia in 1636;

John Vaughan from Milford Haven settled in St. John's Newfoundland in 1825.

William Vaughan was a planter in Mulleys Cove, Conception Bay, Newfoundland in 1844.

The Crest is; A arm holding the fleur de lis. The ancient family motto for this distinguished name is; Non Revertar Inultus"

“The Vaughans of Golden Grove were Welsh descendants of Welsh Princes from the oldest Royal families in Europe, The Vaughans were one of the wealthiest, most prominent and illustrious families in Carmarthenshire for a period of three hundred years. They primarily had their self-interests at heart, which is obvious from the way they married wealthy spouses from well connected families and amassed their many properties so they could increase their wealth and status in Welsh society.

The Vaughan’s of Golden Grove:
“John Vaughan was the first to live at Golden Grove. He built a Mansion there between 1565 and 1570. Walter Vaughan, the eldest son and heir of John Vaughan inherited the land and mansion at Golden Grove and also at Carmarthen. He purchased land and gained lease’s in Kidwelly, Llangunnor, Llanelli, Llanstephen and elsewhere. He opened coalmines in Llangennech, Llwynhendy and Kidwelly. Walter Vaughan assets increased rapidly from the income of his extensive properties and his new coal ventures.

Walter Vaughan was the first of his family to be involved in educational matters and was one of the founders of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Carmarthen. Later he was honored to be appointed Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff of Carmarthen and subsequently High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire. He died in 1597.

Walter Vaughans eldest son Walter, the first Earl of Carbery 1575-1634 graduated from Jesus College in Oxford after studying law. He sought a suitably well connected, wealthy wife, as was the family tradition, and married Margaret Meyrick from Pembrokeshire. The Vaughan’s were also engaged as partners of South Wales ship owners, both in legal trade and in smuggling and freebooting. They’re more respectable activities also flourished; They provided Members of Parliament and Sheriffs for South Wales and their final triumph was the elevation of Sir John Vaughan to the Earldom of Canbery. This Sir John became the Comptroller of the Prince of Wales household in 1614. Sir John Vaughan was a first cousin to Rowland Vaughan Sr.

There were many different Vaughan families in South Wales at this time and most were descends of the older Vychan Family, or the later English name, “Vaughan” of England. Our Joyce Vaughan is believed to be from the Trimsaran Branch of the Vaughan Family.

So as you can see by this large history of the Vaughan’s that our James Dalton by marrying Joyce Vaughan bettered himself to a much higher society than if he had not chosen the right women!

Some notes on Joyce Vaughan:
Joyce Vaughn was the daughter of Rowland Vaughn Jr.

Extract from the 29th year’s transactions of the Calvinist’s Methodist History Society:

"Teulue Daltoniaid Pembre, Sir Gaerfyrddin. Story of the Dalton family of Pembrey, Carmarthenshire”

Translation: “The Dalton family came from England to Pembrey in the mid 17th century.

Edward Dalton, the 5th son of James Dalton, Barrister, who died 5th May 1721, his mother was Joyce Vaughan, one of the Trimsaran Vaughan's who died on the 10th of March 1731, 84 years old."

TRIMSARAN, Pembrey Parish:
"Near the northern side of the present Trimsaran village, and overlooking the vale of Gwendraeth Fawr. The first landowner to settle there was Howel Fychan described as of Trimsaran, who came there in the first part of the 16th century. He descended from the family of Gwempa, and by his wife Jane daughter of Thomas Reed of Carmarthen ap Thomas Reed hen, had (with others) a son David Vaughan who succeeded to Trimsaran, and was an officer of the Lordship of Kidwelly. David died unmarried, and under the terms of his will proved in 1572, the estate passed to his nephew, Griffith Vaughan son of William Vaughan of Letherychen, brother of the testator. Griffith then settled at Trimsaran, and in 1587 became High Sheriff, but died on 18th July in his seventh year, without issue. His wife, Margaret Williams of Ystradffin, afterwards married three times, her fourth husband being William Powell of Brecs., who lived at Trimsaran, and was High Sheriff in 1610.

Griffith Vaughan had no children, and was succeeded by his brother William who married Margaret Morgan of Mudlescwm, and had a son Henry Vaughan who followed him at Trimsaran. Henry, who was under 18 years of age in 1568, married a daughter of Ystradffin and were both living in 1597 when the Deputy-Herald Dwnn called at Trimsaran. Their only child, David Vaughan, described as of Trimsaran and Lletherychen, was High Sheriff in 1636. He too, was succeeded by an only son, ROWLAND VAUGHAN, who married Margaret Ann Mansel of Swansea.

Phillip was High Sheriff in 1661, and married, firstly Lettice Lloyd of Maesyfelin, Lampeter, who died shortly after the marriage, without issue; secondly Sage daughter of John Mansel of Stradey by Mary Vaughan of Derwydd (d. 1686) by whom he had three sons and two daughters. None of the sons married, and one of them Edward Vaughan was the last male member of the family to live at Trimsaran, and when he died on 31 December 1683, the rental of the estate was 1,650 pounds per annum. His elder sister Dorothy inherited the estate, and the younger sister Mary, a mercurial and eccentric lady, married John Brown of Ffrwd and had issue. Dorothy married in 1684 Edward Mansel (created a Baronet in 1696) who settled at Trimsaran and was High Sheriff in 1689. He died in London in 1719 aged 55 and was buried in the family vault at Pembrey Church."

Source:
Richard James, Carmarthenshire FHS

The story of how James Dalton became a Barrister-at-law:
For any man to become a barrister, it was necessary for him to begin as a student at one of the “Inn’s of Court” in London. These four ancient Societies were named; Lincoln’s Inn, Gray’s Inn, The Inner Inn, and the Middle Temple, respectively in the seventeenth Century and a candidate had to either pass a general examination, or produce evidence of having done so at one of the Universities.

What a day it must have been for our James Dalton when he had his first sight of London. He had never seen any city larger than Carmarthen, but he must have heard of the great school at Oxford in his old hometown in Oxfordshire from his father. Our James must have attended one of these Inn’s, probably Gray’s Inn because there had been a few of his Dalton ancestor’s that had attended Gray’s in the past. After James received his degree he returned to Pembrey and as luck would have it, he was named as the Receiver of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Duchy of Lancaster was originally created to provide an income for John the Gaunt. The Duchy owned land in many parts of England and Wales. Did James’ marrying into the famous Vaughan family help him to secure this lucrative position. It did help him to acquire a sufficient income to bring up six sons and one daughter. James Dalton lived to the age of 71, and he left seven children;

John Dalton, born 1677.

James Ormande Dalton, born 1769. (Our Line)

Charles Dalton, born 1682.

Richard Dalton, born 1683.

Edward Dalton, born 1685.

Thomas Dalton, born 1688

Margaret Dalton, born 1691.

These children were all born at Caldicot House in an area on the coast of which was quite barren, with little woodland, The sandy common affording grazing land, occasionally overflowed on it’s lower reaches, but higher and healthier than the little town of Llanelli, a few miles along the coast. From the positions which they afterward filled, it is evident that there was no difficulty about their education, and their parents had done a good job in showing then on how to better there lives by setting an example for them.

When their father died he had lived through six different rulers of the Realm, the Commonwealth and two dynasties, and all of his offspring had established themselves in homes and careers of their own, and old James Dalton had as many as 17 grandchildren around him.

James Dalton, who was lucky to have survived the winter of 1651 as a one year old, lived a long and rich life in South Wales. James Dalton died before Oct. 21st, 1721 when his will was probated. He is buried in the Churchyard in Pembrey.

Here is James Dalton’s will:
The Will of James Dalton, dated Oct. 7th, 1721. Proved Oct. 21 1721.

"James Dalton of Penbre, by his last Will dated 7th, Oct. 1721, proved 21 Oct 1721, and witnessed by Griffith Jones, Cleric, James Beven and Anthony Morris. Gave to the poor of Penbre, 20 dozen wheaten loaves at a penny each. To St. David's Cathedral 6p. To his son James Dalton 50p. To his son Charles Dalton 6p. To each of his sons Richard, Edward, and Thomas 20/- To his daughter Margaret 20/-. To each of his grandchildren 20/-. All the rest of the estate he gave between his wife Joyce and his eldest son John, whom he appointed joint Executors. But on the 19th Oct. 1721, Joyce for 180p paid her, renounced he executorship and also all her title to the estate in favour of John Dalton."

Poor of Pembrey parish

Cathedral Church of St. Davids

James Dalton - son

Richard Dalton - son

Edward Dalton - son

Thomas Dalton - son

Charles Dalton - son

Margaret Morris - Daughter

Names not given - grandchildren

Joyce Dalton - Wife

John Dalton - Son

Executors: Joyce Dalton - Wife, John Dalton - Son

Witnesses: Griffith Jones, clerk, James Beven, Anthony Morris.

St. Illtyd's Church in Pembrey where the Dalton's worshiped & are buried

18- JAMES ORMONDE DALTON;
the second son of James Dalton, was born in 1679 in Pembrey, Wales. He died in February 13, 1761 in Pembrey, Wales.

Spouse: Ayliffe Edwards was born in 1680 in Pembrey, Wales.

Their children:

1 -Letitia Dalton - born: 1712, Pembrey, Wales (Letitia married her cousin, also named

James Ormonde Dalton and they had 11 children, including Ayliffe who also married her cousin, Edward Dalton. Among Edward and Ayliffe’s children was James Dalton, born Jan. 27, 1770 and who is reported to have married one of the daughter’s of King George III. Read about this fascinating story below.

2- James Dalton - born: 1713, Pembrey, Wales (our line)

3- David Dalton - born: 1725, Llanelly, Wales

We really don’t know much about James Ormonde Dalton except we do know about his will.

The Will of James Ormande Dalton, 1679-1761:
James Dalton Senior- Llanelly Carms, Gentleman- 1761.

Date of will: 13 Nov. 1759. Probate date: 28 July 1761.

Codicil dated: 1 Feb. 1760.

People, Property mentioned:

Arthur Bevan – Leese.

John Phillips – Leese, Esq.

John Lewis – Leese, Gent.

Thomas Edwards – Leese, Gent.

James Dalton, Junior – Son-in-law, Gentleman.

Lettice – daughter, wife of James Dalton, Junior.

Griffith Roberts – Mortgagee.

Mrs. Ann Thomas – Tenent, widow, property mentioned: Llettyrffonen, Pembrey.

Mary Dalton – Granddaughter, minor.

Ayliff Dalton – Granddaughter, minor.

Thomas Dalton – Grandson, minor.

John Dalton

Edward Dalton – Debtor/Mortgagee, Aberlogin tenent, Glamorgan.

Four young Granddaughters.

Executor: Thomas Bevan, William Bonvill, James Dalton, son-in-law.

Witnesses: Benj. Allen, Edward Dalton, collector, Edward Dalton, Jr.

Margaret Dalton – Granddaughter, minor.

19- JAMES DALTON;
the first son of James Ormande Dalton, was of Llettyrychen farm and was born in 1713 in Pembrey, Wales and died 1766 in Pembrey, Wales. His spouse was Mary Bonvill, born in 1696 in Pembrey, Wales. James and Mary had three children:

1- Thomas Dalton - born: 1731, Pembrey, Wales (our line)

2- Mary Dalton - born: about 1733, Pembrey, Wales

3- Elizabeth Thomas – buried Nov. 3 1729

Of note about the above Elizabeth Thomas; In the book, “Pembrey Parish Church Resisters “– Selected Entries from 1701 to 1900 by John A. Nicholson there is the following entry on page 6. This under the heading of Burials 1701 – 1771:

1729, Nov. 3, Elizabeth Thomas, illegitimate daughter of James Dalton of Llettyrychen, so it is said.

Source: Rodney Dalton picked up this copy of the above booklet at the Illtyd Church of Pembrey after attending Sunday services on May 31, 2003.

So here again is an official entry in a parish record of James Dalton, father of our Thomas, with another illegitimate child. This Elizabeth must have died as an infant.

From the Vestry Books - Pembrey:
1746 - Witnesses mentioned in the vestry books were Hector Rees, James Dalton, John Rees and John Bonville. Also William Bonville - Surveyor. Pembrey, Carmarthanshire, Wales.

We don’t know much about James Dalton nor his wife, Mary Bonvill. We do know by the records he lived and died on a farm named Llettyrychen farm. This farm must have been where his son Thomas was born and raised.

In a book by Frances Jones, he shows a John Bonvill as being the owner of "Lletter y chen" the farm where Mary's husband James Dalton lived. This John Bonvill must be Mary’s father.

Read about the description of Lletter y chen farm in Chapter 5 – Thomas Dalton comes to America.

Next is a story about the daughter of King George III who allegedly married James Dalton:
James Dalton was born Feb. 25 1770 at St. Peters, Carmarthenshire Wales. His father was Edward Dalton who married his first cousin, Ayliffe Dalton, the daughter of our James Ormonde Dalton.

Much thanks to a person by the name of Adrianna who wrote to me about this a few months before this article was published in the DGSJ on the Internet. Also thanks to my good friend Millicent Craig who is the American editor of the DGS online web page.

Peter's Parish Carmarthen: "Archaeological Find, Royal Dalton Granddaughters?" describes the exciting find of Dalton tombs in the church of St. Peters in Carmarthen, Wales. It was written by the church webmaster, Alun Lloyd Davies, who describes the secret first marriage of George III of England (while Prince of Wales).

According to Mr. Davies, the King fathered several children by this marriage during his second "marriage" to Queen Charlotte. The "Royal Granddaughters" were descended from the Welsh branch of the Lancashire Dalton line and it has been the subject of several DGS Journal articles. Hundreds of Americans and British are descended from this line.

"What secrets has the West Wales Parish Church of St. Peter, Carmarthen, been hiding for nearly two centuries?

The eleventh century church of St. Peter's is currently being given a much-needed 'face-lift'. Part of the million pound restoration program is removing the existing chancel floor and constructing a new concrete replacement. However, what was found underneath the chancel was a surprise to everyone and an extremely important find historically.

The chancel floor was subsiding and had to be replaced. After the original floor was removed, the archaeologists moved in and excavated to a depth of a little over a meter. They uncovered several memorial slabs from the 1870's but it is a large brick vault in the center that caused the greatest jubilation. It has a domed roof and the memorial slab reads as follows:
“In this vault are deposited the remains of Charlotte Augusta Catherine Dalton, eldest daughter of James Dalton Esquire, formerly of this town and of Bangalore in the east Indies, she died on the 2nd Day of August, 1832 aged 27 years. Also the remains of Margaret Augusta Dalton second daughter of Daniel Prytherch, Esquire of this town and Abergole, in this county, by Caroline his wife, youngest daughter of the above James Dalton, she died on the 24th day of January 1839 in the Ninth Year of her age” Who was Charlotte Augusta Catherine Dalton? Who was her young niece? To find out, we must now move back in time two and a half centuries.

We've all heard of the “Madness of King George” but it doesn't end there! Poor George III is reputed to have had so many lovers that it has made many historians mad too! To my knowledge (and I profess to know little of the subject), he was supposed to have married at least three wives!

One “wife” was a Maria Fitzherbert. Another that he had been in love with was a Sarah Lennox. He married his Queen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1761 when he was 22 years. But was she the real Queen? Had he married before?

Prince George, Prince of Wales, had in fact, fallen in love with and married a Quaker girl, Hannah Lightfoot, three years previously in 1759. It is understood that she was the daughter of a linen-draper. The marriage and the existence of their children was kept secret to allow him to re-marry. They married at Kew (on the outskirts of London) on 17 April 1759 and the marriage documents can be seen at the Public Record Office there. Therefore, his later marriage to Queen Charlotte in 1761, was in fact a bigamous one. This second marriage lasted for 57 years and they had fifteen children.

What happened to Hannah after this is lost in the mists of time. Doubtless to say, her existence and that of their children was one of the greatest secrets of the 18th Century. It is understood that King George's two 'marriages' co-existed and that his children from Hannah did not 'arrive' until long after his 'marriage' to the Queen.

It is understood that King George and his secret wife, Hannah had three children - two sons and one daughter. The eldest is reputed to be George Rex. He is reputed to have sailed to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1797 to save the monarchy from scandal. It is also understood that he never married- on the strict instructions of his father - so that there would be no legitimate heirs. It is said, however, that he did have children - two boys - from a colored slave. It is the daughter, Catherine Augusta who married James Dalton, a doctor of medicine, in India on 20 October 1801.

James Dalton, who originated from Carmarthen, was an officer of the East India Company and spent some years in Bangalore in the East Indies. He was probably a descendent of the Dalton family who, in the 18th Century, lived at Clog y Fran House, near St. Clears (a town some ten miles from Carmarthen). It is understood that Catherine died in 1813 in Madras but not before she had borne him four children - two sons and two daughters. It is understood that all four children were baptized in Madras on the 20 October, 1813.

It is said that Dr. James Dalton returned to Britain on the 16th September 1823. His two sons and Charlotte did not live very long after this. Charlotte died on 2 August 1832 aged 26 years and was buried in St. Peter's Church, Carmarthen. It is not known whether the burial was a secret affair, but certainly no record was kept and knowledge of the burial was not handed down through the generations. It is also known from the Dalton family that they had no knowledge of the burial place. For her tomb to be within the chancel and directly in front of the altar surely suggests that she was considered to be someone extremely important.

Charlotte's sister, Caroline, had also settled in Carmarthen and married Daniel Prytherch. Prytherch was distantly related to her, there having been a marriage between the Dalton’s and Prytherch’s prior to this. They had 13 children. Two of the children were David and Margaret who died as a child of eight years and was buried with her aunt in the tomb. Daniel Prytherch, Caroline's husband, was a prominent person in the town and was sometime, its Mayor. His family home was Abergole (or Abergolau) House at nearby Brechfa and this remained in the family until 1859 when David Dalton Prytherch died unmarried.

Does the royal connection with St. Peter's Parish end there? Well, no it doesn't! There is another interesting link. The church's magnificent eighteenth century organ was originally meant for the Chapel at Windsor. The best organ builder of the time, George Pike England, had been ordered by the king to build a great organ for his beloved home at Windsor (one of the official homes of the reigning monarch). However the organ never reached its intended destination. It found its way to Carmarthen. Was it the King's wish that it should go to St. Peter's? It is unlikely that we shall ever know the answer.

Both Saint Peter's and the town of Carmarthen itself are steeped in history. Saint Peter's is Carmarthen's original parish church and its oldest building still in use for its original purpose.

Although the exact date of its foundation in unknown, its recorded history dates from the reign of King Henry I (1100 -1135). The earliest known record of Saint Peter's is found in the Chronicle of Battle Abbey - the abbey built by William the Conqueror to commemorate his victory over Harold in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It states that the church was conferred upon Battle Abbey by Henry I "in the time of Abbot Ralph" (1107 - 1124). The possibility that a Celtic pre-Norman church originally stood on the site of Saint Peter's cannot be ruled out, however, since the church lies just inside the west gate of the Roman walls of Moridunum (Roman Carmarthen) and the churchyard appears to have been circular in origin, a characteristic of Celtic practice. The first recorded vicar was Richard ap John in 1278.

Sources: January 2001 issue, Vol. 4 No. 1, The Dalton Genealogy Society Web Page.
Alun Lloyd Davies, web master of St. Peter's Church in Carmarthen, Wales.

In the parish register in St. Peter’s church the following entries occur.

Burials:
August 9th 1832

Catherine Dalton – 27 yrs.

Abode, St Peters Street

Ceremony performed by Rev. I Griffiths (curate

January 30th 1839

Margaret Augusta Dalton Prytherch – 9 yrs.

Abode, Priory Street

Ceremony performed by Thomas Bevan, vicar.

23rd September 1823

James Dalton (Surgeon Madras Army) - 54 yrs.

Abode, Priory Street

J. B. Byers (curate)

23rd March 1779

Mary Dalton

22nd October 1802

Edward Dalton - 64yrs

Another article about “Hanna Lightfoot.”

The following text is from an article by Byron Rogers, which appeared in the March issue of Saga Magazine:

Scandal Unearthed!

The poetry of history lies in the quasi-miraculous fact that once, on this earth, once, on this familiar spot of ground, walked other men and women, as actual as we are today, thinking their own thoughts, swayed by their own passions, but now all gone, one generation vanishing after another, gone as utterly as we ourselves shall shortly be gone, like ghosts at cock-crow. So writes G. M. Trevelyan in his “Autobiography of an Historian.”

And among them there were mysteries, writes Byron Rogers.

They have put two foot of concrete over it, just as they did at Chernobyl, but already it is too late. Though the concrete has set, rumour is out, and a story already 250 years old is moving irresistibly into what may be its last act. If you have prayers to spare, say them now for the Rev Canon Randolph Thomas, vicar of St Peter’s church, Carmarthen, in the west of Wales.

“When I was appointed seven years ago I was told I was being given the plum of the diocese. All I can say is that this plum has a stone in it. It has now got to the point where, during a clerical conference in Dublin, my mobile rang and there was this American voice on the phone. The Discovery TV Channel in the States wanted to come over to do DNA tests on someone buried in my church two centuries ago”.

The Rev Thomas was having some building work done to his church and St Peter’s, being Grade One listed, had, as required, sent in the archaeologists first, for this is a church so old it has a pagan Roman altar in its porch. The archaeologists assured him they would not be long, that they did not anticipate finding anything very interesting. And then they found something, the implication of which, to quote the Journal of British Archaeology, casts doubt on the legitimacy of the Queen.

Oh dear, said the vicar, Gordon Bennett, said I, For I was brought up in the town of Carmarthen.

But really it starts with the organ. The organ at St Peter’s was always a bit of a mystery, being so very big and grand, far too big and grand for a Welsh parish church. Originally intended for Windsor Castle, this was delivered to Carmarthen in 1796, and the tradition is that it was a personal gift from George III. The result, if you excuse the pun, is that the King’s organ points to what follows. For the organ was sinking. It had sunk eight inches into the chancel floor, said the organist, Paul Watkins. This, we were told, was because there were so many tombs beneath it. But it was when a lady put her foot through the floor during a midnight mass that we knew we were going to have to do something about it.

It was decided that a concrete raft was needed to halt the subsidence, which was when the archaeologists came in. A week after they started work, a Archaeology team from Cambia found a brick barrel vault in the centre of the chancel, in front of the altar, the most prestigious place in a church. And that was the first incredible thing, said the Rev Thomas. There was no historical account of such a vault in any of the church records, and there was no gravestone. If there had been a gravestone, it disappeared when in Victorian times a new floor was laid, just as though someone wanted to hide it. You can see how we come to believe in a conspiracy theory.

When a vault is built a gravestone is usually part of the upper floor. Below are laid the earthly remains of one’s body. Here there was none. But as the archaeologists dug on they found a gravestone laid next to the brick vault, where the living would not see it.

The inscription read: In this vault are deposited the remains of Charlotte Augusta Catherine Dalton, eldest daughter of James Dalton Esquire, formerly of this town and of Bangalore in the East Indies. She died on the 2nd day of August, 1832, aged 27 years. Also the remains of Margaret Augusta Dalton, second daughter of Daniel Prytherch, Esqr. of this town and of Abergole in this county, by Caroline his wife, youngest daughter of the above James Dalton. She died on the 24th day of January 1839 in the Ninth Year of her age. But when they peered into the vault there were four coffins. And then those names, too strange and grand for a Welsh family, and yet oddly familiar to anyone with a sense of history. That these were family names was clear for they occurred in two generations.

The burial records were checked, which confirmed only that persons of that name had been buried there. They then checked the records of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society and found references in a 1911 essay to the Dalton family. It was then that the bells of rumor and conjecture began to toll, which in one context or another have been tolling for more than 200 years.

In the reference section of your local library, ask to see the Dictionary of National Biography. Now look up Lightfoot, Hannah, and you will read the following entry, the briefest in the DNB: Lightfoot, Hannah (fl. 1768), the beautiful Quakeruss. (See under George III). Oh dear.

The relevant section refers to his teenage years, when he was still Prince of Wales. To this period belongs the scandal about the Prince’s attachment to Hannah Lightfoot, the fair Quaker, daughter or niece of a linen draper, whose shop was in St James’s Market. This is that part of London, which later disappeared under Regent Street.

The entry resumes. It is said that through the intervention of Elizabeth Chudleigh, who became Duchess of Kingston, he persuaded her to leave her home, and go through the form of marriage with one Axford, and that he frequently met her afterwards, and it is even pretended that he secretly married her, and had a daughter by her, who became the wife of a man called Dalton!

A man called Dalton; James Dalton, a doctor from Carmarthen, later in the employ of the East India Company, who called one of his own daughters Charlotte Augusta, and the other Margaret Augusta. George III’s mother and a daughter were called Augusta; another daughter was called Charlotte. Both names recur in generation after generation of the 18th-century Royal Family. All of which left a very shaken clergyman in Carmarthen. The next thing I knew was that members of the Axford family had written to me, said Canon Randolph Thomas. They said they had a copy of the marriage certificate between the King and Hannah Lightfoot, on which one of the witnesses was William Pitt the Elder. They also had a copy of Hannah’s will in which she signs herself Hannah Regina.

And then the Dalton Society of America wrote, saying they intended to come over and hold tours of the church.

A man who only wanted to have his chancel made safe for the future was caught in a tide of bizarre controversy. The DNB, while admitting that George III as a teenage Prince of Wales probably knew Hannah Lightfoot, dismisses the rest of the story on the grounds that it rests merely on anonymous letters of a late date. But this is not so.

George III became King in 1760 at the age of 22. But 10 years later, when his brother the Duke of Cumberland was cited by a wronged husband, the Public Advertiser newspaper of 1770 was already referring archly to the Letters of an Elder Brother to a Fair Quaker. In 1776 The Citizen, with heavy irony, mentioned The History and Adventures of Miss Lightfoot, the Fair Quaker, wherein will be faithfully portrayed some striking picture of female constancy and princely gratitude which terminated in the untimely death of that lady and the sudden death of her disconsolate mother. In other words, the story was common knowledge very early on.

These are the only known facts. Hannah was born into a Quaker family in 1730 in Wapping. Her father, a shoemaker, died when she was small, when she was adopted by her mother’s brother, the linen draper of St James’s Market. But then in 1756 something amazing happened. She was thrown out of the Quakers on a charge of having been married by a priest to Some Person Unknown. After this, perhaps even more amazing, she could not be found, even though the Society made strenuous efforts to find her.

The well-known 18th-century writer, William Combe, later the author of the best-selling Dr Syntax verses, pointed to the significance of this expulsion. With such suitable precautions was the intrigue conducted, that if the body of people called Quakers, of which this young lady was a member, had not divulged the fact by the public proceedings of their meting concerning, it would in all probability have remained a matter of doubt to this day.

The only thing was, Hannah had been married in 1753 to a man called Isaac Axford, a grocer of Ludgate Hill, and thus not Some Person Unknown. But the sequel was the same, when Mary Pendered in 1910 wrote the only book on Hannah Lightfoot, she claimed to have made contact with the great great granddaughter of Isaac Axford by his second marriage in 1759. From her she heard the account handed down in the family that had Hannah being taken away from her groom at the church door, driven off in a travelling coach and never being seen again.

The Monthly Magazine of 1825 has a slightly different story. Its correspondent had contacted the Axford family, then still grocers on Ludgate Hill, who told him that Hannah had lived with her husband for six weeks until the night the coach and four called. The family had advertised widely for her whereabouts, but after some time obtained information that she was well provided for.

The 19th century, and its republican sympathizers, had a field day with the story. It was now that the story of an actual marriage with George III surfaced, something not mentioned before. Charles Bradlaugh, later an MP, stated that Queen Charlotte, after Hannah’s death, insisted on her own second and secret marriage with George III and that Prinny, the notorious Prince of Wales and their first-born, later George IV, used the story to blackmail his parents.

It gets even more complicated. The Historical Fragment, an anonymous publication, stated in 1824 that Caroline, the estranged wife of George IV, who had died three years earlier, had said openly that she was neither wife nor Queen. The first was because George IV was a bigamist, which was true, for he was already married to Mrs Fitzherbert. But the second claim was much more startling. Caroline was not a Queen because George III, when he married Queen Charlotte, was already married to Hannah Lightfoot, which would have made George IV illegitimate.

The British Royal Family was a most dysfunctional family, beside whom the Dingles of Emmerdale are models of domestic probity. The political diarist, Charles Greville, wrote in 1829, ”Good God, what a set they are, the three kingdoms cannot furnish such a brood, so many and so bad, rogues, blackguards, fools and whores. They had two hobbies, quarrelling among themselves, and adultery.

George I imprisoned his wife for life for adultery, and plotted to have his son, the Prince of Wales, kidnapped and transported to America. He, in turn, simply wished his son dead and said so in public. George III leaped at his son’s throat and tried to throttle him.

But it is the generation we are concerned with, George III and his brothers, who introduced a new twist of their own, secret marriages. The Duke of Cumberland, already paying out £10,000 to a wronged husband, was secretly married to a widow called Horton in 1770. His brother, the Duke of Gloucester, admitted in 1772 that he had been married for six years. Their nephew, later George IV, secretly married Mrs. Fitzherbert. But their sister, being already married and the Queen of Denmark, had no such recourse. She was locked away for life for adultery, and her lover, the Prime Minister of Denmark, was hacked into pieces by the public executioner.

Such would have been the diet available to readers of an 18th-century Hello magazine.

The point is, no contemporary would have thought it that bizarre that George III had married Hannah Lightfoot, and the story never went away. Cassell’s History of England, written in Victorian times and the most popular history ever (it still turns up in country house sales), presented it as historical fact, saying it had taken place in 1759 at Kew, and that documentary evidence survived.

The Irish politician Daniel O’Connell said he had once thought of writing a novel about a son of this marriage, making him a revolutionary soldier of fortune. Mrs Piozzi, Dr Johnson’s friend, wrote in 1781 that there was such a son in real life. Speculation turns on a man said to have been called George Rex, an 18th-century immigrant to South Africa, who was mysteriously set up there in great style, and whose black descendants survive. They were interviewed by the documentary film maker, Kenneth Griffiths, who said, “I started by not believing the story, and ended up convinced it was true.”

The DNB does not mention George Rex whose name alone seems too good to be true.

So did George III marry Hannah Lightfoot? Did this odd, impulsive, not too bright, and lonely young man, who had been kept in virtual seclusion, rebel once before destiny closed in on him? As a young king he seemed to have brooded a lot on this destiny, confiding in the Duke of Chandos that, unlike him, the Duke was a happy man, in that he would never have to take into his arms a woman he had never even seen before. Of course he then did and had 15 children by a woman said to have been the plainest in Europe. But does that worry, and those early doubts suggest that he had known some kind of happiness, which sent these into even higher relief?

But where the mystery really deepens is around Hannah. She marries Axford, but it is a very dodgy marriage, conducted for cash without license or banns in the 18th century by very dodgy clergymen. And it took place in the chapel of one Alexander Keith, a clergyman so dodgy he was excommunicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom the Rev Keith himself excommunicated in turn. Why should a respectable grocer and a linen draper’s niece have themselves married in such a place?

And there is more. A portrait survives by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The 1817 catalogue of pictures in the great house Knole, near Sevenoaks, says it is of Miss (sic) Axford. This is the Fair Quaker noticed by His Majesty when Prince of Wales. George III was then still alive. The portrait shows a serious young woman in white, and it is a face more interesting than pretty. But why should the most fashionable portraitist of his day have painted a grocer’s wife?

Nobody knows how the picture got to Knole. But then nobody knows what became of Hannah, who in the late 1750s just disappears from the face of the earth. There is no record of any attempt by her, or any member of her family, to profit from what may have happened. Everything is so quiet, so discreet, just as the vault in St Peter’s church is quiet and discreet, even more so under tons of concrete. But the gravestone, lost until now, will be laid in the new floor. There is no mention of a mother and no grand claims. Just those strange names. But it is enough to have the Discovery Channel tracing a Welsh vicar

to an Irish conference, for the story has never gone away, which now moves into its Carmarthen Connection.

The Earl of Essex turned up the other day, said the Rev Thomas sadly.

The father of the one executed by Elizabeth I. I thought that tomb had been lost.

It was, but then we had to take up some floorboards in the vestry, and there he was.

The following information about the Tomb of Charlotte Augusta Catherine Dalton was copied from a booklet that Rodney Dalton obtained from the inside of the St. Peters Church in Carmarthen, Wales during his tour of this church in June of 2003.

The Dalton Vault - A Grave with Royal connections:
The work in the chancel to stabilize the tiled flooring uncovered several interesting memorial slabs, which had been covered since 1876 when the tessellated pavement was laid. In the centre of the chancel was found a brick vault with a domed roof, the memorial slab of which is now set in the relayed paving and reads:

The Tomb of Charlotte Augusta Catherine Dalton in the floor of the St. Peters Church in the town of Carmarthen, Wales.

This photo was taken on May 30, 2003 in the St. Peters Church in Carmarthen, Wales by Rodney Dalton while attending the annual meeting of the DGS.

It is thought that Charlotte Augusta Catherine Dalton could be a grand-daughter of King George III because it is now generally accepted that a form of marriage took place between George, as Prince of Wales, and a Quaker woman named Hanna!) Lightfoot, described as "the Fair Quaker". She was eight years older than Prince George who was born in 1738. Their alleged marriage took place in May 1759; George came to the throne in October 1760, aged 22, and in 1761 he officially married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - a marriage which lasted 57 years.

The Public Record Office at Kew has recently released two documents relating to the relationship between George and Hannah. The first document purports to be a Marriage Certificate, dated May 27th, 1759, certifying that a marriage between George Prince of Wales and Hannah Lightfoot was duly solemnized according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England at their residence at Peckham. The marriage was solemnized by J. Wilmot. Prince George signs himself as George Guelph. There were two witnesses, one being William Pitt. The second document purports to be the Will of Hannah Lightfoot, dated Hampstead July 7th, 1762. Hannah signs the document as Hannah Regina. One of the witnesses is again William Pitt. The will states: "I recommend my two sons and my daughter to the kind protection of their royal father my husband, His Majesty George the Third, bequeathing whatever property I may dispose of to such dear offspring of our ill-fated marriage."

This "royal" daughter is reputed to have married Dr. James Dalton of Carmarthen, who received an appointment in the East India Company in Bengal. Their eldest daughter was named Charlotte Augusta: Catherine and their youngest daughter Caroline Georgiana. Caroline married Daniel Prytherch (already related to the Dalton’s) who was a member of St. Peter's Church. Several of their children are recorded in the St. Peter's baptism and burial registers under the name of Dalton Prytherch.

Below are pictures of people, places in Pembrey, Kidwelly and Carmarthen, Wales.

Air view of Pembrey & Burry Port in South Wales

St. Peter's in Carmarthen, South Wales

Tomb in floor of St. Peter's of Charlotte Augusta Catherine Dalton

Four cousins – Rodney Dalton, Rosemary Barr, Michael N. Dalton & Arthur Whittaker

Inside of St. Illtyd's in Pembrey

Graveyard at St. Illtyd's-James Dalton's tomb is against the back wall in middle of picture.

4 cousins who are the direct ancestors of James Dalton who is buried in this tomb Michael M. Dalton, Rosemary Barr, Arthur Whittaker and Rodney Dalton

The members of the DGS on the steps of St. Illtyd's

The ruins of Court Pembrey

Side View of Court Pembrey

Graveyard of St. Illtyd's

The writing on the door says William Dalton

Places where the Dalton family lived

Kidwelly Castle in Kidwelly South Wales

Main entrance to Kidwelly Castle in the town of Kidwelly. Photo by Rod Dalton, June 2003

Some DGS members walking towards Kidwelly Castle. June 2003

Picture of Kidwelly Castle taken by Rod Dalton