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Land Agents

The management of the Margam estate was vested in the capable hands of the Llewellyn family for over a century.

Glimpses of Margam Life 1830 - 1918

The Land Agents and their work.

The management of the Margam estate was vested in the capable hands of the Llewellyn family for over a century.

In 1765 Hopkin Llewellyn of Brombil, Margam, having served several years’ apprenticeship under the previous agent, David, Rees, offered his services at £100 a year and £20 for a writing clerk, during the minority of Thomas Mansel Talbot (when the estate was controlled by trustees). The terms were accepted, and he served the estate for over thirty years, with his sons Hopkin and Griffith later aiding him in this formidable task. In 1798 the younger son, Griffith, was appointed agent, constable of Kenfig Castle, steward and court keeper of the manors, at an annual salary of £230. Following his death in 1822, three sons, Thomas John, Griffith and William, managed the estate for varying periods until, at William’s request, following his resignation in 1857, a cousin, William Llewellyn of Court Colman, was appointed to the office. At this juncture, formal division of the estate occurred (though this had been anticipated in the 1820’s), William being given control at Margam, while John Felton became the Gower estate clerk. It was only with William’s resignation in 1887 that the Llewellyn family’s connections with the Margam estate were finally severed.

Legal training was an essential qualification for effective estate management, particularly with the increasing industrialisation of the nineteenth century, and the knowledge acquired by each Llewellyn and passed to his successors proved to be of immense benefit to the landowner. The agents were responsible for maintaining the estate as a stable, viable economic unit, for the supervision of tenancies, repairs to estate property and the collection of rents; in fact, for all items of income and expenditure on an estate estimated in 1873 at 33,092 acres.

With the building of Thomas Mansel Talbot’s villa at Penrice (1773 – 1779), the Pyle Coaching Inn and Margam’s magnificent Georgian Orangery (which necessitated the demolition of Margam house, the historic home of the Mansels), Penrice became the principal family seat. This necessitated many long journeys on horseback between the Margam office and Gower to consult with T.M. Talbot and his estate officials and tenants. Such projects placed considerable demands on the agent’s time, and often increased his responsibility to intolerable levels. Griffith Llewellyn’s sons faced similar pressures during the construction of the mansion house at Margam for C.R.M. Talbot in the 1830’s.

Each year at Lady Day (25th March) the agents rendered a detailed financial statement to the landowner. C.R.M. Talbot in particular diligently scrutinised the accounts, questioning his agents’ actions, noting errors, occasionally pointing out the ‘Certain items are incorrectly placed’. Talbot objected to Griffith Llewellyn’s claims for postages, stationery and travelling expenses, which had not figured in the agent’s father’s or grandfather’s accounts and were considered part of his fixed salary. Thrift was almost an obsession with Talbot; on forwarding a copy of the Reform Bill of 1832 from London, he informed his agent, “I did not send it straight because I am not sure the Post Office does not charge during the recess”.

In 1834 Llewellyn expressed his grievance at his scale of remuneration compared with agents of similar standing, and anticipated being relieved of certain duties by the appointment of William Jenkins to superintend repairs. Talbot, however, disapproved of the scheme, although the agent, in a series of letters, complained of the increasing complexity of his task, and that “the receipts of rents, the management of accounts and the general superintendence of the estate are ample business for your Agent and Clerk – There is scarcely an hour of the day when business of yours in some form or other does not come before us”. Talbot, in a gentlemanly but terse reply, observed “You say there is not one hour of the day that business does not come before you and the clerk on my account. True, but how are estates managed where agents live far away? Just as well, provided the rules are good and the agent strict in enforcing them.” A further source of contention concerned Talbot’s ‘right of wreck’, as lord of the manor, to vessels, timber and other seaborne commodities frequently driven on to local beaches. In late 1834, much to Talbot’s annoyance, rumours were circulating in Swansea that Margam was a famous place to get a boat cheap: “You have nothing to do but claim the wrecked boats that often come ashore.” Vexed at the loss of revenue and finding his inquiries substantiated, Talbot saw that strict guidelines were instituted as to clear proof of ownership prior to the return of property.

In 1838 the agent investigated a complaint of misconduct against one of the housemaids and dismissed her, although he considered such an action no part of his formal duties. The maid was found to be in no fit state to be in charge during the housekeeper’s absence, after assaulting another housemaid and being drunk every day, having purchased a fifteen gallon flask of beer from Taibach. Later in the year, Llewellyn was further involved in household affairs, receiving a note from Mrs. Meade ‘requesting a constable to Margam tomorrow morning to turn a maid out of the house’ who had ‘scandalised herself’. Talbot approved the action, since the maid was considered a bad one and declared by all the other servants to be worse than useless.

Throughout the decade the agent received continuous guidance from a demanding master whose acute business sense was utilized to formulate distinct lines of policy, giving equal attention to the minutiae of estate affairs. In 1839 Talbot, pestered by tenants, had this advice for his agent: “I would recommend you adopt the rule which I do when tenants (as continually happens) tell me that your father or yourself promised this and that – I always tell them I do not believe a syllable of it.”

Apart from their involvement in the Margam estates, Talbot’s agents were practising lawyers, magistrates and men of considerable influence and wealth. In 1873 the considerable holdings of Griffith Llewellyn, who was elected a justice of the peace in 1838 and High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1852, were estimated at 2,846 acres, with a gross yearly rental of £2,280. Additional income derived from a pottery and brickworks at Baglan, the Rhondda Engine Works at Pentre, mining royalties and wayleaves. He contributed handsomely to the restoration of St. Mary’s, Aberavon, in 1858, defrayed the cost of a new wing at Swansea Hospital, and founded St. Peter’s, Pentre (1880-1889). A devoted churchman (an interest shared by his wife, Madelina Georgina), his finest memorial in St Catharine’s, Baglan (1875-1882), erected at a cost of over £20,000 and named in tribute to his mother, Catharine Jones. When Griffith Llewellyn died in 1898, his fortune was estimated at £350,000.

Griffith Llewellyn resigned his post in 1840, recommending that his brother William should succeed him in the office of agent, because the family connection with the estate was broken, and because he considered him competent to handle Talbot’s affairs. Like his predecessors, William assumed the role of banker, and paid wages to the household and estate servants, purchased guns and ammunition for the keepers and handsome suits of livery for the butler and footmen and other household retainers.
William Llewellyn (1820-1898) of Court Colman, near Bridgend, held the prestigious office of agent to the largest landowner in the county for thirty years, bringing a shrewd business acumen and a remarkable attention to detail to the management of Talbot’s estates. The son of William Llewellyn, a naval surgeon who saw action in several engagement with Napoleon’s navy and became the first resident doctor in Margam parish, William, the agent, was educated at Swansea Grammar School and Hertford College, Oxford. A Justice of the Peace, he served in that capacity for over forty years, was appoint Deputy Lieutenant of Glamorgan in 1850 and four years later served the office of High Sheriff.

Major lessees such as Joh Brogden & Sons, the English Copper Company and the Llynfi Iron Company were frequently six months in arrears, and needed constant reminding that ‘rents and royalties due, Mr. Talbot cannot wait any longer.’ In his constant perambulations of the estate, tenants were instructed to repair buildings, fences, and to clean ditches, while encroachments were noted and charges duly levied. In March 1874 Llewellyn ordered the English Copper Company to restrict their tipping of slag on the north bank of the River Afan below Pantdu Bridge, which threatened to divert the river and undermine the embankment of the Oakwood Railway. Damages were also claimed after the thatch of a cottage at Aberavon had been set on fire by on the Company’s engines – including 12/- for beer given to the fire fighters. Increasing industrialisation forced the Powells of Eglwys Nunydd to return land damaged by subsidence to the estate in 1868 and 1874, a consequence of the extension of the Morfa Colliery workings; the land was offered Messrs. Vivian at the appropriate rental. Apart from handling Talbot’s affairs, which had obvious advantages, Llewellyn was, like his cousins, a considerable landowner in his own right. In 1863, having purchased machinery for the purpose, he began the manufacture of a fine cement, particularly suited for use in furnaces. Much time was spent in publicising the product, and Margam Copper Works was supplied at 10/- a ton, though an offer of 8/- from the English Copper Company was declined. Industrialists throughout South Wales were contacted, and Llewellyn was able to list among his clients Messrs. Grenfell, Neath Copper Works and the Bryndu Coal Company. A true entrepreneur, he offered his product to the Great Western Railway at Swindon for use in their coke ovens.

A keen supporter of the Glamorgan Hunt, he granted Theodore Talbot permission to hunt over his land, and laid out extensive coverts for game. His relationship with Talbot was more than amicable than that of Griffith Llewellyn had been, and his daughter Constantia accompanied his employer and his daughters on a number of continental excursions.

Edward Knox became Miss Talbot’s agent in 1890, having previously been employed by the West Riding Council. He served as Chairman of Margam Urban District Council, was a Justice of the Peace, a Captain in the Volunteers, and became a prominent and respected figure in local affairs. Miss Talbot was the largest shareholder in the Port Talbot Railway and Dock Company, and it was Knox who worked tirelessly towards the promotion of the Port Talbot Railway and Docks Bill in Parliament, which, if successful, would lead to the opening up of the Garw and Maesteg valleys and the provision of adequate dock accommodation. The Bill received the Royal assent in July 1865. Determined that Knox’s efforts should not go unrewarded, some of the beneficiaries gave a complimentary banquet at the Public Hall Aberavon, attended by local worthies. When the new graving dock was eventually opened in August 1899, it was the tug Emily Charlotte, suitably decked with flags and bunting and names after Miss Talbot, that first entered the dock.

On numerous occasions the estate was in conflict with the Margam Urban District Council. For instance, in 1899 Knox, on behalf of Miss Talbot, objected to the Council’s request to move the water pipes in Ton-Y-Groes Lane, informing them ‘that over the last few years Miss Talbot has contributed over two thousand pounds for water supplies and bridges and has, at her expense, widened the lane from 14’ to 40’ and made a good job of it…having regard to this, the least the council can do is to make any diversion of water pipes which may be necessary.’ On this occasion the plea was successful. In 1901 Edward Knox left the district and was replaced by Godfrey Lipscomb who, like his predecessor, was a member of the Margam Urban District Council, its Chairman in 1913, and a director of the Port Talbot Railway and Dock Company.

The obvious complexity of organising and running the estate as an efficient unit demanded increased staffing. In 1910 T.W. Haward was appointed subagent, and two years later Lipscomb received one thousand pounds per annum for his services, fifty pounds towards the keep of his horses, and twenty-six pounds for a gardener. Other estate staff were George Knott and Oliver Fenton, accountants, John Thomas, Rees Thomas, R.M. Cound, W. Merchant, Wynne Jones, Brinley Davies and Edwards Stevens, Collector of small rents.
Miss Talbot’s agents were also wardens of Margam Abbey, Lipscomb variously holding the position of Vicar’s and People’s Warden for over twenty years. At Miss Talbot’s behest he and Richard Milner, head gardener, vigorously opposed the disestablishment of the four Welsh dioceses from the Province Canterbury at the Easter vestry of 1912.

 

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