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GWYSANEY AND OWSTON: A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY OF DAVIES-COOKE OF GWYSANEY, FLINTSHIRE, AND OWSTON, WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE. By G. A. Usher. Gee and Sons, Denbigh, 1964. Pp. 277. 42s. Family histories fall into two main classes. The one contained little more than vain trumpetings designed to advertize the glory and splendour of certain families, their achievements and successes, while their failures and transgressions were glossed over, excused, or deliberately ignored. The other, of which the late Dr. J. H. Round and Oswald Barron were the most effective exponents, demanded reputable evidence for all assertions, related the families to social, economic, and political conditions, evaluated their contribution to contemporary life, and, like a witness on oath, spoke the whole truth, showing us the 'warts and all'. To this second class belongs Mr. Usher, whose admirable volume now lies before us. Based mainly on the muniments of the Davies-Cooke family, we are presented with a sober and balanced account of the rise and development of families and the administration of their estates. The first section is devoted to the ancient house of Davies of Gwysaney, the second to that of Cooke of Owston, and the book ends with the union of these Welsh and English families whose origins were dissimilar but whose activities are typical of the landowning interest they represented. A study of the Welsh families that rose into prominence in Tudor times, shows that practically all derived their descent from the native royal and noble houses that had held sway in medieval Wales. This capacity for survival by the stocks of the uchelwyr is one of the most remarkable phenomena in Welsh history. Thus, the Davieses of Gwysaney could trace their lineage from Cynrig Efell, a minor princeling of the royal house of Powys, whose founder, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, is remembered as one of the most energetic defenders of Welsh land against Norman aggression. However, it was not until the sixteenth century that these families were enabled, through Tudor policy, to take a more positive part in Welsh life, to adapt themselves to a new order, and to take full advantage of the opportunities it offered. From that time onwards the Davieses consolidated and expanded their position, and, assisted by prudent marriages and careful management, maintained themselves as a leading family until the male line became extinct in 1785. One served as a yeoman of the guard to Henry VIII (p. 21), several as officers in the armed forces, seven as high sheriffs, and many more as deputy-lieutenants and justices of the peace. To farming interests they added industrial enterprise (pp. 31-2), while some of the younger sons established households of their own, entered the Church, or followed more homely callings including that of a linen-draper in the reign of the second Charles (p. 75). Robert Davies (d. 1705), educated at Oxford and the Inner Temple, became an antiquary of repute (pp. 106 ff.), and was largely responsible for amassing the 'Gwysaney MSS. now deposited in our National Library.