Welsh Journals

settling an even older score with the dismissal from the bench of Roger Oates of Cefn Tila: Cefn Tila had been Fairfax's headquarters during the siege of Raglan in the civil war.39 William Morgan, a county M.P., and Sir Edward Mansell, M.P. for Glamorgan, protested about the dismissals: some of the J.Ps. were their nominees.40 On 9 March 1678, Sir Joseph Williamson, one of the secretaries of State, wrote to Worcester for an explanation, and Worcester was obliged to discuss the matter with the king himself on 15 March.41 But before any action was taken, if indeed any was contemplated, Arnold appeared before the House of Commons on 27 March, with John Scudamore of Kentchurch, to draw attention to the 'Growth of Popery' in Monmouthshire. Worcester complained to his wife about the nuisance they were, for the Commons took them seriously and appointed a committee to confer with the Lords and take the evidence which Arnold and Scudamore were only too happy to provide.42 Among those on the committee of twenty-four was Sir Trevor Williams of Llangibby, William Morgan's brother-in-law and fellow county M.P.; he was also the father-in-law of Roger Oates. His presence was almost obligatory: he had been on similar committees to investigate Popery in 1671, 1673 and 1675. Sir Trevor Williams had had a chequered political career. Although Charles I had made him a baronet in 1642, he was one of those who were 'Rebels from the beginning' in the civil war, changing sides so opportunistically that he became universally distrusted. Cromwell considered him 'full of craft and subtlety, very bold and resolute' and warned that his neighbours were very malignant and solidly for him. Perhaps he was simply hoping to carve out political space for himself in the geographical space between Raglan and Tredegar: Llangibby lies right between them. If so, he gave up the idea after the Restoration and became at last wholly consistent in his 'Dislike of Popery and Hatred to the House of Worcester'. He entered parliament in 1667, defeating James Herbert of Coldbrook, the Somerset candidate, in the bye-election following Worcester's elevation to the Lords. The new marquess angrily removed him from the deputy-lieutenantship and other local offices, but he was soon restored to most of them. He was active in the House, informing it in 1671 that half the county of Monmouth was 39 Clark, op. cit., p. 61. 40 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1678, p. 25. 41 Glanmor Williams, op. cit., p. 387. 42 An Abstract of Several Examinations reported to Sir John Trevor given to the House of Commons by John Arnold and John Scudamore (London, 1680). Worcester's correspondence with his wife is in Historical Manuscripts Commission, House of Lords, Twelfth Report, part IX (London, 1891).