Welsh Journals

REVIEWS The Francis Jones Wales Herald of Arms 1963-93 Historic Pem- brokeshire Homes and their Families, edited by Caroline Charles Jones. Brawdy Books 2002, Extended Edition, pp. xxii, 266. £ 32.99. By Dillwyn Miles, President of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society When this book originally appeared in 1996 as Historic Houses of Pem- brokeshire and their Families, the editor of this Journal, in his review (PHS 7, 91-4), referred to 'the almost universal disappointment that greeted the eagerly awaited and much heralded work.' Little has been done to change that view. Many of the mistakes that occurred in that edition were due to the employment of an editor who was unfamiliar both with the county and with its people and, that, unforgivably, when competent people were available and able to produce a volume of the standard of Carmarthenshire Homes and their Families. The editor of the new, extended edition, is Caroline Charles Jones, Francis Jones's daughter-in-law, with her husband, his son, Hugh, described as 'Additional Editorial'. One would expect them, therefore, to be better informed than to make the ridiculous claim that Francis had 'started' the 'Public [presumably Pembrokeshire] Record Office at Haverfordwest.' Such a statement, in the Editorial Foreword, does not infuse the reader with confidence in the proficiency of the editor, any more than does her admission that she feels 'inadequate', or her appeal to be forgiven 'if there are errors or omissions.'Errors and omissions there are aplenty, regrettably, partly because of the editor's incompetence and partly because of her lack of care. She has not even bothered to take note of mistakes referred to in reviews of the earlier edition, let alone attempt unpardonable errors. Some of the worst innacuracies remain. The entry on Newport Castle (p.181), for example, still has over twenty mistakes or misleading statements. Footnotes following most entries are a welcome addition but they are frequently unreliable or meaningless, despite the editor's assurance that 'all the material used comes from referenced sources.' She repeatedly gives 'Pembs Hist Soc. presumably this Society, as one of her 'refer- enced sources,' for articles published in 1966, which is twenty years before the Society was established: it should have been The Pembrok- shire Historian, of course. Treasury of Historic Pembrokeshire is also