Welsh Journals

Search over 450 titles and 1.2 million pages

into being in response to a pressing need for great landowners to show 'proof of possession' in accordance with the Statute of 1278. Sir Cennydd was a Glamorgan man who took great pride in his ancestry, tracing his direct line through the Trahernes of Castellau, near Llantrisant (the original family home) to an Edmund Traherne in the sixteenth century. Although not brought up to speak Welsh, he and his wife Lady Rowena (who predeceased him) made valiant efforts to learn to use the language. Sir Cennydd's home was Coedarhydyglyn, an elegant Regency mansion on the outskirts of Cardiff, with a magnificent view over the Ely valley to the Uplands beyond. There he and Lady Rowena created an important arboretum. Sir Cennydd had also, in 1937, purchased the Duffryn Estate to safeguard its gardens. He later granted Duffryn House and its Mawson-designed gardens on a long lease to Glamorgan County Council. Sir Cennydd Traherne was quiet-spoken, unassuming and approachable, a courteous country gentleman. His many friends will be sad at his passing and his contributions to the affairs of his county and of Wales as a whole will be greatly missed. Patricia Moore