Welsh Journals

Sir John Morgan, Bart., son of the late Col. Sir Thomas Morgan, one of Crom- well's most distinguished officers, of Chanstone Court, Vowchurch; they made their home in the mansion built on the site of Kinnersley Castle, bought by Sir Thomas c. 1661 when he was created Baronet, and left to his son. Sir John was M.P. Radnor Borough 1681-1685, and in the years 1682 to 1688 acted as Steward of Cantref Maelienydd on behalf of Charles, Lord Herbert of Raglan- a post of prime influence in the election of Members of Parliament for both the county and the borough of Radnor. Sir John, like his father, had a distinguished military career, being appointed in 1692 Colonel of the 23rd Regiment of Foot, raised in 1689 by Charles, Lord Herbert mainly in Wales. In 1691 Sir John was made Governor of Chester where prisoners taken in the Irish wars were being held, but his real ambition was to be appointed Colonel to the 23rd (later to be known as the Royal Welch Fusiliers). Among the correspondence of Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, during his first tenure of Office as Secretary of State (1689-1693), is a letter dated 18 July 1691 in which, after referring to 'the glorious success of our Army in Ireland', Finch mentions Sir John Morgan's wish to succeed Col. Charles Herbert in that regiment, adding, 'He says he raised it, or very much contributed to it, and therefore has the fairest title to it, besides his other pretensions to his Majesty's favour'. A few days later Finch wrote in a letter to Viscount Sydney, 'My Lord President spoke to the Queen for Sir John Morgan, who is a man of interest in Wales, and very zealous in their Majesties' service'. Sir John got his desire but enjoyed it for only a year since he died in 1693. The only child of Joanna's marriage to James Price was a daughter named Anna, who when very young, was married to a certain Mr. Thomas Hughes about whom very little is known, and who died without issue. Then in about 1684 she married as his second wife Sir Lacon William Child of Kinlet, Shrop- shire, knighted by Charles II in 1673. This marriage too proved to be childless. In the Will of Dame Anna Child, drawn up in 1703 but not proved until 1713, the first item runs: 'I give and appoint the sum of £ 500 to be put out to interest and secured for the maintenance of a schoolmaster to teach and instruct the youth of the several parishes of Pilleth and Whitton in the county of Radnor, and also to place out apprentice two youths of the said parishes yearly for ever.' The full story of Dame Anna Child and her charity school may be read in a booklet published in 1973 by Mr. D. J. Smith, the present headmaster of Whitton School and only the eleventh since the school was first opened in 1724. The pedigree of the Prices of Pilleth is difficult to elucidate, but the family tree shown here is probably fairly accurate. It is based in part on an article, awaiting publication in the Transactions of our Society, by Mr. P. D. Price of Llandovery, one of the Society's members. (see Table 2) James Price died in 1677/78 and left to his widow, Joanna, by his Will, drawn up in 1671, property, purchased by his mother, in the parishes of Llanbadarn Fawr, Llanfihangel Rhydithon, Llangunllo and Whitton in County Radnor, and also 'all the parcels of land mentioned and expressed in an in- denture dated 14 May Charles II (1669) between James Price of Pilleth, esq. of the one part, George Gwynne of Llanelweth, esq. and Richard Rodd of the Rodd, Esq. of the other part'. This was possibly the settlement arranged after the marriage in 1667 of James Price and George Gwynne's daughter Joanna; Richard Rodd was the maternal uncle of James Price of Pilleth. To his two daughters, when they reached the age of 21, Price left £ 100 each in discharge of a legacy, left to them by his mother, Margaret (died 1668) out of the estate of the Yatt in Old Radnor parish. To his widow, Price also left in addition to his interest in the Prebend of Llangunllo and Pilleth bought from