Welsh Journals

I have given details of the method by which I solved the problem in case others might wish to follow a similar system. It could not have been successful from the mere entries of the payment of Is. 6d. Manor rental by Henry Kyffin I in 1673, by Henry Kyffin II in 1685, and by Henry Kyffin IV in 1745, if I had not undertaken the long and laborious task of extracting the land transfers affecting the Meifod- Llanfyllin area from the Recovery Rolls at the Public Record Office, London, for the period 1630 to 1735. What an enormous help it would have been if an old Register giving details of the properties on which rents were payable had been also deposited at the National Library of Wales, and not merely the lists of names of those from whom rent was due, the amount, and the township in which the property was situated. I trust that Captain Kyffin, as well as his sister, Mrs. Grace of Alverstoke, will be proud of their descent from the Kyffins of Bodfach. It is easy to see how the mistake in their pedigree printed in 1914 occurred. The pedigree of 1624 of the Kyffins of Glascoed in Llansilin and Cae Coch in Llangadvan records that Charles Kyffin was a mercer in Llanfyllin, and it was so easy for the compiler living in Caernarvonshire to jump to the conclusion that Henry Kyffin, Bailiff of Llan- fyllin in 1708, was his son. The compiler did not know that Charles Kyffin left an only child, a daughter Lowry, who was buried at Llanfyllin on 30th November, 1673, aged only eight years. The Arms of the Kyffins of Bodfach are the same as those of the Kyffins of Glascoed and Cae Coch, being descended from a common ancestor by different male lines. Bodfach Hall stands in a lovely park and is well worth a visit. I hope that these Articles will encourage other "exiled" families whose roots lie in Powys to join the Powys-land Club, whose members are always willing to help their fellow members so far as they are able. I must once again thank the staff of the National Library of Wales for all their help, and specially thank Mr. E. Ronald Morris, of The Hall, Llanfyllin, without whose kind assistance and eagle eye this Article would probably never have been brought to its successful conclusion. W. A. GRIFFITHS 4th July, 1960. Marchfield, 10 Monckton Road, Alverstoke, Hants.