Welsh Journals

of Meers Gate Gardens, London, Conservative M.P. for Plymouth, bought Dolobran from the trustees named in Joseph Jones' will; one of them was J. Buckley Williams of Berriew, who, according to Dolobran deed 108, N.L.W., directed S. S. Lloyd "to pay to my solicitors the sum of £ 18,000 being balance of purchase money due to me from him on sale of Dolobran estate, 8th January, 1878." In 1955 Dolobran Isa was sold by Miss Lloyd, Overton, Flints., to the present owner of the Dolobran estate, Mr. Samuel Lloyd, Malmesbury, and so most of the ancient inheritance has been regained under a single ownership. Dolobran Meeting House remained in the possession of Quaker trustees until 1829 when it was sold to Joseph Jones, junior. There are six letters in the Dolobran papers in the N.L.W. relating the long drawn out negotiations for the sale of the small property. Some of the letters were written by Barnard Dickinson on behalf of Shropshire Monthly Meeting, and lay down among conditions of purchase that the burial ground should not be dug more than a spade's depth for 20 years. One of the trustees, who resided at Bath, refused to sign the deed of sale "because some of his maternal ancestors were (long ago) interred there." Joseph Jones agreed to the condition and bought the property for £ 100. The last burial at Dolobran entered in Friends' register is that of "Robert Owen, Ystrad, Mont., 6.4.1804, aged 84," non-member. When S. S. Lloyd, M.P., purchased the estate in 1878, the Meeting House, etc., also passed to him. The cottage was occupied, but the Meeting House itself was used as a storehouse, and much of its furnishings disappeared after a time. In 1959 a group of Friends from various parts of England and Wales visited the place and since then the Meeting House has been partially renovated by the owner and by two members of the Society of Friends who occasionally reside in the little cottage. Services were held there by Oswestry Friends in the Summer of 1960, and again on 11th June, 1961. Other sources than those mentioned in the text :­ A. H. Dodd — "Studies in Stuart Wales." Glenn "Welsh Founders of Pennsylvania." J. Kelsall Diary, Volumes I, II, III, IV. My thanks are due to Edward Milligan, Librarian, Friends' House, London; The Staff of the National Library of Wales; The Worcester and Lichfield Record Offices; Rev. Meirig Morgan, Meifod; and especially to Mrs. Evelyn Whiting and Dr. Barry Francis Jones, Pont Robert.