Category Archives: Mansel family

Yesterday I sent my research request off to Carmarthenshire Archives in regards the burial vault of Lady Mary Mansel at St Peter’s Church. I was amazed to receive a response back in a matter of hours.

“Unfortunately, we do not hold the records required. Any alteration to the fabric of a building owned by the Church of Wales, including the erection a memorial tablet, etc., requires official consent i.e. the granting of Faculties on behalf of the archbishop. Faculty records are held at the National Library in Aberystwyth. See: https://archives.library.wales/index.php/diocesan-records-5

….With that said, you are very welcome to visit the archives and carry out the research for yourself. Our staff will provide you with all of the assistance you require.

Relevant catalogues available online are:

https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/b205f57b-2820-39b7-90a0-a3b0516b8fc0

https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/94e70c71-802a-3f99-948a-b830bfe778d4  This catalogue has not been catalogued to item level.

Please also see attached: You could also try contacting the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society to see if any work has been done in this area.
See: https://www.carmants.org.uk/

I had not come across Historic Carmarthenshire Homes before and am so happy to have read the pages about Iscoed old and new. It confirms that little bit of information I came across the other day about Iscoed Home Farm being the original home of Sir William Mansel.

Now to contact the National Library in Aberystwyth regarding the granting of Faculties on behalf of the archbishop!

I was doing a little research into family connections with St Peter’s, Carmarthen. When we visited Carmarthen last year we walked past the church and I am annoyed with myself that we did not go in. Since then I have discovered that a few of the children of Sir William and Mary Mansel were baptised in the church:

Rebecca Elisabeth baptised 9th August 1769 at St Peter’s, Carmarthen

Richard Mansel baptised November 10th 1770, at St Peter’s, Carmarthen

William Mansel baptised April 4th 1776, at St Peter’s, Carmarthen

I also discovered that there was a memorial lozenge to Lady Mansel at St Peter’s Church, on the wall near the organ which states the following:

In the family vault in this chancel are deposited the remains of MARY Relict of Sir WILLIAM MANSEL of Iscoed and Daughter of JOHN PHILIPPS Esq. by ELIZABETH his 2nd Wife of Coedgain in this County. In the Christians full hope of a blessed immortality She departed this life in the 66th year of her age.

The memorial lozenge looks to be made of marble and was designed/made by Cooke.

Lady Mary Mansel died in 1811 and was buried at St Peter’s Carmarthen in the family vault on the 3rd January 1813.

I have contacted St Peter’s to see if they have any record of the family vault but they do not think they have any records relating to burials in the vault, they also mentioned that burials ceased in the church yard in 1856. So I have contacted the Carmarthen Records Office first to see if they hold any records of burial vaults at St Peter’s.

I found an intriguing mention of my Mansel relation in a book called Welsh Murders Volume 1: 1770-1918. Written by Peter Fuller and Brian Knapp, published 1986.

There is a chapter called Glanareth – The Glanareth Conspiracy which took place between 1769/1770.  A murder took place in Glanareth, Bethlehem , Carmarthenshire.

The story mentions Sir William Mansel my 4x great grandfather. I want to find a copy of the book, or this story, so I can see more. I know that it mentions Sir William as a gentleman/member of the ‘Blue Coat Hunt’.

For extracts from a contemporary pamphlet account of the trial see this blog post: http://sharonhoward.org/waleslaw/glanareth.htm

A few days ago I was wondering where my branch of the Mansel family had lived before they had Iscoed House built for them. I was able to find a tiny nugget of information in an online leaflet for a walk around Ferryside, where we stayed last year.

According to the trail:

“The walk passes three places with the name Iscoed. A farm track leads to Iscoed Uchaf, a working farm, and Iscoed Home Farm, a historic house inhabited by medieval Welsh uchelwyr or gentry families. Sir William Mansel began to build a new mansion, also called Iscoed in 1772. This is the striking brick-built ruin to be seen from lower down the walk. In 1804 both mansions were sold to General Sir Thomas Picton, who died a hero’s death at the battle of Waterloo in 1815.”

So it seems that the family lived at Iscoed Home Farm prior to their new house being finished. I have not yet been able to find out anything about Iscoed Home Farm, except for this photo :

Ffarm Iscoed Home Farm
cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Alan Richards – geograph.org.uk/p/4288573

Link to leafet: https://www.discovercarmarthenshire.com/media/2481/ferryside.pdf