Oxwich Castle

Oxwich Castle is another building related to the Mansel family. Oxwich Castle is a Grade I listed castle which overlooks Oxwich Bay on the Gower Peninsula. It is a grand Tudor fortified manor house built in courtyard style, rather than a proper castle.

Today it is managed by CADW and has limited opening hours. Unfortunately it was closed when we visited and we weren’t really able to see anything from the car park, just the top of a tall tower.

Oxwich Castle

Oxwich was originally built by Sir Rice Mansel who also owned land at Penrice and Margam Abbey.

Hopefully we will be able to go back another day.

Other places to explore relating to the Mansel family:

Penrice Castle Estate

Penrice Castle Estate

Last Autumn we were lucky to spend a week exploring the Gower and Carmarthen in Wales. This area was the home of a few branched of the Mansel family so we spent some happy hours exploring the area and buildings of interest.

Penrice Castle Estate

The Gower peninsula is very beautiful and we were able to walk through the grounds of the Penrice Castle Estate.

The Penrice Castle Estate is on an amazing site and consists of a ruined castle and later Georgian house along with a Home Farm and lots of land. Originally owned by the de Penrice family, the last de Penrice married a Mansel in 1410 and the castle and its lands passed to the Mansel family. The Mansels later moved to Margam Abbey, which we were also able to visit.

Penrice Castle Estate

The mansion built in the 1770s by the neo-classical architect Anthony Keck for Thomas Mansel Talbot (1747–1813) of Margam and Penrice, was built to house the collection of antiquities and works of art he had collected on his Grand Tour. Interestingly, Keck also designed Iscoed House for William Mansel and built in 1772, as well as the Orangery at Margam Park which was completed in 1793.

The house is privately owned but a public footpath runs through the estate grounds. This meant we were able to walk past the ruined castle and the Georgian house.

Penrice

The castle was slightly on a hill with the later house built below it. Both had the most amazing views down towards the coast.

Penrice Castle

It was the most amazing experience to walk past a house connected to your ancestors. I’m not sure Thomas Mansel would ever have visited this branch of his family, but who knows?

Penrice Castle Estate

Sloppy marriage certificate

I’ve been enjoying my Ancestry subscription for most of this year and last night noticed a rather sloppy marriage certificate for Emma Georgina Mansel who married Charles Richard Hoare in 1852.

If you look carefully you can see that the person filling out the form omitted the middle names of Emma and Charles. They also got the professions of the fathers the wrong way round, and had to add a note in the margin! What makes this more fun is that this person was the father of the groom, archdeacon C J Hoare.

The marriage took place in the Parish of Kimmeridge and the bride and groom were living at Smedmore at the time of marriage. This house was the home of her father John Mansel, Colonel in the Army.

New Diocese of Dublin records released

Records for the Diocese of Dublin dominate releases the latest press release from findmypast.

Ireland, Diocese of Dublin Marriage Licenses, 1638-1858 

Over 98,000 records have been added to this existing collection, perfect if you have ancestors who may have lived in the Diocese of Dublin. You’ll typically find the date of registration, both spouses’ names, and sometimes occupations and residences.

Ireland, Diocese of Dublin Wills & Grants, 1270-1858 

This existing collection has been bolstered by an additional 34,450 records. These records are from index books that were published in the 1890s, covering wills, grants of probate, or administrations recorded by the Anglican Diocese of Dublin between 1270 and 1858.

Celebrate your Irish heritage this Friday

Family history website, Findmypast, has released thousands of new Irish genealogy records to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. With Findmypast, and their large collection of Irish records, you had a better chance of tracing those often-elusive Irish ancestors.  

Findmypast have added the brand-new collection Ireland, Inland Revenue Wills & Administrations 1828-1879. With transcripts and images, these 261,256 records are a rare survival of priceless information about early Irish wills. The original documents were mostly destroyed in 1922. Typically, you’ll find details such as the name and address of the deceased, the name and address of the executor or administrator, the value of the estate and the date of death.  

 The existing Ireland Calendars of Wills & Administration 1858-1965 collection has been updated with a further 591,011 transcriptions. Though the detail varies from will to will, you’ll normally find the name of the deceased and their death date, the names of any beneficiaries and the county. 

 Other unmissable Irish genealogy records include: 

·         The ffolliott collection (exclusive to Findmypast) 

·         Irish workhouse records 

·         The Irish Quaker collection (exclusive to Findmypast) 

·         Ireland Roman Catholic collection 

·         Irish newspapers 

 

Plus, Findmypast has several handy guides to kickstart and inspire Irish family history research: 

·         An expert’s guide to researching Irish surnames 

·         Discover the remarkably rich history behind Irish diaspora 

·         Why is Irish genealogy so tricky? 

·         Did your ancestors experience the Great Irish Famine? 

·         Everything you need to know about Irish census records 

·         Were your ancestors caught up in the Irish War of Independence? 

Matthew Young RN

I was able to find some more records relating to Matthew Young from the British Royal Navy & Royal Marines Service And Pension Records, 1704-1919, currently free to access at Find My Past.

His name appears in the list of examinations on 26th March 1817

His name appears in the list of examinations on 18th December 1827

His name appears in the list of examinations on 24th November 1834

His name also appears in a list with the word ‘pensioned’ in November 1834 at the age of 42 after 20 years service (meaning he joined the Royal Navy around 1814.

These records don’t quite tie up with his career as published in the British Naval Biographical Dictionary, 1849, so I will need to do more research.