Llanerchaeron’s lost list

Check out those attics and the papers at the back of your drawers. Cymdeithas’ link with Llanerchaeron continues to grow. Here you can read a fascinating article from Hannah Mitchell, Llanerchaeron’s Collections and House Officer on Llanerchaeron’s contents. Within it, she sets us a challenge. Can anyone find a copy of that critical sales catalogue, such an important piece in the jigsaw of the house’s history? :

Llanerchaeron Contents By Hannah Mitchell

Llanerchaeron was inhabited by 10 generations of the same family until the last owner died in 1989 and bequeathed the estate to the National Trust. The house had started out as a modest farmhouse but was remodelled by John Nash in 1795 and now resembles a neat box, perfectly placed in its picturesque setting. The new house, or villa as it is now called, had been commissioned by William Lewis and his wife Corbetta. Corbetta’s maiden name was Powell, she was one of the Powells of Nanteos, and it was the money from her dowry that enabled the couple to build their new home.

Corbetta and William Lewis had two children, John Lewis born in 1793 and Eliza Williama born in 1788. Eliza married William Lewes of Llysnewydd, on paper he was a very good match, and the couple had three children. But It wasn’t long before the cracks began to show, and after 7 years of marriage, Eliza left her errant husband and returned to Llanerchaeron with her children. The three Lewes children, William, Joan and John grew up at Llanerchaeron, cared for by their mother, grandparents and their uncle.

John Lewis acted as guardian for his niece and nephews, and although when he died in 1855, he gave his wife Mary Ashby life tenancy, and she ran the estate singlehandedly for 62 years before she passed away in 1917. John had entailed Llanerchaeron to his sister and then to his niece Joan and her descendants, he also left the contents of the house to his niece’s children. As his niece and her children passed away before Mary Ashby the estate went to his eldest nephew William Lewes who became heir at law to the estate.

It is thought that John Lewis did this as his nephew William had inherited the Llysnewydd estate from his father, so he wanted to make sure that his niece was also provided for as her father hadn’t left her anything. William Lewes took a similar approach when he inherited Llanerchaeron and he gave Llysnewydd to his eldest son and Llanerchaeron to his youngest son Captain Thomas Powell Lewes.

Mary Ashby outlived many people that were set to benefit from the will of her husband John Lewis, so when she died, Captain T.P had a lot of loose ends to tidy up. Firstly there were death duties to pay off, the mortgage was still outstanding and the estate had fallen into debt since the turn of the century. Secondly, the man who thought he was going to inherit the contents of the estate, Joan’s son John Edward Boultbee had used his future inheritance as capital for his debts, which totalled over £9,000, about £600,000 in today’s money. He died in 1885 but his creditors still wanted their money back. Captain T.P went to court to try and get the house and contents brought back together, but the judge sided with the creditors and the contents were to be sold to pay off Boultbee’s debts.

The sale was set to begin on Thursday 10th of October 1918, it was advertised in the newspapers and special trains were put on so potential buyers could get to Llanerchaeron. Catalogues were for sale in Aberaeron, to be purchased from Mr W. J. Phillips and from Messrs. Gurr. Jones in London, which detailed everything that was to be sold. The newspapers listed some of the contents for sale, there were two large 18th century mahogany bookcases, and about 1000 volumes of books, Sheraton side tables and wardrobes, a Chippendale bureau and chest of drawers, a rosewood grand piano by Broadwood, Turkey carpets, card tables, settees, sofas and chairs. They mention a rare 18th century tortoiseshell bracket clock and two grandfather clocks, as well as paintings, watercolours and engravings, they even sold all the beds, mattresses, bed linens and kitchen utensils. Generations of carefully collected belongings gone in 3 days. But we still don’t know exactly what was sold from Llanerchaeron.

To date we have only managed to buy one family portrait back, a pastel portrait of William Lewis which came up for auction in Sotherby’s in 2003, but we can only speculate at what treasures might be out there.

Pastel portrait of William Lewis, purchased at auction in 2003.

If you know of the whereabouts of one of the sale catalogues, or if you know anyone that might have purchased something at the Llanerchaeron sale and passed it down through the family, we would love to hear from you.

The contents are our missing link with the previous inhabitants of Llanerchaeron and finding out more about them could connect more people with the history of not only Llanerchaeron, but Aberaeron too as we know Mary Ashby received gifts from her residents and from local notable people, such as Munro Hughes the bank manager and Mr John. M. Howell, Portland House.