New Archival Leads — Bute Archive List, 1793 Manor Deeds, Tŷ Mawr Plans and 1983 Registration

Research update: 16 October 2026 (revised 17 October 2026). This page records newly identified archive references relevant to Great House Farm (Tŷ Mawr), Llandough-juxta-Penarth. The entries below are archival leads reported in the current research notes; unless explicitly stated otherwise, the underlying items have not yet been inspected by the compiler. Catalogue descriptions and reported shelfmarks are not proof of the contents of an unseen document.

1. National Library of Wales: ex 642 — William Rees’s Bute archive list

Reported item: Prof. William Rees’s original typed list of the Bute archive, reportedly received in 1983–84. Status: lead requiring direct inspection. The exact archival description and extent have not been independently verified from a publicly indexed catalogue in this research pass.

Why it matters: compare the Llandough-related entries in this historical list with the current NLW catalogue. This may establish what records were listed at the time of transfer and how their descriptions or locations have since changed. A difference between an old list and today’s catalogue is not, by itself, proof that a record was destroyed, removed, concealed or unlawfully withheld; the comparison must account for renumbering, re-cataloguing, series-level descriptions, transfers, access restrictions and records listed under alternative place or estate names.

Next test: request a full-resolution copy of the original list and any covering accession / transfer documentation; transcribe every Llandough, Tŷ Mawr, Great House Farm, Daniel Thomas, Williams and Bute entry; record folio/page, wording, former reference, current reference and any explanatory catalogue note. Ask NLW to explain each unmatched item rather than treating unmatched entries as missing records.

2. National Library of Wales: D95/32–6 — 1793 sale of Llandough manor

Reported item: deeds associated with the sale of Llandough manor to the Bute estate in 1793 for £19,000, shelfmark reported as NLW D95/32–6. The wiki previously referred to this transaction through a historian’s letter; the original deed group is the preferred source for the transaction’s actual terms.

What to establish from the original: the parties and their legal capacities; whether the instrument is a conveyance, counterpart, abstract or associated deed; the precise manor and lands included; schedules, plans, reservations and exceptions; and whether Tŷ Mawr / Great House Farm or any relevant parcel is expressly identified. A manor sale does not establish that every later parcel at Llandough was included in, or remained within, the same title.

Status: reported archival reference, not an inspected transcription. Do not use the £19,000 figure or the manor description as proof of a particular Parcel A boundary until checked against the deed itself.

3. Glamorgan Archives: DXJF/61/12 and DMAT/279 — 18th-century Tŷ Mawr plans

Reported items: two 18th-century plans described in the research notes as “Ty Mawr farm, Llandough”, with references DXJF/61/12 and DMAT/279. Their exact catalogue descriptions, dates, scale, orientation and relationship to each other still require confirmation from the archive catalogue and the originals.

Research value: these may provide early spatial evidence for the farm name, layout, fields, boundaries, buildings or neighbouring holdings. They could help test continuity of place-name and land configuration, but cannot alone prove the legal title chain into 1877 or 1928.

Next test: obtain both plans in colour at full resolution, including endorsements, verso, wrapper and catalogue metadata. Record any scale, compass, field numbers, named occupiers/owners, acreage, adjoining properties and distinctive boundaries. Georeference only where there are sufficient stable control points; distinguish a visual resemblance from a demonstrated boundary match.

4. Glamorgan Archives: D696 — WGR records, c.1938–44

The wiki already has a dedicated D696 evidence-lead page. A further lead reported on 16 October is a book of coloured Ordnance Survey plans associated with land held by Western Ground Rents (WGR), within the D696 records. It has not yet been established whether the plan book includes Llandough, Great House Farm, Tŷ Mawr or either Parcel A or Parcel B.

Next test: ask Glamorgan Archives for the exact item / volume reference and contents list for the coloured OS plan book; request the index and relevant Llandough sheets if present. Record the map edition, sheet number, annotations, colouring key, date and any WGR ownership / tenancy marks. Do not infer that Llandough appears in the volume until the index or sheets confirm it.

5. WA240304 / 1983 farmhouse registration — the original application file

The wiki’s existing analysis of WA240304 and the 1983 first registration remains the controlling page for the title-chain issue. The reported legal framework identifies rule 29 of the Land Registration Rules 1925 as “Certificate by a solicitor as to title on first registration”. Section 14 of the Land Registration Act 1925 separately provided for the registrar, where required, to require the applicant and solicitor to make an affidavit or declaration concerning disclosure of deeds, charges, encumbrances and material facts.

Important correction to the working hypothesis: it is not yet established that the WA240304 file necessarily contains both a Linklaters solicitor’s certificate under rule 29 and a sworn declaration by BP Properties. Section 14 made the affidavit/declaration conditional on being required by the registrar; its presence, maker, wording and execution must be confirmed from the actual file. The rule 29 certificate is a strong targeted retrieval request, not evidence that the certificate has already been seen.

Priority request: ask HM Land Registry to identify and disclose the application form, the solicitor’s rule 29 certificate and any affidavit/statutory declaration, with dates, signatories, exhibits and the title documents / plans referred to. If any item is absent or withheld, ask whether it was never lodged, has been destroyed under a retention policy, is held elsewhere, or is withheld on a stated legal basis. Compare each assertion in the certificate/declaration with the operative deeds and plans, especially the 1938 WGR acquisition, 1969 conveyance, 1971 abstract and 1975 BP conveyance.

Legal caution: a knowingly false sworn statement or statutory declaration may have serious legal consequences depending on its form, the applicable offence and the evidence of knowledge and intent. No offence can be inferred merely because a declaration is suspected to exist or because a title-chain issue remains unresolved. First obtain the document; then test the precise representation against the contemporaneous record and applicable law.

6. Evidence status and order of work

• First: obtain the complete WA240304 file and identify the rule 29 certificate and any section 14 declaration. This is the most direct lead for the 1983 registration question.
• Second: inspect NLW ex 642 and build a line-by-line comparison with the current Bute catalogue, recording explanations for every mismatch.
• Third: inspect NLW D95/32–6 to replace reliance on a historian’s description with the original 1793 deed evidence.
• Fourth: obtain DXJF/61/12 and DMAT/279 in full resolution and compare their place names and mapped features with later plans.
• Fifth: identify the D696 coloured OS plan-book reference and check its index for Llandough before commissioning broad searches.

Overall assessment (updated 17 October 2026): these are useful, specific retrieval and comparison leads. They improve the evidence plan but do not presently establish fraud, concealment, missing records or government involvement. No new court-ready fraud/concealment/government-involvement evidence has emerged. Strongest remaining lead remains the 1983 farmhouse registration certificate (still 3/5). Each conclusion must wait for the original record, provenance and comparison results.

7. Fastest next retrievals (17 October 2026)

• HMLR copy of WA240304 item 11, the Form 1C (£11)
• Page 1 of the 1939 agreement (parcels and acreage)
• The Llandough pages of NLW ex 642
• The 1984–87 Loosemores file, especially BP’s List of Documents

DSA/12/5400 warning: Do not use Glamorgan Archives DSA/12/5400 (“transfer of tenancy from J. Williams”). It relates to Jenkyn Morgan Williams of a different farm.

Legal sources: Land Registration Rules 1925, including rule 29; Land Registration Act 1925, section 14.

8. Four retrospective leads — vetted 18 October 2026

Overall status: research leads, not court-ready findings. The four items below differ in evidential status. A newspaper report can evidence what a person said if authenticated; a will report does not identify land unless the clause is read; a covering email identifying an attachment does not substitute for examining the deed; and a general minute-book catalogue entry does not prove that a particular planning committee discussed Great House Farm.

8.1 Western Mail, 20 November 1958, p. 7 — “It’s a Crichel Down, says woman farmer”

A research note supplies this citation and reports that Mrs Buckler told a county planning committee that Glamorgan County Council, Penarth Urban Council, Cardiff Rural Council and Western Ground Rents had “walked in and taken” the family’s land. The exact article, page and quotation have not yet been recovered and independently checked during this review. Keep this as an unconfirmed press lead pending the page image or a full transcript; do not assign it a new evidence-library item number until a source copy is identified.

Potential significance if authenticated: the article would show that Mrs Buckler publicly made an allegation about the taking of family land in 1958, approximately 29 years before the 1987 Court of Appeal proceedings. It would not by itself prove the family’s title, establish that any named body unlawfully took land, or amount to a judicial finding. The reported words “Cardiff Rural Council” require careful checking: the Wiki’s Source Conflicts Register SC-22 records that the relevant area was within Penarth Urban District Council rather than Cardiff Rural District Council. Do not silently amend the newspaper quotation; verify what it says and reconcile that wording against the administrative history.

Retrieval: search the Western Mail archive for 20 November 1958, page 7, using the headline and Mrs Buckler’s name. The archive catalogue establishes that the paper’s digital run includes 1958; it does not establish that this particular article has been found. Once obtained, preserve the complete page image, headline, byline (if any), surrounding context and exact quoted passage. Cross-reference: Press Archive — Newspaper Transcripts and Master Timeline.

8.2 Reported 1900 will / Lord Colum and the 23 February 1905 conveyance

A supplied research lead says that press coverage in 1900 reported that Lord Bute’s will left Llandough land to his son Lord Colum. The exact article and will/probate clause identifying that land have not been inspected in this review. The existence of 1900 newspaper coverage of Lord Bute’s will is independently traceable in the Western Mail archive; the widely reported title “Lord Bute’s Will — Bequest to the Seaman’s Hospital — Explanation of the Conditions” (19 October 1900, p. 5) does not itself verify a Llandough bequest. The family’s more specific “Llandough land to Lord Colum” proposition remains a lead until the relevant wording is identified.

Inference correction: an inheritance to Lord Colum would not, without more, “break” the title chain. It could be an intermediate succession event. The forensic question is whether the will/probate identifies the same Llandough lands or rights, what passed under it, and how the later instruments describe those same lands.

Priority document: order the 23 February 1905 conveyance recorded on the WA231076 historic file from HM Land Registry, together with its schedule and plan (Wiki catalogue GHF-E026-03; Land Registry Titles — deeds before registration). The existing Wiki notes that WA735527 refers to this 1905 instrument and that it concerns rights over land Bute retained, but the 1905 instrument itself and its plan have not been inspected here. Compare the actual parties, capacity, consideration, estate/title recitals, rights granted, parcel description, boundaries and reservations against the 1900 will/probate and the 1938 Bute–Western Ground Rents conveyance and plan. Do not infer that it dealt with the whole of Great House Farm, Parcel A, Parcel B or the full Llandough estate before that comparison is complete.

8.3 11 June 1965 Llandough Primary School conveyance — Vale FOI 00211027 / R23

The Vale of Glamorgan Council’s email of 14 September 2026 says it holds a conveyance dated 11 June 1965 and a 1965 contract relating to acquisition of the Llandough Primary School land. The covering email names the parties as (1) Lakeside and Llandough Development Company Limited, (2) Western Ground Rents Limited and (3) Glamorgan County Council, and reports consideration of £16,800. The Council said that it had not identified a valuation report, a gift/undervalue record, committee reports authorising the acquisition, or correspondence/minutes with BP within its current records-management systems; it noted that surviving historic records may have been transferred to Glamorgan Archives. These are statements from the covering email. The underlying deed and plan have not been read here.

File status: the Wiki’s FOI register records the attachment names “Conveyance dated 11 June 1965.pdf” and “1965 Contract.pdf”, but states that the 27 MB email with attachments was not retrieved by the connector. The actual PDFs are not present in the Wiki’s searchable media library, so this page cannot provide a download of the conveyance. Ask the Vale to resend the conveyance and plan, and the contract, as separate files or through a secure transfer link. Once obtained, preserve the original files and transcribe the recitals, parties, title source, plan, property description, rights, reservations, consideration and any references to earlier WGR title.

What it may establish: if the plan and title recitals identify the exact school parcel and state WGR’s root of title, the deed may illuminate the chain for that particular tract. WGR’s appearance as a party in a school-land conveyance does not by itself prove how it first acquired the school land, nor does it establish its title to other land at Great House Farm. Compare the original deed/plan with the 1938 Bute–WGR conveyance and the registered title plans; do not extend the result to Parcel A or B without spatial and documentary matching. See the Vale correspondence catalogue, Thread 8, Lakeside and Llandough Development Company assessment and Glamorgan County Council assessment.

8.4 Council minutes and possible pre-demolition consideration in 1988

The National Archives catalogue identifies general Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council minute volumes DCVG/C/1/33 (June–November 1988) and DCVG/C/1/34 (December 1988–February 1989) in the Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council (DCVG) archival list. This is a catalogue lead for general council minutes. It has not yet established that a separate Planning Committee / Development Control Committee minute book is among those volumes, or that Great House Farm was discussed in them.

Search request: ask Glamorgan Archives to identify the relevant planning / development-control committee minute books, agendas, indexes, officer reports, correspondence and appendices covering 1988. Search the general-minute volumes for June–November 1988 and December 1988–February 1989 as well as any separate committee series, using Great House Farm, Tŷ Mawr, Llandough, listing/retention, demolition, and application 89/01396/OUT as terms. The aim is to determine whether any committee or officer considered protecting or retaining the farmhouse before demolition began in December 1988.

A discussion, if found, could clarify what was known and considered. Silence in one general-minute volume would not establish that no consideration occurred: it may have been recorded in a different committee series, officer file, Cadw correspondence or planning file. The minutes are a retrieval target, not presently proof either that protection was considered or that it was not. Cross-reference: 1988: Possession and Demolition and the Missing Records Register.

Cedwyn Estate theory cross-reference: The archival leads on the 1793 manor records, historic Tŷ Mawr plans and WA240304 are part of the high-level Cedwyn Estate test. These may be more evidence of the theory only if the original records identify the same land, show a relevant title chain or connect the proposed estate to Llandough–Leckwith; a catalogue description alone is not enough.

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