HENDRE HOUSE FOR SALE - TO BE AUCTIONED AT THE EAGLES HOTEL, LLANRWST

3.00 p.m. 20 and 21 January.
Don't rush - the year was 1821.

DENBIGHSHIRE
VALE OF LLANRWST

TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION,
BY MR. THOMAS JONES,
At the Eagles Inn,
In the Town of Llanrwst, in the County of Denbigh,
On the 20th and 21st Days of JANUARY, 1821,
At the hour of Three o’Clock in the Afternoon of each Day,
In the following and such other Lots, and subject to such conditions as shall be then agreed upon,
The following most valuable, compact and desirable
FREEHOLD ESTATES,
Late the property of WILLIAM EDWARDS, Esq. Deceased
LOT 1
All that capital Mansion House, called Hendre House with the Demesne and other Lands, Garden, Plantations, Out Buildings and Appurtenances thereunto belonging, late in the occupation of the said William Edwards; together with the Farm of Hafod, and the Dwelling House, and other Buildings appurtenant thereto, lying near to Hendre House aforesaid, in the occupation of the Rev. Robert Hughes, and containing by admeasurement 121 a. 1R. 2P. of excellent Arable, Meadow and Pasture Land, in a high state of cultivation, and 84a, OR, 18P of Woodland, (more or less,) in a very thriving state.
LOT No. 2.
A capital Messuage, Dwelling House, Farm, and Premises, with the Appurtenances called Pentre Mawr, otherwise Hendre Mawr, lying near to Hendre House aforesaid, and containing by admeasurement about 80 Acres of Land, in the occupation of a Tenant from year to year.
LOT No. 3.
A piece of Arable and Woodland, called Brynmelin, lying near to Hendre House aforesaid containing by admeasurement 5a 3R 10P (more or less,) late in the occupation of said Wm. Edwards, deceased.

WHO LIVED WHERE?
From the above, it is apparent that the owner of Hendre House prior to 1821 was William Edwards.
Pentre Mawr (also known as Hendre Mawr) was part of the property, and occupied by a tenant.
In the 1850s farmer William Williams of Carreg Lleon, Capel Garmon, lived there for the rest of his life after his marriage in November 1848 to Elinor Hughes of Tyn y Capel, daughter of Morris Hughes, Carpenter and Shopkeeper, and the birth of their first daughter, Jane, at Bryn Pwn.
They raised their family in Pentre Mawr, and William died aged 70 in 1883.
Nearby Hafod was occupied by clergyman Robert Hughes.



Above: Pentre Mawr

TO LET: HENDRE HOUSE (1830)

Hendre House, near Llanrwst, Denbighshire.
TO BE LET, WITH IMMEDIATE POSSESSION.
The above excellent Dwelling house, fit for the residence of a Gentleman’s Family, and occupied by the proprietor, the late William Edwards, Esquire, until his death. It contains a spacious Dining and Drawing rooms, and suitable Bed-rooms, with Stables, Coach-house, and other convenient out-buildings, and an excellent Walled Garden attached. The House stands in a fine Lawn in the beautiful Vale of Llanrwst, within about a mile of the Town, where there is a plentiful market. - The roads in the vicinity are good, and the neighbourhood is respectable. - The Tenant may at his option be accommodated with 32 acres, or any less quantity, of excellent Land adjoining the House.
For further particulars apply to Mr JONES, Plas Iolin, near Pentre-foelas, the Receiver of the Rents of the Estate, under an order of the Court of Chancery; or to Messrs. EVANS and WILLIAMS, Solicitors, Denbigh.
Denbigh, March 9th, 1830.

The above advertisement appeared in 1830, and at some later date Thomas Blackwell took up residence there.

HENDRE HOUSE and THE BLACKWALL FAMILY

Mr John Blackwall, famed as a naturalist, was born January 20, 1790 and died May, 1881 in Crumpsall, Manchester.

John Blackwall took an interest in natural history from his youth on, and published an article on spiders in 1827.

He went on to publish 'A History of the Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland' (2 vols., 1861-1864), describing 304 species of British spiders, the most useful book on the subject until that time.

He corresponded with Charles Darwin on the variation among spiders, and said that adult spiders of the same species differed so remarkably in size and colour, no matter where found, that he was unable to explain it.

His name appears in the names of spider species such as Salticus blackwallii, Scotophaeus blackwallii and Idiops blackwallii.

John Blackwell, then resident in Crumpsall Hall, also used to write about birds in the Manchester area (Manchester Chronicles)in the 1820s. One such article appears in 1830 in The Magazine of Natural History.

John Blackwell's writings on birds in the Llanrwst area in the 1840s were said to be the continuation of work he started at the suggestion of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

He also wrote on birds for the Edinburgh Journal of Science.
The Penny Cyclopedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge quoted him in an article on birds.

His name also appeared in 1834 in Researches in zoology, illustrative of the manners and economy of animals, London.

In 1846: Notice of Spiders captured by Professor Potter in Canada, with Descriptions of such Species as appear to be new to Science. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.;
1853: Descriptions of some newly discovered Species of Araneida. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.;
1854: Descriptions of some newly discovered species of Araneida. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist.
1861: A history of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland;
1862: Description of newly discovered Spiders captured in Rio de Janerio, by John Gray and the Rev. Hamlet Clark. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist;
1865: Descriptions of recently discovered Spiders collected in the Cape de Verde Islands by John Gray, Esq. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.;
1866: List of spiders captured in the southeast region of equatorial Africa, with descriptions of such species as appear to be new to arachnologists. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist.;
1867. Notes on Spiders, with Descriptions of several Species supposed to be new to Arachnologists. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist;
1868: Notice of several Species supposed to be new or little known to Arachnologists. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist;
1870a: Notes on a Collection of Spiders made in Sicily in the Spring of 1868, by E. Perceval Wrigth, MD, with a list of the Species, and Descriptions of some new Species and of a new Genus. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist;
1870b: A list of Spiders captured by Professor E. Perceval Wrigth, MD, in the Province of Lucca, in Tuscany, in the Summer of 1863, with Characters of such Species as appear to be new or little known to Arachnologists. Journ. Linn. Soc.;
1877: A List of Spiders captured in the Seychelle Islands by Professor E. Percival Wrigth, MD, FLS with Descriptions of Species supposed to be new. Proc. Roy. Irish Acad.
His name appears in a checklist of Kansas Jumping Spiders - Habronattus decorus (Blackwall).



LIVED WHERE EXACTLY?

Information has been published in the past indicating that from 1833 until his death John Blackwall the naturalist lived at Hendre House.

However, according to the census records, it was a Thomas Blackwall who was living at Hendre House in 1841 and 1851, while John Blackwall was recorded as living at Oaklands, as seen below.

Jesse Hutchinson, nee Kitts, of Australia wrote in 2004 about the Moulsdale family, and said that John Blackwall (1790-1881) lived at Oaklands and Hendre House near Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley from 1833 until his death.

That would appear to be correct, but it seems that this statement has been misread and condensed by contributors to Wikipedia who state that he lived at Hendre House from 1833 until his death, which error has been copied by others and spread on the Internet.

ROOTS: THE BLACKWALLS

In 1775 John Gartside acquired Crumpsall Hall, Manchester, a property of 60 acres, and sold it to Thomas Blackwall of Manchester in 1806. John Blackwall, the naturalist, died there in 1881.

Blackwalls had lived in various places in Derby since the 1500s, in Blackwall Manor, Kirk Ireton, Wirksworth and Ashford. John, Thomas, and William were family names back then, also.

A Robert Blackwall, gent., receiver, died 1520 or earlier at Wiboston, Beds., with property in four counties including Derby. He seems to have been the third son of Richard and Agnes Blackwall. The church at Taddington has a plaque (with family crests) and brasses to Richard and Agnes Blackwall, of Blackwall, dated 1505. Agnes vowed perpetual widowhood after Richard's death.

The Blackwall family was of Blackwall in the Peak in the reigns of Henry II and III. There were four brothers of this family in the reign of Henry VIII.

A descendant of the elder was father of Wensley Blackwall and grandfather of Sir Thomas Blackwall, a zealous loyalist, who became impoverished in the civil war, in debt to the tune of £130,632 7s 10d. and died in reduced circumstances in the reign of Charles II.
The manor left the family's possession in 1702.

A Robert Eaton Blackwall was a linen merchant like Thomas and John Blackwall. In the census of 1841 and 1851 he was in Cheetham Hill, Manchester. His wife, Maria, died in Wirksworth in 1826 at the age of 30.

DESIRABLE RESIDENCE TO LET: OAKLANDS
At about the same time as the other advertisements, the interest in the lease of Oaklands also came up for sale.

DESIRABLE RESIDENCE IN DENBIGHSHIRE, NORTH WALES.
To be SOLD, the INTEREST in the LEASE of the MANSION-HOUSE, called OAKLANDS, together with twenty Acres of Land, and a large Garden beautifully situated in the Vale of Llanrwst.
The House consists of three sitting rooms, four Bedrooms, Kitchen and Garrets. There are extensive Outbuildings, consisting of Dairy, Bakehouse, Brewhouse, Coach house, and Stabling for all kinds of Cattle. There are 30 years of the Lease unexpired, at the rent of $40 per annum. The House is situated two miles from the Market-town of Llanrwst, and two miles from the Holyhead-road.
The above is well worth the attention of any person requiring a country Residence.
For further particulars apply to Mr. FANNIN, Oaklands, Llanrwst, or at 41, Grafton-street, Dublin.

CENSUS RETURN 1841 - OAKLANDS - BLACKWALL FAMILY.

1841 Oakland, Garth Garmon - John Blackwall, 50, of independent means, born in Manchester, wife Jane, 20, born in Aberystwyth, John, 4 (likely the John Blackwall JP who was born in 1837 named in the Blackwall Memorial Inscription on a gravestone in St Mary's Church, Llanrwst, and who died in 1905), Mary, 2, and brother Thomas, 50, linen maker, all Denbighshire born. Thomas, John Blackwell's brother, died 24 March 1854 aged 65 years.


OAKLANDS

(Parish records for Capel Garmon record that in 1837, on 28 Feb, John Blackwell, son of John and Jane of Oaklands (gent) was baptised, and in 1839 on 18 Feb Mary Blackwell, daughter of John (gent) and Jane of Oaklands, was baptised, having been born on the 10th. This coincides, apart from the "e" instead of an "a" in the name, with the census returns.)

CENSUS RETURN 1851: OAKLANDS: FAMILY OF JOHN BLACKWALL
Census for 1851: Oaklands, Garth Garmon, John Blackwall, 61, retired Linen Merchant (Manchester), wife Jane, 32, (born in Aberystwyth), John, 14, scholar, Frances, 8, Thomas, 5 (note - no Mary). Thomas, 62, brother (retired linen maker), Mary Jones, 23, house servant (all born in Denbighshire), Elinor Roberts, 34, cook, born in Caernarfonshire. This is the family recorded as living at Hendre House in 1861.

It appears that the family business was in the linen trade and that the work in natural history was out of interest rather than as his paying profession.

He kept a list of the periodical birds observed in the area in 1843 and 1844 which was read at a variety of associations, such as the British Association for the Advancement of Science in York, a continuation of former observations started at the suggestion of the British Association to create "tables of the period of arrival and disappearance of periodic phenomena in the organic kingdom".

CENSUS RETURNS 1871: OAKLANDS : JOHN BLACKWALL JUNIOR (34)
In 1871 John Blackwall junior was married and living at Oaklands; he was 34 and a magistrate. His wife Margaret Sarah, nee Moulsdale, was 27 and recorded as having been born at Llandrygarn, Anglesey. They now had three young children, all born locally - John B. aged 4 and described as a scholar, Margaret Jane. aged 3, and Robert M, aged 1.
Their servants were Mary Lewis of Llanrwst, 55 and single, the cook, Grace Roberts of Llanrwst, 28 and single, a nurse, John Jones, born in Yspytty Ifan, aged 18 and a bachelor, who worked as a groom, and Margaret Hughes, 19, of Llanrwst, a housemaid and unmarried.
Baby Robert's second name was Moulsdale, and in time, for the purposes of inheritance, he would have Moulsdale added on to the end of his name so that he became Robert Moulsdale Blackwall Moulsdale. (One family researcher, Marie Marcelle Stollery, thought it was a John Blackwall who had the Moulsdale added to keep the family name going, but this has been shown to be an error; she was referring mistakenly to Robert's father). More information about Robert's family appears below.



CENSUS RECORDS 1841: HENDRE HOUSE: THOMAS BLACKWALL (80) AND WILLIAM BLACKWALL (45)

In 1841 - An 80 year old gentleman of independent means, Thomas Blackwall, was living at Hendre House, with merchant William Blackwall (45), Mary Blackwall (55), also Elizabeth Blackwall (40) and Emma Chawner, both of independent means. Servants at the property were Mary Allen (45), Maryanne Thorpe (40), Edward Thomas (25) Gwen Thomas (25) and Elizabeth Thomas (30).



CENSUS RETURNS FOR 1851: HENDRE HOUSE: THOMAS BLACKWALL (91)

In 1851: Thomas Blackwall, 91, and widowed, described as a landowner of 57 acres, lived at Hendre House. He came from Blackwall, Derbyshire. His unmarried daughter Mary, 65, was from Derby, and housekeeper Mary Allen, 56, from London. Housemaid Mary Anne Thorpe, 56, was from Barnsley, the remaining staff were from Llanrwst; Margaret Hughes, 31, a cook, dairy maid Anne Jones, 27, and Morris Williams, 25, footman. (Mr Thomas Blackwell died 25 Oct 1852 aged 93; Mary Blackwall died February 23, 1860, aged 76)

CENSUS RETURNS FOR 1861 : HENDRE HOUSE : JOHN BLACKWALL (71)

In 1861 Hendre House was recorded as being occupied by John Blackwell, Esq., aged 71, Landed Proprietor born in Manchester. His wife Jane (born in Aberystwyth) was 43.
Their son John Blackwall was now 24 and single, son Thomas Blackwall was 15 and still at school, and daughter Frances was 18 and single; all were recorded as having been born in Garth Garmon.
Their servants were Mary Jones from Eglwysbach, Housemaid, 33 and single; Barbara Williams from Ysbytty Ifan, Dairy Maid, 28 and also single, Jane Davies of Capel Curig, Cook, 24 and single, and Evan Williams of Garth Garmon, 22, a bachelor, working as a footman.

Jane, the wife of John Blackwall, died on the 4 September, 1867 aged 49

CENSUS RETURNS 1881 : HENDRE HOUSE : JOHN BLACKWALL (91)

In 1881 In Hendre House John Blackwall was 91 and stated to have been born in Manchester. His unmarried cousin Mary Eaton, 60, from Derby, was present, as was Londoner Mary A. Brown, a 40 year old spinster and trained nurse. Kate Ball, 22 and unmarried, of Grange, Lancashire, was housemaid and Margaret Hughes, 66, of Llanddoget, was Cook.

John Blackwall, the naturalist, died 11 May 1881, aged 91, in Crumpsall Hall, Manchester.
Edith Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Blackwall of Bryn Afon, died 30 July 1877, aged 32 years.



CENSUS RECORDS 1881 : LOCATION OF THOMAS BLACKWALL (35) : ASHOVER, DERBY
Meanwhile in 1881 in Ashover Prospect House, Ashover, Derby, 67 year old widow Sarah Haslam was proprietor of a Hydropathic Institution (SMS). Her daughter Mary, 40, was an assistant there, and her son in law, 35 year old Thomas Blackwall of Llanrwst, was a Civil & Mining Engineer, while his wife Elizabeth, 30, born in Ashover, was an Assistant Waitress, likely at the Institution her mother owned. Thomas and Elizabeth moved to North Wales in time, lived for at least part of their lives in Belmont, Capel Garmon, and are buried in Capel Garmon cemetery.



In Hendre House Lodge lived farm servant John Thomas of Capel Garmon, 62, and his wife, 59 year old Capel Garmon woman, Cathrin. Their bachelor son Edward, 23, was also a farm servant.

CENSUS RETURNS 1891 : HENDRE HOUSE : JOHN BLACKWALL (54)
In 1891 John Blackwall, 54, of Llanrwst was head of household at Hendre House, living on his own means. His wife Margaret Sarah (nee Moulsdale), 47, was from Anglesey and two locally born children were still at home, Margaret Jane, 23, and scholar Hugh Eric, 15.
Visiting them was Agnes Elliott Campbell, 24, of Rutland Uppingham.
The cook was June Griffith, 36, of Caernarfon, housemaid Margaret Williams, 27, of Anglesey and stableboy / groom Hugh Andrew, 15, of Llanrwst.



CENSUS RETURNS FOR 1901 : HENDRE HOUSE : JOHN BLACKWALL (34)

In 1901 John Blackwall, 34, born locally, was living on his own means at Hendre House. His wife Christiana, also 34, was a foreign subject from Chile, South America.
They had no dependant children living with them, and employed Margaret J Williams, 34, of Llandudno as a parlourmaid, Margaret J Jones, 23, of Birkenhead as a housemaid.
Mary J Roberts, 36, of Ffestiniog cooked for the household, and local William Bickers, 18, was their coachman.
Christiana spoke English, the others were bilingual.
This John Blackwell had three younger brothers, Thomas Wendesley, William Stuart and Hugh Eric, who all moved to Canada.

WHO LIVED WHERE WHEN?

Thomas Blackwall Sr. may have lived in Hendre House since 1833 until his death on 25 Oct 1852 aged 93.

His son John then lived at Hendre House with his wife Jane.

After that, the next John lived there with his wife, the former Margaret Sarah Moulsdale of Bryn Dyffryn.

The next generation also saw a John Blackwall living there, this time with a Chile-born wife.

One at least of Thomas senior's descendants lived at Belmont, Capel Garmon, another Thomas Blackwall, who died in his early 60s on May 10th, 1907? and was buried at Capel Garmon cemetery, later to be joined by his wife Elizabeth.)

BLACKWALLS AND MOULSDALES UNITE - HENDRE HOUSE AND BRYN DYFFRYN ARE FAMILY

Margaret Sarah is described as the daughter of Robert Owen Moulsdale JP, born at Bryn Dyffryn in 1806, who married Jane Hester Hughes of Amlwch in St Asaph in 1841. Jane Hester died in 1886 and Robert Owen in 1883. Besides Margaret Sarah, they had a son, Robert Owen Moulsdale Jr. BA, Barrister at law, d. 1880.

The children of John Blackwell and Margaret Sarah were the following:
John, born 1 November 1866 and died 16 August 1936;
Margaret Jane (Mela) born 29 Feb 1868, who married E A W Fayler of Musselboro around April 1898. She died in Los Angeles, USA.
Robert Moulsdale Blackwall (later Moulsdale) was born 17 February 1870 in Bryn Dyffryn, Melin y Coed. He died 21 October 1951. In September 1896 he married Mabel Florence Wraight, born in Liverpool, who died 25 June 1944.
Thomas Wendesley Blackwall, born 31 Jan 1872. He died in Canada.
William Stuart Blackwall born 14 September 1875. He died 17 September 1953 in Iroquois Falls, Ontario.
Hugh Eric Blackwall was born 4 August 1877.

The children of Robert Moulsdale Blackwall Moulsdale and Mabel Florence Wraight were the following:
Robert Valentine Moulsdale, born 14 February 1898, in Bryn Dyffryn. He married Enid Owen of Ysgoldy, Melin y Coed, on 26 July 1950.
John Reginald Moulsdale, born 21 August 1899. He married Barbara Madeleine Thackeray of Stafford on 12 August 1925. They had three children.
Marjorie Gwenllian Moulsdale born 23 January 1902, who married Leslie Huckle of Ilkeston, Derby.
Eric Moulsdale born 10 March 1906. He married Eilene Florence Evans, daughter of Edward Tansley Evans of Bidston Hall, Bidston, Cheshire. They had two children.

BLACKWALLS ABROAD

A Mrs Fanny E. Penny of Ealing wrote in 1922 of the Blackwall family back to 1692 in India. Her niece Emily Ruth Keppewa Farr married Stuart Blackwall of Llanrwst. Emily's father Charles founded the town of Haileybury in Ontario on Lake Temiscaming. (Robert Roberts of Nebo - "Uncle Bob Canada" - moved to live near there at the beginning of the century). Stuart Blackwall went out to Charles and married Emily, becoming one of the influential men of Haileybury.

Fanny wrote to Captain Blackwall in December 1922 saying she was interested in the family tree and was sure Stuart would be the same. Stuart's eldest brother, she said, (meaning John) married a South American lady (meaning Christiana), but they were not likely to have children. She understood that Stuart would inherit Hendre. His younger brother Eric was in Haileybury, Ontario, with his family, and had lost everything in a fire that had occurred a few months previously. Stuart and his wife did suffer, but they owned land "in all directions" and were very well off. Stuart and Emily had visited England on their honeymoon in 1901 or 2 and stayed with Fanny in London. They had two daughters, Christiane and Georgina aged 18 and 14. Stuart had been away from home with his Government occupation when the fire occurred; he had left a large car behind and his family escaped in this. Eric, his wife and child escaped by boat to an island in the lake.

Christiane Blackwall married Arthur Moss and Georgina married Arthur Little.

Hugh Eric had two children, a daughter and a son called John Blackwall.

------------------------------------------- MI ------------------------------------------------------

These Memorial Inscriptions are in St Mary's, Llanrwst:



St Mary’s Churchyard

Grave no 434

In loving memory of Margaret Sarah the beloved wife of John Blackwall, J.P. of Hendre in this parish, born November, 1843, died July 31, 1894. Also John Blackwall, of Hendre, J.P. for the counties of Denbigh and Caernarvon born February 18, 1837, died November 16, 1900. Also John Blackwall J.P. their beloved son, born November 1, 1866, died August 16, 1936.


Grave No 390

In memory of Thomas Vernon Blackwall, died October 31, 1896, aged 24 years.


Grave No 411

In memory of Thomas Blackwall, of Hendre House in this parish, died on the XVth day of October, MDCCCLII, aged XCIII. Also his son, Thomas Blackwall, who died on the 24th day of March, 1854 aged 65 years. Also Mary Blackwall, died February 23, 1860, aged 76 years. Also Jane, the wife of John Blackwall, died on the 4 September, 1867 aged 49 years. Also of John Blackwall, who died 11 May 1881, aged 91 years. Also of Edith Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Blackwall, of Bryn Afon, died 30 July 1877, aged 32 years.



John Blackwall of Hendre, Justice of the Peace for the Counties of Denbigh and Carnarvon. Born February 18th 1837 Died November 16th 1905. "Thy will be done".


John Blackwall JP lived from 1866 to 1936.

---------------------------------------------- Hendre House in the 2000s ------------------------------

Hendre House in recent years has been the site of a number of events promoting practical aspects of land use, such as Adding Value to Farm Timber, and Alternative Land Use.



Thanks to Patricia Willliams and Maggi Blythin for finding certain items of information.

Rowena Evans
mail@ melin-y-coed.co.uk

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