Hamwood Manuscripts

Scope and Content

Papers, 1774-1947, of Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, popularly known as the 'Ladies of Llangollen', comprising diaries and correspondence, together with related papers.

Administrative / Biographical History

Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, better-known as the 'Ladies of Llangollen', were both members of Irish aristocratic families. Having quickly established a relationship following their meeting in 1768, the women escaped the scandalised animosity of their home circle by setting up home at Plasnewydd, a Gothic-style house situated near Llangollen, Denbighshire. For the next fifty years, they lived a secluded and often penurious existence, while nevertheless receiving such notable visitors as the landowner, traveller and writer Anne Lister and the poets Robert Southey, William Wordsworth and Percy Shelley. Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby are both buried in the grounds of St Collen's Church, Llangollen, while Plasnewydd is now a museum dedicated to their lives.

Arrangement

Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 22967-22996.

Access Information

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers' Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library.

Disgwylir i ddarllenwyr sydd am ddefnyddio papurau modern yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru gydymffurfio â Deddf Warchod Data 2018 a Rheoliadau Diogelu Data Cyffredinol 2018 yng nghyd-destun unrhyw brosesu ganddynt o ddata personol a gasglwyd o gofnodion modern sydd ar gadw yn y Llyfrgell. Nodir y manylion yn yr wybodaeth a roddir wrth wneud cais am Docyn Darllen.

Acquisition Information

Hamilton family (per A. R. Heath, Bristol); Hamwood, Dunboyne, co. Meath; Purchase; 1990.

Note

Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, better-known as the 'Ladies of Llangollen', were both members of Irish aristocratic families. Having quickly established a relationship following their meeting in 1768, the women escaped the scandalised animosity of their home circle by setting up home at Plasnewydd, a Gothic-style house situated near Llangollen, Denbighshire. For the next fifty years, they lived a secluded and often penurious existence, while nevertheless receiving such notable visitors as the landowner, traveller and writer Anne Lister and the poets Robert Southey, William Wordsworth and Percy Shelley. Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby are both buried in the grounds of St Collen's Church, Llangollen, while Plasnewydd is now a museum dedicated to their lives.

The following source was used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Vol. 9 (Aberystwyth, 2003)

Title based on name of residence of former owners.

Alternative Form Available

Published in microform (see Ladies of Llangollen ... A Listing and Guide to the Microfilm Collection (Adam Matthew Publications, 1997)): copies are available at NLW (see NLW Films 999-1003).

Archivist's Note

September 2017

Description compiled by Bethan Ifan.

Conditions Governing Use

Usual copyright laws apply.

Related Material

For press cuttings and pamphlets acquired with the papers see NLW ex 1364.

Bibliography

Eva Mary Bell, The Hamwood Papers (London, 1930)

Additional Information

Published