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_. THE HAWARDEN CASTLE ESTATE.…

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THE HAWARDEN CASTLE ESTATE. (From the "Estate Magazine. ul In a letter written in April, 1875, to bio eldest fcon when handing over to him the fee simple uf the Hawarden Estate, the bite Rt. Hon. W E. Gladstone called attention to the serious moral and social responsibilities appertaining to land ownership- Such responsibilities, said be, ."are full of interest and riah in pleasure-, but titey digaaud residence on the spot and a good Ishare of time, and especially a free and ungrudg- ing discharge of them. Nowhere in the world is the position of the landed proprietor so high es in this country, and this in great part for the reason that, nowhere else is the possession of landed property fX) closely associated with defi- jait-0 duty." The estate was acquired by purchase about the year 1650 by Six John Glynne, Lord Chief Justice under the Protector, from Si Roger Twisleton and others by arrangement with Charles, Earl of Derby, heir of the late Lord of the Manor. Sir John was an interesting figure. The Glynnea trace their ancestry back to Cilmin Troed Ddu (Cilmin of the Black Foot), Jdhief of the fourth of the fourteen tribes of North Wales. But none of the raoo giained much fame or notoriety until the advent of John Glynne, who was born at Glynllivon in Carnar- von in 1603, the second eon of Sir William Glynne, Kt., who had represented his county in Parliament in 1593, and was lligi1 Sheriff of the county in 1619. In June, 1628, John Glynne :was called to the Bar, and joined the Puritan party. In 1639 he was returned to Parliament both for the City of Westminster and the bor- ougth of Carnarvon, and a year later was re-eleo- ted for Westminster. He sat on many commit- tees, including that on Strafford, and conducted itho case against ham from the third to the ninth., articles in the impeachment; and after Strafford's impassioned and affecting appeal, replied with A speedh "merciless and cold as an ioeblast," .which won tie day and secured Strafford's at- tainder and execution. In 1643 he was made Keoorder for London; was one of the Commis- sioners appointed to treat with Charles at Caria- ke Castle; and in 1654 was created one of the Lord Protector's Sergeants-at-law, and, later in the year, a Judge of Assize. At Sir John's death, the Hawarden property idesoended to his son William, who. at a general distribution of honours in 1661, had received a baronetcy. Title and estate passed in the male tine through many generations to Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, the rinth baronet, born ISO,. Sir Stephen possessed, in addition to the HawaT- den estate, a fcraall property, named the Oakll Farm, of less ihan 100 acrcs* situate near Stour- bridge ift Staffordshire. Under these acree were valuable seams of ooal and ironstone. For these iminerala he refused an offer of L35,000, and in 1835, acting under the advice of an energetic and Sanguine agent, be proceeded to their rapid de- velopment. In 1839, on the marriage of his sis- ters, the Ijpautiful Miss Glynnea, with Mr Glad- stone and Lord Lyttelton, Sir Stephen associated his brothers-in-law with him in the venture— then of gTeat prospective value—to the modest extent of one tenth share eaclh. The agent's enthusiasm affected his principal, and capital to the extent of £ 250,000 wherewith to work the coal and ironstone mines was raised soleJy on the security of the Hawarden FoULte. In 1847 one of our historic panics shook the money market, and in its course brouglbt down the Oaks Farm ipompany. The Oourt directed a sale, and in 'April, 1849, Mr Gladstone purcthased the concern on behalf of himself and his brothers-in-law. The burden on the I-lawarden Estate left the owner no margin to live upon but Mr Gladstone threw himself with untiring tenacity of purpose into the task of unravelling the network of busi- tiess and legal complications, and finally a scheme was evolved under which the estate has been all but cleared of its burden. Sk Stephen uamseli also made some heroic aaori floes. Had he sold the entire est.at.e.s-as he might have idone—he would, it was estimated, have been eble to dear off all liabilities and been left with 8. fortune of £ 120,000. He dhose, however, to £ nf re*a4n family possessions to do which be had to live for aome time on a meagre in- come out of which he continued to pay his sub- ventions to the village sdhools amounting to gome hundreds a year. In 1874 he died of heart Cisease in London. His brother Henry having? died two years earlier, the estates went by arrangement to Mr Gladstone's eldest son, Wil- liam Henry, on whose only son, Mr William Glynne Charles Gladstone, they have since, by death, devolved. The estate comprises 7350 acres, and carries witfe it the patronage of the living and tOO Lordship of the Manor of Hawarden. It is mainly agricultural, but is also rich in mineral whiah have largely assisted towards its redemption. Coal has been extensively worked by the Queensferry and As ton Hall Colliery companies, who have taken various areas on lease. It also includes some of the Buckley fire- clay, and by the firm working the same—namely, Messrs W. Hancook and Co., who have been leasees of the fire clay bed for the last 150 years— the usual goods are largely made. others buff bricks and the ordinary burnt building bricks are likewise produced, and useful pits of sand and gravel have been found and used. Along the frontage of the River Dee large engi- neering works have been established by the Sandyaroft Foundry Company, who employ some 400 men, and by Messrs Willans and Robinson, engineers and boiler makers; and a shipbuilding yard and dbermcaJ works also occupy areas on lease. In all there are 183 agricultural holdings on the estate, of which thirty-nme farms extend to over fifty acres, the largest being 376 acres, and the average size about 130. There are 143 small holdings, so that of the total number of agricul- tural tenancies no less a proportion than 78 per cent, come witihin the definition of the recent Small Holdings Act. All are provided with buildings, and here, as on many other estates nowadays, leases are unknown, the tenancies be- ing annual, dating1 from February 2nd. When changes occur admission to the land is olaimed on the date given, but the house, buildings, and "outlet" are held over till May 1st. Rents be- come due half-yearly at Lady-day and Michael- mas, and the terms of incoming are those usually applying in Noarth Wales, viz., the incomer pays for the clover, root, farmyard manure, and un- contyumed hay and straw, and takes two-thirils of the wheat crop on summer fallowed land and one-haif on all ollher land. Rents average be- tween 25s and 30s per acre, and between 358 and 40s a.cording to the situation of the land. The best land Men in too valley of the Dee. the estate having in this respect materially benefited by the work carried out by the River Dee Company in 1737. Up to that period the waters of the Dee inundated an immense area of land in the valley below Hawarden, and a company was formed to reclaim some of this land by confining the waters in an artificial cot. This was done, and forty years later the Crlynnes enclosed and drained the adjoining flat lands, which area now constitutes the most fertile tract on tho estate, whereon the largest and best farms are situated. The banks of the Dee are still kept in order by the Hawarden Embankment Trustees. In the welfare of his tenants the young Squire takes the keenest possible interest, and is a 000- stant advocate of oo-operation. Chiefly through his advocacy the Hawarden and DiatrictrFormers Association was formed tgiree yeacs ago for the co-operative purchase of agricultuml require- ments. The estate is very ably managed by MT R. Straohan Gardiner, wibo was appointed agfent some few years ago, and Who controls a large staff of estate workmen. All the plans for re- building, adding to or altering residences, home- steads, or oottages are prepared in the office, and a staff of over a score of bricklayers, masons, joiners, and slaters is kept in constant employ- ment. Three keepers, half-a-dozen gardeners, a couple of park rangers, and six woodmen are also employed, and as Sir Gardiner has the sole effective control, it will be seen iAhathia duties are in no sense liglht ones.

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