| Background | Fonmon was one of many castles built by the Normans to defend the land that they had conquered in the Vale of Glamorgan. The St John family of Fonmon Castle were obliged to sell the estate, which was bought in 1658 by the parliamentarian Colonel Philip Jones (1618-1674). After the Restoration in 1660, he held on to the acquisitions that he had made under the Commonwealth, and was succeeded by sons Sir John Jones and Oliver Jones. The family also acquired the Boverton estate in Glamorgan from the Seys family.
Oliver Jones's son, Robert Jones (1682-1715) succeeded as a minor, as did his eldest son Robert Jones (1706-1742). His eldest son, another Robert Jones (d. 1793), lived beyond his means, resulting in much of the estate being mortgaged, and he spent his latter years on the continent, mainly in France, in refuge from his creditors. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert Jones (1773-1834, dsp) who was succeeded by his younger brother's eldest son, Robert Oliver Jones (1811-1886). R O Jones married firstly Alicia Evan Thomas of Llwyn Madoc by whom he had two children, and secondly (in 1853) Sarah Elizabeth (d 1869), daughter of J. Bruce Pryce of Dyffryn, and sister of the first Lord Aberdare. In 1906 Clary Valpy, the grand-daughter of Robert Oliver Jones and heiress to Fonmon married Sir Seymour Boothby, 14th baronet of Ashbourne Hall, Derbyshire, and the castle and estate of Fonmon ultimately passed into the possession of the Boothby family. |
| Description | Surveys, 1650-1775, rentals, 1633-1811, and accounts, 1642-1822, of the Fonmon estate and the Boverton estate; deeds and settlements, 1612-[c. 1838]; law suits, [c. 1651]-1847, including several brought against Colonel Philip Jones after the Restoration; probate records, 1667-1840; correspondence, 1649-1912; vouchers, [c. 1649]-1840; court books, court rolls, etc., of Glamorgan manors, 1623-1770; records of manors in Monmouthshire, 1579-1784, Gloucestershire, [17th century], and Hampshire, 1580; letters from John and Charles Wesley, 1745-1787; drawings and plans, 1784-[c. 1881], including a plan of an action between the French and English fleets on 12 April 1782 [Battle of the Saintes?], 1784, a plan of the Bastille in Paris, [c. 1790], and a section of a proposed channel tunnel railway, [19th century]; papers relating to Glamorgan and national politics, [c. 1712]-[c. 1886]; historical sketch of the parish of Penmark, in the autograph of Edward Williams, 'Iolo Morganwg'; official correspondence, etc., addressed to Captain Oliver J. Jones serving in the East on HMS Shannon, 1860-1865; pedigree roll of Henry Mathew of Llandaf ,compiled by Thomas Johns of Tregaron, 'Twm Sion Catti', 1577; churchwardens' and highway accounts for the parish of Penmark, 1738-1801; papers relating to the Llandaff Diocesan Church Extension Society, 1850-1892; Glamorgan Quarter Sessions papers, 1867-1888; minutes of the Glamorgan Education Board, 1867-1876; and a register of the Company of Cordwainers and Glovers of Cardiff, 1783-1806. |