Welsh Legal History Society
Cymdeithas Hanes Cyfraith Cymru

British Legal History Conference 2024 (03-07-2024)

The 2024 British Legal History Conference will be held at Bristol from the 3 rd -6 th July and Welsh
law and the WLHS will be well represented. A session on the morning of Thursday 4 th will
feature papers by Angharad Elias on Dr John David Rhys and Medieval Welsh Law, Sara Elin
Roberts on Aliens in Medieval Welsh Law, and Thomas Glyn Watkin on post-Union legal
knowledge in Renaissance Wales.

The conference, which brings together scholars from all over the world, has its origins in Wales,
the first meeting having taken place in Aberystwyth in 1972.

Recent deaths (03-07-2024)

The Society was saddened to hear of the death of the influential scholar of, and writer on, Welsh
Medieval Law, Morfydd Owen in March 2024. The WLHS produced a volume commemorating Morfydd’s achievements in 2022 as its Volume XVII, Cyfarwydd Mewn Cyfraith.

Another sad loss was that of Patrick Polden, a leading historian of legal institutions and the legal profession, and a loyal supporter of the Society. Patrick’s work was celebrated at a symposium in his memory at Brunel University in April 2024, at which his interest in Wales was noted by more than one speaker. His posthumously published The County Court Judges and Stipendiary Magistrates of Wales to 1971 appears as Volume XIX of the Society’s series.

Volume XIII now available (25-08-2016)

Volume XIII of the Society's publications has just been published, edited by Professor T. G. Watkin. It is entitled CYMRY'R GYFRAITH, AMERICA A'R BYD: Welsh Contributions to the Law in America and the Wider World. Details of the volume's contents, together with those of all earlier volumes, may be found at the "Publications" section of this site.
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Volume VI now available (25-08-2016)

Volume VI of the Society's publications has just been published, edited by Professor T. G. Watkin. It is entitled LAW AND JUSTICE IN THE INTEGRATION OF TWO LANDS: FRANCE AND BRITTANY, ENGLAND AND WALES. Details of the volume's contents, together with those of all earlier volumes, may be found at the "Publications" section of this site.
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Forthcoming Conference (01-03-2016)

2nd September 2016 at the University of Liverpool, London Campus.
Financial Crime Symposium: past lessons, contemporary challenges, and future solutions. This one-day symposium will bring together academics, regulators, and legal practitioners to better understand the changing faces of financial crime and explore innovative approaches to tackling financial misconduct.

This one-day symposium will bring together academics, regulators, and legal practitioners to better understand the changing faces of financial crime and explore innovative approaches to tackling financial misconduct.

The symposium will focus upon a wide range of financial crimes and wider issues of financial practice that have come under public scrutiny in recent years. There shall be a particular focus upon historical financial crime, and the lessons which can be learned from the treatment of financial misconduct historically. Seldom do academics and practitioners have the opportunity to come together and discuss the issues surrounding financial crime in a wider historical context. This event provides a rare opportunity for discussion into the origins of financial crime and how these still impact upon the contemporary regulation and prosecution of financial crime.

Contributions are welcome from regulators, legal practitioners and academics from across disciplines.
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Volume XII available (20-10-2015)

Volume XII of the Society's publications has just been published, edited by Professor T. G. Watkin. It is entitled The Welsh Legal Triads and Other Essays. Details of the volume's contents, together with those of all earlier volumes, may be found at the "Publications" section of this site.
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New Edition of Bowen's "Statutes of Wales" published (05-02-2015)

The Aberystwyth University Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs ( http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/law-criminology/research/cwla/) takes an interest in all matters of law and criminology in Wales. Devolution has meant that questions of legislation applicable in Wales are very important and the Centre will monitor and comment upon the legislative changes. To mark its involvement the Centre has produced a new facsimile edition of Ivor Bowen�s The Statutes of Wales, a classic text from 1908 which brings together historical statutory materials concerning Wales. The volume has a new introduction by Richard Ireland and is available online from Amazon for £13.20 or in person from the Department at a bargain price of £12.50. (Also available from other Amazon sites at $19.95 or �18.52)
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Reduced nembership fee for students (20-11-2014)

WLHS has a new new reduced membership rate for UK students. Please see the Membership page for details and a downloadable form.

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Cynefin Project (12-08-2014)

This Archive and Records Council Wales-led project, to digitise the tithe maps of Wales, has begun.

Over the next few years, more than one thousand maps and over 36,000 related document will be made available online.
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Welsh law must be clearer and more accessible (04-08-2014)

Press release by the Law Commission on the form and accessibility of Welsh law.

Read the full (bilingual) item below
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Call for Papers (24-02-2014)

From Dr Coleman A. Dennehy, Department of History at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

I am writing to inform you of a Call For Papers for a conference on Irish legal history in the seventeenth century. The conference will explore the theme of law and lawyers in Ireland before, during, and after the Cromwellian Interregnum.

The conference is being held in conjunction with the Irish Legal History Society Winter Discourse, which will also address the topic.

If you have an email list or an appropriate place on your society's website/blog, I would very much appreciate it if you could post the CFP (attached) for the attention of your members, who may find it of interest.

Warm regards,
Coleman

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Carno Poisoning Case 1914 (19-02-2014)

Youtube video by Rachael Jones.

Follow the link below to listen to a short introduction.
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2014 Annual Lecture (19-02-2014)

This year's Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs annual lecture will take place in Lecture Room T1 on the Llanbadarn Campus, Aberystwyth University on March 7th, 2014 at 6pm. The speaker will be the Lord Chief justice, Lord Thomas, and the title of the talk is 'Law in the Polity of Wales.'

All welcome.

Police Diary (24-10-2013)

A new deposit at Ceredigion Archives is an interesting Police Diary for the years 1857-60 which records details of police duties and activities in rural Cardiganshire immediately after the County and Borough Police Act of 1856.

Extracts from this document have been added, with transcription and commentary, to the Research Resources page of this website.

2013 Legal Wales Conference (24-10-2013)

The 2013 Legal Wales Conference was held this year in Cardiff on October 11th and the Society was well represented in a large and enthusiastic audience. Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, delivered a paper and Mr Keith Bush, Director of the Legal Wales Foundation, delivered this year's Youard Lecture.

The occasion was also marked by the publication of Volume XI of the Society's publications, a tribute to the late Professor Dafydd Jenkins, in which texts of Mr Bush's lecture appear in both Welsh and English. Details of this wide-ranging volume, which may be obtained by contacting the Society, appear on the Publications page of this website.

Legal Wales Conference and Dinner (27-09-2013)

City Hall, Cardiff, Friday 11 October 2013
6 Hrs CPD £95, including lunch and other refreshments (concessionary fee of £50 for students, trainees and pupils)
Conference dinner £40.
Address by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas.

See link below for more details and booking form.
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Sir John Thomas to be the next Lord Chief justice of England and Wales. (18-07-2013)

The Society is delighted to add its congratulations to its President, Sir John Thomas, following the announcement that he will become the next Lord Chief justice of England and Wales.

Sir John's energy and interest have been indispensable to the Society from the start. He will take over from Lord Judge, himself a long-time member of the WLHS.

21st British Legal History Conference (18-07-2013)

The Society was also represented at the 21st British Legal History Conference held at the University of Glasgow from 10th to 13th July 2013.

For the first time we were delighted to join, inter alia, the Selden Society, Stair Society and Irish Legal History Society in sponsoring the event. Particular items of interest to members included Professor Thomas G. Watkin's paper on 'Jurisdiction and Judicial Authority: The View from Wales', and Professor Sir John Baker's paper 'Dafydd Jenkins and the British Legal history Conference', which latter will be included in the Society's forthcoming volume honouring the great Welsh legal historian.

Society meeting at Oriel Ynys Môn (18-07-2013)

The last Society meeting, on June 29th at Oriel Ynys Môn, Llangefni, was a great success, with a good turnout of members and guests enjoying those papers mentioned in the last news item.

The mood was scholarly but relaxed, the papers and subsequent discussions interesting and informative. The whole was gratifying both in confirming the depth and geographical extent of interest in Welsh legal history and bodes well for the future.

Twitter (02-07-2013)

News of the Society's events, publications etc, will appear within Richard Ireland's twitter feed.

See @Welsh Raffles.

Society Meeting in Oriel Ynys Môn (02-07-2013)

The meeting of the Society on Saturday 29th June attracted a good contingent of members and guests to the impressive venue of Oriel Ynys Môn, Llangefni, Ynys Môn.

The meeting passed with its normal mixture of scholarship and informality and was treated to four papers of great interest, as described in the previous item at this site. A challenging and enjoyable day, it was a great success and suggests that North Wales meetings will become a more usual fixture in the Society's calendar.

'Water and the Law' (28-05-2013)

An excellent conference on the theme of 'Water and the Law' was held by the Society in September 2012.

An excellent conference on the theme of 'Water and the Law' was held by the Society in September 2012. The conference was held in Cardiff and attracted papers on a range of subjects. The titles and speakers are given below:

Professor Thomas Glyn Watkin:'Introduction: Water in Welsh Legal History'

Mr. Lukasz Jan Korporowicz (University of Lodz, Poland): 'Curses, Water and the Law'

Dr. Sara Elin Roberts: 'Water in Medieval Welsh Law'

Mr. Gwilym Owen (Bangor University):'The ebb and flow of Welsh Land Law on an Anglesey beach'.


A second Conference on the same theme will be held in Llangefni on June 29th this year for members and their guests. See the Events page for details of the speakers, papers and location. Members and their guests are warmly invited to attend what should be an enjoyable meeting at an attractive venue (for membership details see the Membership page).

Proceedings on the theme will form a forthcoming volume in the Society's series of publications (for details of published proceedings see the Publications page).

Dafydd Jenkins Conference Paper (28-05-2013)

Following the death of Dafydd Jenkins the Society is pleased to report that a paper is to be presented.

The paper, on his contribution to the prestigious British Legal History Society, is to be delivered at a Conference at the University of Glasgow in July this year. Professor Thomas Glyn Watkin - the second edition of whose momentous work 'The Legal History of Wales' is now available from the University of Wales Press - will also deliver a paper to the Conference.

The Society will be publishing a special commemorative volume in honour of Professor Jenkins later this year.

Professor Dafydd Jenkins (09-05-2012)

The Society is saddened to report the death at the age of 101 of Professor Dafydd Jenkins.

Dafydd's scholarly contribution to the resurgence of interest in medieval Welsh Law is inestimable. He taught at Aberystwyth University from 1965 until his retirement in 1978 and continued his academic work long thereafter. Dafydd was a stalwart supporter of the Welsh Legal History Society from the time it was first mooted and the Society's first volume was dedicated to him. The Society will honour him in a volume which is currently in preparation.

Latest Society publications (23-02-2012)

The latest volume of the Society's publications was published in February 2012. Edited by T.G.Watkin it is entitled The Garthbeibio Murders and Other Essays

See the Publications page for more details.
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New publication (23-02-2012)

Richard Ireland's paper 'Sanctity, Superstition and the Death of Sarah Jacob' was published in February 2012.

The paper is published in A. Musson and C. Stebbings (eds) Making Legal History - Approaches and Methodology.

See also our Research Resources page.

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Youard Lecture (23-02-2012)

The Society was pleased to co-operate with the Hywel Dda Centre at Swansea Univesity to host the Youard Lecture which was presented by Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2nd December 2011.

For further details click the link below.
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Legal Wales Conference 2011 (23-02-2012)

Again the Society was represented at the Legal Wales Conference held at the Hilton Hotel Cardiff on 7th October 2011.

Under the auspices of the Society an interesting paper was presented by Gwilym Owen of Bangor Law School entitled 'Another Lawyer Looks at Welsh Land Law'.

Click on the link below for details of the 2010 Conference.

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Second Annual Dodderidge Lecture (25-06-2011)

On 6th June 2011, Richard Ireland delivered the Second Annual Dodderidge Lecture at the Bracton Centre for Legal History Research in the University of Exeter Law School.

The title of the lecture was 'How Common was the Common Law?'
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David Hughes Parry - A Jurist in Society (25-06-2011)

R. Gwynedd Parry's 'lucid and enjoyable' biography of David Hughes Parry has just been published by University of Wales Press.

Sir David Hughes Parry QC was probably one of the most powerful and influential Welsh jurists of the twentieth century. This essential new work provides a vivid account of his career as a lawyer, legal scholar, university policy-maker and law reformer, and examines his important contribution to Welsh public life.

Click on the link below for more details or to buy the book:
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Dyfed-Powys Police Museum (14-09-2010)

Link to Dyfed-Powys Police Museum

Following a recent visit by a Committee member to view some of the historical artefacts and archival holdings of Dyfed-Powys Police in Ammanford we are pleased to add a link to their information.
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Society Publications (14-09-2010)

Volumes 8 and 9 of the WLHS publications

Volumes 8 and 9 of the WLHS publications were released earlier in 2010. They represent an annotated edition of the Carmarthen Gaoler's Journal 1845-50 by R.W. Ireland and R.I. Ireland. The Journal is a remarkable record of daily life in a Victorian prison at a time of significant penal change. The daily entries of the Governors bring to life personalities and events within the institution, whilst the introductory essays and annotations allow the reader to understand both the creation of the record itself and the nature of the penal world which it records. Details of these and other volumes (which are supplied at no extra cost to Society members) are available at the “Publications” page at this site.

Research Materials (14-09-2010)

Documents scanned from private collections.

The extraordinary generosity of two of our members has meant that it has been possible to scan a number of documents from their private collections. One involves a number of papers relating to a series of disputes involving a particular family in the nineteenth century, whilst the other relates to the Rebecca riots and includes some of the threatening letters sent by “Rebecca”. Both give an insight into the social world in which the law operated at the time. It is hoped to mount both of these collections on this site (see our Research Resources page for examples of other archival material) in the near future.

2nd Youard Lecture (07-10-2009)

A well attended meeting on 16 June 2009 enjoyed an address by the Treasury Solicitor, Mr Paul Jenkins.

A well attended meeting of the Society in Ty Hywel, Cardiff Bay on 16 June 2009 enjoyed an address by the Treasury Solicitor, Mr Paul Jenkins entitled "'From Charles I to Wallis Simpson: a Brief History of the Treasury Solicitor" on the history and functions of that fascinating office. One fact that he revealed was that he is the legal owner of the Bank of England.

The Society's website was also officially unveiled in a presentation by Nigel Callaghan and Richard W. Ireland.

Lecture on "The Welsh Triads" (01-07-2008)

On 16th July 2008 the Society joined with the Selden Society which presented a lecture by Dr Sara Elin Roberts of the University of Bangor on "The Welsh Triads"

In an exciting collaboration on 16th July 2008 the Society joined with the Selden Society which presented a lecture by Dr Sara Elin Roberts of the University of Bangor on "The Welsh Triads". This is the subject of Dr Roberts's recent book for which she was awarded the Selden Society's David Yale Prize for 2007.

New Publication: law and disorder in Early Modern Wales: Crime and Authority in the Denbighshire Courts, c.1660-1730 (03-06-2008)

This book is based on a detailed study of the court records of the county of Denbighshire in north-east Wales, focusing on the period from 1660 to 1730.

Published as part of the series Studies in Welsh History by the University of Wales Press (Series editors: Ralph A. Griffiths, Eryn White and Chris Williams, ISBN: 978-0-7083-1994-9)

Dr. Sharon Howard is based at the Department of History and Welsh History, University of Wales, Aberystwyth and is the holder of a British Academy Post-doctoral fellowship (2003-6).