Glanaethwy in Bangor, Caernarfonshire was the home of Mr H. Rees Davies, one of the greatest friends and benefactors of the University of Wales Bangor, formerly known as the University College of North Wales, and a particularly good friend of the Library. He presented the Librarian, Mr Thomas Shankland with a blank cheque to secure the Goodwin Collection of Ballads ; he paid Mr J.E. Griffith of Bryndinas, Bangor for a long run of the earliest issues of the North Wales Gazette, and the North Wales Chronicle and also paid for the cataloguing of the 50,000 manuscript Porth yr Aur Collection.
Mr H. Rees Davies was himself a skilled researcher, his particular study being the history of the ferries in the area between Abermenai, Anglesey and Tal-y-cafn, Denbighshire : the overt proof of this was his illuminating article in the Inventory of Anglesey Ancient Monuments. Collateral with this concentrated study of the ancient ferries were his researches into the history of the communications between London, Wales and Ireland. At Glanaethwy, he assembled a truly formidable collection of transcripts, Parliamentary Papers, maps and prints, bearing upon the variegated aspects of these two main interests of his later years. He went deep into the records of the Middle Ages, insisted on full details of Ministers' Accounts, brought to light obscure references in the Patent and Close Rolls, secured access to the records of the Office of Works and the Treasury. He had, from time to time, a small army of the best professional copyists at work in the Public Record Office - Mr Davies's letters to them are the best proof of how wide his range of interest, and how precise and exact his knowledge.
From the guide to the Glanaethwy Papers, 1667 - 1940, (Bangor University)
