The executor of the estate of David Walters.

John Dudley David Walters (Dudley) and his wife Dorothy Eleanor Hannah Walters moved from Pant Yr Athro, Llangain in the county of Carmarthenshire and purchased Island House, Laugharne on the 19^th of October 1964, Pant Yr Athro was a mansion-sized house and is nowadays a Hotel and Restaurant. The purchase price for Island House was £4,250.

John Dudley David Walters died on the 29^th of March 1993, his wife Dorothy only outlived her husband by 4 years as she passed away in on the 10^th of September 1997 leaving the property to their son and heir David Morlais Walters.

Major Schneider of the Indian Army and his wife Mary Hudson Congreve (originally of Leeds and the daughter of Mr Thomas Titley) married in 1902 and took up residence at Island House in 1903, it is noted elsewhere that Major Congreve changed his name from Schneider to Congreve when WW1 broke out but this doesn’t seem to be the case as in the local newspapers from this period see him change his name in around 1909.

In 1908 it is reported in a local newspaper under the heading “Drainage Scandal” that the owner of Island House was Mr Thomas Titley and the occupier was a Major Schneider, later on in another news article in 1909 it states that a Major Congreve is living at Island House and they were actually two of the same as the Major had a double-barrelled name “Congreve-Schneider” if the name was changed at this period of time it is not known why as the great war did not break out until 1914.

Major C.V Schneider was the son of Brigadier General John William Schneider, John Schneider was born in 1824 and entered the Bombay Army in 1840. He was in a number of campaigns (Mahratta War 1844-45; the Indian Mutiny 1857 and the Abyssinian War in 1868). He was Judge Advocate General from 1868-72 before becoming Resident in Aden from 1872-77. He then commanded a Division in the Bombay Army 1877-82. He became a General in 1888 and some time along the line he got his Knighthood. He died in 1903.

From the National Probate Calendar 1903: SCHNEIDER sir John William of 8 Queensborough-terrace Middlesex K.C.B. General in H.M. Bombay Army died 27 May 1903 Probate London 23rd June to Dame Amelia Euphemia Schneider widow and Stewart Melville Congreve Schneider major in H.M. Army Effects £16,429 6s. 4d. Resworn October 1903 £17,437 5s. 9d.

The Major occupied the Island House from 1903 and died there on the 17th of February 1923, within this time it seems like a lot of people were coming and going from the house as it is reported that several names pop up so it may be a case that part of the house or some of the rooms were rented out to individuals.

The mother of Major Schneider Dame Amelia Euphemia Schneider was listed in the newspaper as passing away (16/03/1915) in Laugharne, She was the widow of Sir John Schneider, K.C.B., and daughter of the late Colonel Chas. James Colley Davidson, Bengal Engineers, she left an unsettled estate of the gross value of £867, of which £813 is net personally.

Percy Llewellyn Garbett was born in Middlesex on December 10th 1852 to the Reverend Edward Garbett and Elizabeth Garbett (Lewis – Daughter of John Lewis of Henllan), Reverend Garbett was born on December 10th 1817 in Hereford and his wife Elizabeth was born around 1826 in Henllan Pembrokeshire.

Percy married Caroline Gordon Lennox Fyfe in 1882 at the age of 29, Caroline was from St Pancras in Middlesex, they went on to have 2 daughters together of one of them used the name Abra Faith Hughes-Garbett which would have come about from Mary Abra Hughes Skyrme (Wienholt) from whom he inherited the estate from in 1885, Maybe as part of the condition of the inheritance of such a valuable estate it was a condition set out in the will that he prepended the name Hughes to his given name of Garbett thus making it Hughes-Garbett.

In the last will and testament of Mary Abra Hughes Wienholt one of the executors was listed as the brother of Percy namely Montague George Hubert Garbett, apart from the land she bequeathed Percy she had a personal estate of £1,450 2s which equates to £187,000 in todays money with inflation.

Percy from the records we have found worked in insurance for the New Zealand Insurance Company and was manager in their Calcutta office.

From our research Mr Hughes-Garbett Returned to Laugharne briefly in 1886 as it is mentioned in the Newspaper that he had won several sections of the Laugharne Farm And Garden Show of that year, he then returned to Calcutta to carry on in the insurance position he held there.

Carved Monogrammed Marble Shield situated in the ballroom of Island House upon the grand fireplace

The next time he shows up in the local news was in 1890 where we think he then took up residence at Island House, he and his wife Caroline seem to have been very charitable as you can see from this extract taken from the newspaper called “The Welshman” in January 1890:-

“CHRISTMAS TREE AT ISLAND HOUSE – On Tuesday last Mrs Hughes-Garbett invited the wives and children of all Mr Garbett’s tenants to tea and Christmas tree at Island House. In spite of the inclemency of the weather between fifty and sixty assembled at 6 o’clock. Tea was served to the guests on their arrival, after which a curtain was withdrawn, revealing to the delighted youngsters the Christmas tree, which was decorated with flags, bonbons, coloured lights. The presents, which were numerous and had been very carefully selected, were displayed on tables around the room. All had two or three presents each, in addition to which there was a bran pie into which each had several dips, and each time obtained a prize. At nine o clock the party, which had been a most delightful one, separated, but, before doing so, three hearty cheers were accorded to Mrs Garbett.”

Mr and Mrs Hughes-Garbett were seemingly held in very high regard in Laugharne and Mr Hughes-Garbett was the chair of many committees and judging panels around this time between 1890 until 1900 where he sold off the Laugharne estate by way of auction at the Browns Hotel in August 1900, the sale included many properties, land and farms including Island House and it is said that the proceeds of the sale was in the region of £25,000 which equates to £3,100,000 in todays money.

In the 1901 Census it shows Mr Hughes-Garbet living at 29 Cedar Hall in London now aged 49 and is a branch manager of Norwich Insurance Company.

Mr Hughes-Garbett passed away in 1924 at the age of 71.

Mary Abra Hughes Skyrme was the daughter of William Skyrme III (1778-1823) and Mary Lewis of Henllan Pembrokeshire, Mary went on to marry Mr Fredrick Wienholt of London son of Mr J Birkett Wienholt in 1858 when she was 45 years old.

Mary was the sole heiress of the estate of the late William Skyrme even though her mother Mary had remarried into gentry after Williams death in 1823 when she was just 10 years old.

Fredrick passed away in Laugharne on the 14th of April 1881 at the age of 62, as he was listed as being the head of the Island House household in the 1881 census we can assume that he passed away at the said residence.

Mary had no children herself so she bequeathed her entire estate to Mr Percy Llewelyn Garbett after her death in 1885 at the age of 72. 

From the Tithe maps survey of the area in 1842 and the Laugharne Corporation survey of 1834 it is suggested that Miss Skyrme at the time of these recordings was in possession of around 15% of the Township of Laugharne including properties, farms and land.

The Tithe Map below shows the extent of the land ownership of Miss Skyrme in 1842.