| Description | Ferry, with all rights and appurtenances, granted from the crown by letters-patent to William, Lord Boston, in 1764; enjoyed by him and his successor, their lessees and under-tenants, peacefully and uninterruptedly till 1817 - then David Williams and William Williams, two brothers, began to carry passengers in their boat from plas Brereton to the opposite shore; commissioners of the Woods and Forests asked the brothers to desist, but in vain; subpoena issued, but the defendants' solicitor, John Evans of Porth-yr-Aur, so placed the matter that they were discharged without having to account for the profits they had received, the loss they had caused to Lord Boston,or to pay the cost of the proceedings;indeed, later a memorial to the Lords of the Treasury was presented in behalf of the two boatmen alleging that the ordinary Tal-y-Foel ferry was dangerous,and that they had been importuned by farmers and medical men to procure a large boat to continue along the Plas Brereton route (spring 1819). Most unfortunately for this argument , on 5 August,1820, the boat sank in the straits, William W. and 24 others being drowned the treasury rejected the memorial; and D.W. still persisting in carrying passengers over was on 20 June,1821,laid under arrest, until tried at the Court of Exchequer. The verdict is not preserved in these papers,but the search for incriminating evidence, the interest in the case of the comissioners for Woods and Forests,and the depositiosn of various persons who actually crossed to Anglesey in the Williams boat of Plas Brereton are meticulously set forth.
Note: In the collection of the 19th century "cerddi" in this Library (no.642) is an elegy in memory of the disaster on the Menai on 5 Aug. , 1820, about 9a.m., the passengers being on their way to the Saturday Caernarvo market. Rather queerly described - "Marwnad,yn gosod allan y modd y soddodd Cwch y Borth newydd .....". |