This
is a list of all the people in the Hay area who wanted themselves listed
in 1835. These are the property owners
of the area in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. The vicars of
the Church of England were often of this class and were usually listed
with the gentry.
The nobility
and gentry were people
who did not have to do a job to earn a living, but earned money by letting
their property to tenants and charging a rent. They certainly thought
of themselves as being superior to those "in
trade" or who worked for them,
and they usually employed an agent or "man of business" to run
things for them.
Some of the names of the local
great houses have been given unusual spellings
by printers unfamiliar with Welsh placenames, but they will still be recognisable
to local people. For example, Maslough on the list is of course the Maesllwch
of today.
In the early Victorian period the Wilkins family of Maesllwch changed
their name to De Winton.
It is from the families on this list
that the magistrates and
sheriffs were chosen. These were the men who established law
and order and ran the affairs of the county for the crown. Women and men
who did not hold property were kept out of the system.
.
