Books & Research
My books grow from long-term archival and genealogical research into family, community, place and the institutions that shaped ordinary lives. The principal works below sit at the centre of that research, followed by a wider body of historical, biographical and genealogical writing.
These publications also draw on a much older research archive. Since the mid-1990s I have accumulated notes, documentary references, photographs, family material and genealogical evidence that now provide the foundation for both the books and the expanding essay collections on this site.
The concentration of several publication dates in 2025 and 2026 reflects the completion, expansion or reinterpretation of research projects developed over many years. A period of recovery from a serious spinal injury also gave me the opportunity to return to several long-standing projects and bring completed research and unfinished manuscripts into publication.
Two strands run particularly strongly through the collection. The first is the reconstruction of rural Welsh families and communities, especially in Montgomeryshire and the Llyfnant Valley. The second examines biography, country-house society, authority and social change. Some of the earliest books remain among my principal works because they preserve large bodies of primary research which continue to underpin later essays and publications.
Principal Works
These books best represent the core of my historical work and the main themes that continue to shape my research.
Which book should I choose?
For a connected social history of upland farming, family and chapel life, begin with Voices from the Uplands. For country-house society, employment and the changing fortunes of a landed family, choose The House of Allcroft.
If your interest is detailed genealogical reconstruction, Old Llyfnant Valley Farming Families covers interconnected households across the valley, while The Davies Caeadda Family concentrates on the family at Caeadda.
You can explore the subjects first through my essays on Caeadda, Stokesay Court and the Llyfnant Valley. Each book page explains its scope, sources and available formats.
Voices from the Uplands
Published 2025
The principal synthesis of my work on Welsh rural life, family and community.
Centred on the Davies family of Caeadda, Llanwrin, and the wider upland communities of Montgomeryshire, the book brings together more than two decades of archival and genealogical research, oral testimony and close knowledge of the landscape. It explores farming, kinship, Nonconformity, education, migration and cultural memory across successive generations, with a Foreword by Elinor Bennett.
The House of Allcroft
Published 2026
My principal study of country-house society, landed authority and social change.
Tracing the Allcroft family from commerce to landed influence at Stokesay Court, the book examines inheritance, household authority, paternalism, philanthropy and decline. It combines documentary and family research with my own knowledge of Stokesay Court, placing one family and house within the wider history of the English country-house world.
Old Llyfnant Valley Farming Families
Published 2016
A large-scale reconstruction of the families and farms of the Llyfnant Valley.
I wrote this book to preserve the interrelated farming families of the Llyfnant Valley before names, relationships and local knowledge became harder to recover. Built from extensive genealogical and local-history research, it created a documentary foundation for my later work on Tymawr, Glandwr, Caeadda and the social history of rural Montgomeryshire.
The Davies Caeadda Family
Published 2014
The original deep study of the Caeadda family and its long connection with rural Montgomeryshire.
I wrote this book to turn years of research into my own Davies family at Caeadda into a durable record, and to preserve the evidence for a farming family rooted in upland Montgomeryshire across generations. It became the genealogical and documentary core from which much of my later work on Caeadda, Esgair Llewelyn, Nonconformity and rural continuity developed.
Research Areas
The books sit within a wider programme of historical research. These guides provide the clearest routes into the main subjects and methods behind that work.
Llandrindod Wells History
The mineral waters, spa economy, hotels, institutions, people and reinvention of the town.
Welsh Rural History
Farming communities, work, kinship, migration, landscape and the social structures of rural Wales.
Family History & Genealogy
Using family records to reconstruct lives, relationships, mobility and social context.
Country Houses & Estates
Landed families, servants, estate workers, inheritance, authority and country-house society.
Research Methods
How archival, genealogical, newspaper, photographic and oral evidence is used and assessed.
Other Books & Historical Studies
These works extend the principal themes through biography, working lives, family history, social history and focused studies of particular people and communities.
From Fields to Railways
Published 2025
A study of the movement from rural labour into the railway towns of industrial Britain, following work, migration, family strategy and changing working-class identity.
A Small History of My Life to My Children
First published 2013 · Expanded edition 2026
An edited and contextualised nineteenth-century working man’s memoir, placing military service, family life, mobility and survival in their historical setting.
The Allcroft Family: From Worcester to Stokesay
Published 2016
The earlier documentary and genealogical study of the Allcroft family, later developed into the broader social history explored in The House of Allcroft.
Faith, Service, and Respectability
Published 2025
A three-century study of the Shorto family through education, church life, public service, professional respectability and social mobility.
Off the Rails
Published 2026
A focused study of Alfred Jenkins’s railway career and the skills, discipline, culture and identity of steam railway communities.
William Jones of Glandwr Hall
Published 2026
A biography tracing William Jones from Welsh origins into the London legal world, examining profession, property, public service and Victorian social mobility.
Arthur Owen Jones
Published 2026
A biography of Arthur Owen Jones exploring class, leadership, illness, amateurism and the fragility of Edwardian reputation beyond his cricketing career.
Independent review: Cricket Web praised the book’s historical approach and described it as “highly recommended”. Read the review →
Murder in the Marches
Published 2026
Nineteenth-century murder and inquest cases used to examine justice, reputation, class, gender and rural society across Montgomeryshire, Merionethshire and Radnorshire.
Duty and Dignity
Published 2025
A biography of George Roberts Shorto examining military service, law, civic office, duty, respectability and Victorian public authority.
The Shorto Family of Exeter
Published 2015
A documentary family history bringing together scattered genealogical and civic evidence about the Shortos, later reinterpreted through service, faith and social mobility.
Research & Independent Publishing
I publish much of my work independently by deliberate choice. Many of these subjects are highly specialised and rooted in particular families, communities and archival collections. Independent publication allows the depth of documentation to be preserved and keeps that research available to specialist readers, families and future researchers.
My wider research is closely connected with the preservation and interpretation of vulnerable historical sources, including family papers, newspapers, chapel and burial records, photographs, oral testimony and local archives. For a fuller account of how I work, see Research Methods.
For essays and externally published work, visit Published Writing. For writing, research and media enquiries, please use the Contact page.
Trade Orders
Independent booksellers, specialist dealers and other book-trade customers are welcome to contact me about purchasing copies of my books at an appropriate trade discount.
I do not normally sell individual copies directly to the general public. Readers wishing to purchase a book should order through Amazon or ask their local independent bookshop to obtain a copy.
For trade enquiries, quantities and terms, please contact me directly.