My research and writing explore the overlooked stories of Welsh farming families, the moral worlds of Nonconformist chapels, and the deeper questions of identity, resilience, and respectability that shaped rural communities across the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries.
Alongside these historical studies, I examine contemporary themes of leadership, organisational culture, governance, and civic responsibility. Drawing on decades of genealogical investigation, archival research, professional experience, and personal ties to rural Wales, my books illuminate the lives of ordinary people whose values and struggles built the fabric of Welsh society — and offer fresh insight into the modern workplaces and institutions that shape our lives today.
📚 Historical Works
2026
📖 Murder in the Marches: A Chronicle of Montgomeryshire, Merionethshire, and Radnorshire 1805–1910 (2026)
Murder in the Marches examines homicide and serious violence in Montgomeryshire, Merionethshire, and Radnorshire between 1805 and 1910, drawing on contemporary newspaper reports, inquest evidence, and assize records. Written as evidence-led social and legal history rather than sensational true crime, the book explores how rural Welsh communities understood violence, reputation, and justice in the period before modern forensic science.
📖 William Jones of Glandwr Hall: Law, Authority, and the Making of a Victorian Life (2026)
A richly contextual Victorian biography of William Jones of Glandwr Hall (1792–1882), a Welsh born London solicitor who rose through the professional world of law and civic authority to become a figure of lasting local significance. Rooted in documentary evidence and institutional history, the book explores the making of a Victorian life through education, professional reputation, social mobility, public service, landownership, and the moral culture of the nineteenth century, tracing how authority was built, exercised, and ultimately remembered.
📖 Off the Rails: The Story of Crewe Steam Train Driver Alfred Jenkins (2026)
A vivid biographical portrait of Alfred Jenkins, a Crewe steam train driver whose life reflects the grit, skill, and quiet heroism of Britain’s railwaymen. Drawing on family testimony, railway archives, and industrial history, it brings to life the world of steam, union culture, and working‑class pride.
📖 A Small History of My Life to My Children: The Memoir of Richard Emmett, a Victorian Soldier (2026)
An edited and contextualised edition of the memoir of Richard Emmett, a Victorian soldier whose life spanned empire, service, and family duty. A rare first‑person account of nineteenth‑century military life, identity, and loyalty.
2025
📖 Voices from the Uplands: The Davies Family and the Soul of Rural Wales (2025)
A richly textured work of social and family history, uncovering the story of the Davies family of Caeadda and the wider upland communities of Montgomeryshire. Based on more than two decades of archival research, oral testimony, and fieldwork.
📖 From Fields to Railways: The Jenkins Family Story (2025)
The journey of one working‑class family from rural Herefordshire and Denbighshire to the industrial towns of Crewe, Carlisle, and London. A study of work, migration, unionisation, and the forging of modern working‑class identity.
📖 Faith, Service, and Respectability: A Historical Biography of the Shorto Family, 1680–1997 (2025)
An academic biography traces the Shorto family across three centuries, from seventeenth‑century Dorset innkeepers to Victorian schoolmasters, clergymen, civil servants, and engineers, offering a vivid portrait of England’s provincial middle class. Drawing on extensive archival research, it explores the values, institutions, and aspirations that shaped successive generations, illuminating the lived experience of duty, belief, and respectability in modern Britain.
📖 Duty and Dignity: George Roberts Shorto (1836–1905) (2025)
Duty and Dignity is a compelling biography of George Roberts Shorto — Crimean War veteran, solicitor, and one of Victorian Exeter’s most influential civic leaders. Based on extensive archival research, it explores his rise from modest beginnings to Town Clerk, revealing how duty, moral conviction, and civic responsibility shaped both his life and the making of modern Exeter.
Earlier Works
📖 The Allcroft Family: From Worcester to Stokesay Court (2016)
An architectural and genealogical history of the Allcroft family — Victorian industrialists, MPs, and philanthropists — exploring the workings of the Victorian and Edwardian country house and the moral responsibilities of inheritance.
📖 Old Llyfnant Valley Farming Families (2015)
A deeply researched genealogical and historical study of a rural Welsh community, tracing farming families from the eighteenth century to the present day.
📖 The Shorto Family of Exeter (2015)
A genealogical and social history of the Shorto family, tracing their roots in Exeter across multiple generations. Drawing on parish records, civic archives, and family papers, the book explores themes of respectability, service, and middle‑class identity in the West Country. It provides an early foundation for your later, more expansive studies of the Shorto lineage.
📖 The Davies Caeadda Family: A Welsh Farming Dynasty, 1700–1966 (2014)
A multi‑generational study of a Montgomeryshire farming family, tracing themes of Nonconformity, rural resilience, and cultural identity from the early eighteenth century to the mid‑twentieth.
📘 Leadership, Governance & Organisational Culture
2025
📘 The Toxic Workplace: What Happens When You’re Not in the Clique (2025)
A study of exclusion, power, and organisational dysfunction, examining what happens when workplace culture becomes a mechanism of control rather than community. It explores the emotional and moral cost of toxic environments — and how individuals can navigate them.
📘 The Trust Trap: How Good Charities Lose Their Way — and How We Can Save Them (2025)
An exploration of how trust is built, broken, and misused within the charitable sector. The book examines governance failures, moral blind spots, and the cultural pressures that lead well‑intentioned organisations astray — and proposes a path toward ethical renewal.
📘 A Guide to the Senedd: Understanding Welsh Democracy (2025)
A clear and accessible introduction to the Senedd, its powers, its history, and its role in shaping modern Wales. Written for the general reader, it demystifies Welsh governance and encourages informed civic engagement.
🔎 Ongoing Work & Advocacy
I continue to campaign for the preservation of Welsh Nonconformist chapel records and rural burial registers — vital yet fragile sources that risk being lost to future generations. This commitment to safeguarding our shared past underpins much of my writing, public commentary, and engagement with heritage bodies and policymakers.
⭐ Explore more
You can find excerpts, published articles, and recent opinion pieces on my Published Articles page.
Antony David Davies FIoL FRSA FRAS AFRHistS MCMI 