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Forensic Assessments

Welsh Office / Wales Office

Forensic assessment · v1.1.0 · updated 1 November 2026

Response status
Awaiting first reply
Last contact
29 October 2026
Next date on file
None on file
Earlier version
v1.0.0, published 18 October 2026 on the Legal Wiki

Since last assessment

18 October 2026 to 1 November 2026

Our reading: Since 18 October 2026, 1 emails are on file: 1 sent, 0 received (0 with content, 0 automatic acknowledgements). The response status is unchanged: “Awaiting first reply”. Most material: 29 October 2026, sent, internal review request (ref 26FOI 103): Further internal review request on 26FOI 103 (reply of 22 Sep 2026), adding historical names for the farm as new search terms. Nothing here changes the earlier current finding unless stated above; this is a log of contact, not a finding about any person.

  1. Sentinternal review requestref 26FOI 103

    Further internal review request on 26FOI 103 (reply of 22 Sep 2026), adding historical names for the farm as new search terms.

The assessment as last published

Carried over unchanged from v1.0.0 (18 October 2026). Links point inside this site.

Page ID: 1551 · Title: Welsh Office / Wales Office — Forensic Assessment · Evidence status: Not yet labelled — see the Editing Protocol · Version: 1.0.0 · Editing Protocol

Roadmap / catalogue cross-reference — 10-10-2026: Follow the reported departmental handover and 2026 correspondence chain in the Institutional Involvement Roadmap. The reported 1988 Cadw-to-Minister spot-listing letter is separately catalogued as GHF-E152; its exact reference and custody remain to be verified.

Forensic Assessment — Welsh Office / Wales Office

Scope: historic/current Wales Office functions relevant to central-government oversight and records.

Role

The Wales Office is not treated as the body that determined private title. Its relevance arises only where its records show ministerial/departmental awareness, correspondence, policy oversight or transfer/custody of records relevant to the case.

Forensic control test

For IR/26/16 and any related request, identify the exact record category, search scope, responsible policy area, exemptions, retention/transfer status and substantive answer. Distinguish a departmental records problem from the merits of the underlying land assertion.

Current finding

As at 10-10-2026, the material reviewed does not establish wrongdoing by the Wales Office. This is not a finding that the office had no involvement; the assessment is limited to the particular correspondence, search and transfer issues identified. 🕒10-10-2026 The current objective is to obtain a reasoned answer and preserve any central-government record that can establish chronology or knowledge.

Human action

Chase IR/26/16 to outcome, require a record-by-record explanation for any refusal/absence, and identify any transfer to The National Archives or successor department.

Acceptance: substantive result logged with the exact documents held/not held and escalation route. 🕒10-10-2026

Institutional appearance timeline — linked source index

Coverage rule: this is a chronological navigation map of published Wiki source pages found by searching the current site index for “Wales Office”. Every event label links directly to the page containing the source. It avoids duplicating source narratives. It records mention/appearance, not culpability. Dates are transcribed from page titles where available; “Date not explicit in title” means the linked source must be consulted. Search indexing is a discovery aid, not proof of exhaustive external coverage. 🕒10-10-2026

Date shown by source title Event / source — open evidence Record class
1891 GHF-E090-N01 — “Llandough. Stated Farmyard Theft” (November 1891) Published Wiki evidence page
1897 GHF-E090-N02 — “Wireless Telegraphy. Marconi Invention Tested at Lavernock” (May 1897) Published Wiki evidence page
22 November 1931 GHF-E106-R33-A1 — Letter, Cogan Pill, 22 November 1931: spearhead, spur and skeletons found at Llandough Church Farm c. 1858 (Museum Wales file 63.24) Published Wiki evidence page
18 March 1983 GHF-E090-N06 — “Burnt relics represented years of digs” (South Wales Echo, 18 March 1983) Published Wiki evidence page
18 March 1983 GHF-E090-N06 — 18 March 1983: “Burnt relics represented years of digs” (South Wales Echo) Published Wiki evidence page
30 April 1988 GHF-E090-N15-02 — Saturday 30 April 1988: South Wales Echo (British Newspaper Archive extract) Published Wiki evidence page
30 April 1988 GHF-E090-N15-02 — South Wales Echo search extract, Saturday 30 April 1988 Published Wiki evidence page
c. 30 April 1988 GHF-E090-N07 — “Chainsaw farmer vows to fight on” (c. 30 April 1988) Published Wiki evidence page
c. 30 April 1988 GHF-E090-N07 — c. 30 April 1988: “Chainsaw farmer vows to fight on” Published Wiki evidence page
1994 GHF-E148 — 1994 Cotswold Archaeology report, Condition 18 discharge and the developer’s counsel’s opinion Published Wiki evidence page
29 September 2026 GHF-E106-R01 — Royal Commission (RCAHMW) reply RC26-0375, 29 September 2026 Records-access response
29 September 2026 GHF-E106-R03 — Wales Office, internal review acknowledgement IR/26/16, 29 September 2026 Records-access response
7 October 2026 GHF-E106-R33 — Amgueddfa Cymru reply to FOI 2026-036 (5 & 7 October 2026): further collections search Records-access response
Date not explicit in title Press Archive — Newspaper Transcripts Published Wiki evidence page

Records-access register appearances — direct row links

Rows below match the institution’s name or an alias in the reply register. A match establishes an appearance in the records trail, not necessarily a substantive act by the institution.

Date Correspondence / register item (click to open) Reading rule
21 May 2026 R42 — Cadw (Welsh Government), Listed Buildings casework. Name/alias match in the reply register; open the row to distinguish sender, recipient and incidental reference.
13 Jul and 30 Jul 2026 R27 — HM Land Registry (Coventry and Wales offices). Ref WA231076/A/216 and N610CGV . Name/alias match in the reply register; open the row to distinguish sender, recipient and incidental reference.
8 Sep and 22 Sep 2026 R16 — Wales Office FOI (NIO mailbox). 26FOI 103 . Name/alias match in the reply register; open the row to distinguish sender, recipient and incidental reference.
29 Sep 2026 R03 — Wales Office FOI (replying from the NIO FOI mailbox). Internal review IR/26/16 of 26FOI 103 . Name/alias match in the reply register; open the row to distinguish sender, recipient and incidental reference.

Related navigation: FOI & Public-Authority Reply Register · Records Access Chronology · Evidence Library

Page version & change log

Current version: 1.0.0

VersionDate (UTC)Editor (human or agent name)ChangeSource / evidence
1.0.02026-10-18T15:29Zthe editorsFooter standardised; no content changeEditing Protocol, 18 Oct 2026

Agents and editors: follow the Editing Protocol.

Case file

This file is built for a future reparations claim. Facts are as the records show them; interpretation is labelled “our reading”. Items marked “not checked” have not been compared with the original record.

(a) Conduct timeline

3 dated interactions, oldest first; 0 automatic acknowledgements are left out. Quotations are verbatim from the institution’s email; where the reply’s substance was an attachment, the email subject is quoted instead.

Show the timeline
DateDirectionReferenceTypeVerbatim
29 August 2026sent—requestSubject: Williams Heirs, Great House Farm, Llandough (Est. 1667)
28 September 2026sent26FOI 103internal review requestSubject: Request for Internal Review — 26FOI 103 — response dated 22 September 2026
29 October 2026sent26FOI 103internal review requestSubject: Request for Internal Review — 26FOI 103 — response dated 22 September 2026

(b) Inconsistencies and gaps

Missed deadlines

(c) Quarantined-name links

Records on the quarantine register (Kissed Frogs) that sit in, or came from, this institution’s holdings. None is treated as settled.

No quarantined-name record on the register is linked to this institution’s holdings.

(d) Duty and liability — our reading

Liability indicators (our reading): some

Duty
Freedom of Information Act 2000 s.1 and s.10 (confirm or deny, and supply held information within 20 working days); Environmental Information Regulations 2004 for land and environmental records; records management under the s.46 Code of Practice; Public Records Act 1958 selection and transfer for central government records.
Indicators the duty was not met
missed statutory deadlines.
Evidence still needed to confirm
the institution’s retention schedule and disposal record for the series in question; the catalogue or file list it searched; any internal review or complaint outcome.
Likely extent of exposure if confirmed
An ICO decision notice or a records-management finding; any reparations claim would also need a link between a records failure and the loss.

(e) Evidence still needed

Versions

1.1.02026-11-01Moved to the Forensic Assessments webapp; dated “Since last assessment” section added; response status re-read.
1.0.02026-10-18As published on the Legal Wiki.

Small print: dotted links explain a word (see the glossary); amber-shaded links list every name the records use for the same thing.