Hi Stuart, last night I was reading one of my walks with history books and I came across a walk entitled " A Victorian Murderer's Guide to Rowen" Your ancestor's home has a mention in it, in the nicest possible way and I've copied it for you.
Very briefly, a man called Jac Y Swan had committed a murder in May 1853 and was making his escape via a field close to Gorswen to avoid possible detection. The comments went on to say:-
" Gorswen was formerly a very important gentry house, the home in 1622 of Nicholas Bayly, an ancestor of the Marquess of Anglesey. In 1853 it was occupied by a wealthy tenant, Edward Elias (1822- 1893) who farmed 250 acres and employed 11 servants and farm labourers. After completing his grizzly task the murderer descended from the hills, skirting Parciau Farm and following this precise route. Was he heading for an outlying dwelling or avoiding the village centre in case he was recognised? If the latter, he was out of luck for at about seven o' clock one of Gorswen's labourers William Williams, was leading his master's ponies up towards the mountains when he spotted a familiar figure heading towards him. He shouted to him and although the man obediently opened the field gate he then seemed to vanish into thin air"
Jac Y Swan was later tried and convicted of the murder and 10,000 people, including most of the population of Rowen witnessed a public hanging in Caernarfon