This is one of the oldest surnames associated with Llantwit Major, first appearing, with the Nicholls’, in an Inquisition Post Mortem for 1492, detailing the state of the Manor of Boverton and Llantwit Major. It seems that Robert Deere had benefitted from the decline of the manorial system to acquire his own plot of land. The Deeres were linked with Six Wells Farm acquired in 1505 when John Deere of the Court House married the daughter of David ap Howell of Llandow. They were sufficiently wealthy enough to build a sizable farmhouse which existed until the farm disappeared under the runways of RAF Llandow. The family were considered to be minor gentry and acceptable marriage partners for the likes of the Nicholls’ and the Seys’.The association with Six Wells ended in 1757. According to the Hearth tax Assessment of 1670, seven people with the surname Deere had property in the village, including Iltyd who ran two mills. (Iltyd Deere became a common name throughout the subsequent centuries.) During the eighteenth century the name crops up as lawyers, as Freemen of Cardiff and from the nineteenth century on in almost every aspect of life in Llantwit Major and it continues until this day.
Pictured is Frank Deere with horse and cart outside the building that is near the zebra crossing (opposite side of the road to Well Pharmacy), year unknown.
