tend to civilise and improve the vicinity.' In the autumn of 1820, Harford offered to donate to Burgess the site of Lampeter Castle, 'Castle Field' or 'Cae Castell' in Welsh, which, as Lords of the Manor of Lampeter, he and his brothers now owned. As such, it is on land donated by Harford that the Lampeter campus of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (formerly St David's College) now stands. A bust of Harford is in the collection of the University. Two halls of residence at the university, Harford I and Harford II, are also named after him. Later life Harford was appointed High Sheriff of Cardiganshire for 1825–26. He was also a moderately successful artist, and his oil paintings can often be found at auctions in the UK. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1823, and was the founding President of what is now the Royal West of England Academy (then the Bristol Academy of Fine Arts) from its inception in 1844 until 1859. In later life he went blind, and he died at Blaise Castle in 1866. Family Harford in 1812 married Louisa, the daughter of Richard Hart Davis. He died without children at Blaise Castle, his heir being John Battersby Harford, a nephew. Archives Correspondence, journals and personal papers of John Scandrett Harford and the Harford family are held by Bristol Archives (Ref. 28048) (online catalogue). Additional correspondence including letters sent by William Wilberforce to Harford is held by Duke University: William R Perkin Library. There also records of the Peterwell and Falcondale estates of the Harford family at the National Library of Wales. Published works Some account of the life of Thomas Paine, Bristol, 1819 Aeschylus : Agamemnon....Translated from Greek by J. S. Harford, London : Murray, 1831 Life of Thomas Burgess, London: Eyre & Spottiswood, 1840. 2nd ed. London : Eyre, 1841 Life of Michaelangelo Buonarroti, Longman & Roberts, 1857; Spottiswoode & Co., 1858 Reminiscences of W. Wilberforce during nearly thirty years, 1864 See also Royal West of England Academy References Dictionary of National Biography Annals of the Harford Family, Alice Harford, Westminster Press 1909 ''Nine Letters from an Artist The Families of William Gillard, Joan M Richmond, Porphryogenitus 2015, . 1785 births 1866 deaths Businesspeople from Bristol English abolitionists 19th-century English painters English male painters English Quakers Fellows of the Royal Society High Sheriffs of Cardiganshire English blind people