Middleton Hall
Edward Hamlyn Adams bought Middleton Hall in 1824 after the death of William Paxton. He and his son made landscape improvements in the grounds, including building a black marble bridge over the lake in 1841, and added extensively to the house. The hall was altered and redecorated in the 1840s, including the addition of a lift, which may have been the only lift in domestic use in Wales. Edward Abadam inherited the estate after his father's death in 1842.
In 1843, during the Rebecca Riots, two large haystacks, containing sixty tons of hay, worth £200, were set alight by rioters in retaliation for dealing with Rebeccaites harshly in his role as magistrate, particularly the small fine given to the lessee of the Kidwelly Trust for setting up unauthorised toll-gates in Porthyrhyd, and for his refusal to lower his rents. He was invited to meet with rioters on a hilltop to discuss petitioning the Queen about the new Poor Law, but Abadam refused to attend.
Thomas Herbert Cooke, who worked as the land agent to Abadam and his father before him, complained about Abadam in letters to his mother dated 1841 to 1851, which were acquired by the National Library of Wales in 1973. Cooke was frustrated by Abadam keeping unusual hours, taking little interest in the daily management of the estate, and being preoccupied with personal building and decorating projects, despite Abadam being very popular with his tenantry. In September 1843, Abadam received a letter from the Rebeccaites urging him to replace Cooke, but Abadam refused. Cooke left Middleton Hall by 1847 after securing a position at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.
A stone, commemorating a circus held by Edward Abadam at Middleton Hall in 1855, was discovered nearby. The stone is now displayed at the Cae Syrcas ("Circus Field") at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. It reads:
EDW. ABADAM
MIDDLETON HALL
CIRCUS
1855