The elder Silvanus owned property at Penclawdd Llanrhidian, and various farms and lands were bought including Gwen-y-Goredd, Tyry Gorge.
[8] In 1743 his letter entitled “An Account of an Extraordinary Case of the Bones of a Woman Growing Soft and Flexible”, was printed in their Philosophical Transactions.
[9] He was a skilled carver of ivory and several busts of well-known men are still in existence (he sent one to Lord Cobham, when he was seeking likenesses for statues for his garden at Stowe House.
There are references to him in the Morris Letters[11] He was described as being a dilettante, a collector of fossils, curios, books and paintings and a keen gardener.
[12][13] His wedding was attended by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough,[13] Lord Finch, Lady Cartwright, William Penn, the Venetian ambassador and his wife.