Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and antiquary, was the son of Morys Wynn ap John. He claimed to be directly descended from the princes of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
through Rhodri ab Owain
Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd
Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd was prince of part of Gwynedd, one of the kingdoms of medieval Wales. He ruled from 1175 to 1195.On the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1170, fighting broke out among his nineteen sons over the division of his kingdom...
son of Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...
. However, this claim is disputed in a publication of 1884 entitled Gweithiau Gethin published by W. J. Roberts in Llanrwst.
He was educated at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, succeeded to his father's estate of Gwydyr
Gwydir Castle
Gwydir Castle is situated in the Conwy valley, North Wales, a mile to the west of the ancient market town of Llanrwst and to the south of the large village of Trefriw...
in Carnarvonshire in 1580, and was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for this county in 1586. In 1606 he was made a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
and in 1611 became the first of the Wynn Baronets
Wynn Baronets
There have been two Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Wynn, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. One creation is extant as of 2008....
. He was interested in several mining ventures and also found time for antiquarian studies. His son was Sir Richard Wynn
Sir Richard Wynn, 2nd Baronet
Sir Richard Wynn, 2nd Baronet was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1649....
.
At Llanrwst
Llanrwst
Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....
Wynn founded an hospital and endowed a school. His work The History of the Gwydir Family, which had a great reputation in North Wales, was intended to assert his claim to royal ancestry. In a legal challenge to these claim Thomas Prys of Plas Iolyn brought a case against him and Sir John was forced to defend himself in court. He won the case and afterwards was recognised as the most prominent heir male of the House of Gwynedd. Under Welsh succession law the head of the Price of Esgairweddan family at the time, descended through Iorwerth ab Owain Gwynedd
Iorwerth Drwyndwn
Iorwerth ab Owain Gwynedd , meaning "the broken-nosed", was the eldest legitimate son of Owain Gwynedd and his first wife Gwladys ferch Llywarch. He married Marared ferch Madog. His son Llywelyn the Great eventually united the realm and became known as Llywelyn Fawr and is one of Wales's most...
and Dafydd II, would lead the senior line and be de jure Princes of Gwynedd, however they died out in the male line in 1702 and the royal title would have passed there from to the Wynn Family of Gwydir at that time. John Wynn's book was first published by Daines Barrington in 1770, and in 1878 an edition was published at Oswestry
Oswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
. It is valuable as the only work which describes the state of society in North Wales in the 15th and the earlier part of the 16th century.
- Owain GwyneddOwain GwyneddOwain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...
, Prince of Gwynedd (d. November 1170) = Cristina ferch Gronw ap Owain ap Edwin - Rhodri ab Owain GwyneddRhodri ab Owain GwyneddRhodri ab Owain Gwynedd was prince of part of Gwynedd, one of the kingdoms of medieval Wales. He ruled from 1175 to 1195.On the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1170, fighting broke out among his nineteen sons over the division of his kingdom...
, Lord of Anglesey (d.1195) = Annest ferch Rhys ap Gruffudd - Thomas ap Rhodri ab Owain GwyneddThomas ap RhodriTomas ap Rhodri or Thomas Rothery as his name is sometimes rendered in English accounts, de jure Prince of Gwynedd was the only known son of Rhodri ap Gruffudd Tomas ap Rhodri (c. 1300 – 1363) or Thomas Rothery as his name is sometimes rendered in English accounts, de jure Prince of Gwynedd...
= Annest ferch Einion ap Seisyllt - Caradog ap Tomas = Efa ferch Gwyn ap Gruffudd ap Beli
- Gruffudd ap Caradog = Lleuca ferch Llywarch Fychan ap Llywarch
- Dafydd ap Gruffudd of Rhos = Efa ferch Gruffudd Fychan
- Hywel ap Dafydd = Efa ferch Evan ap Hywel ap Maredudd
- Maredudd ap Hywell (d. after 1353) = Morfydd verch Ieuan ap Dafydd ap Trahaern Goch
- Robert ap MareduddRobert ap MareduddRobert ap Maredudd is the presumed Head of the House of Aberffraw following the death of Owain Lawgoch the last and only known surviving great-nephew of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in 1378. He is cited by Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet as his ancestor and head of the family at that time. He is known to have...
= Angharad ferch Dafydd ap Llywelyn - Ifan ap RobertIfan ap RobertIfan ap Robert was the Head of the House of Aberffraw following the death of his father. It is not known if he had any siblings. He is cited by Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet as his ancestor and head of the family at that time....
(b. 1438, d. 1469) = Catherine ferch Rhys ap Hywel Fychan - Maredudd ap IfanMaredudd ap IfanMaredudd ab Ifan was the Head of the House of Aberffraw following the death of his father. It is not known if he had any siblings. He rebuilt Gwydyr Castle after it was destroyed in the 1460s and made it the family home. He is cited by Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet as one of his ancestors and head of...
(Ieuan) ap Robert (b. c1459, d. 18 March 1525) = Ales ferch William Gruffudd ap Robin - John "Wynn" ap Maredudd (d. 9 July 1559) = Ellen Lloyd ferch Morys ap John
- Morys Wynn ap John (d.1580) = Jane Bulkeley (1) Ann Grevill (2) Katherine of Berain (3)
- Sir John Wynn ap MorysJohn WynnJohn Wynn may refer to:*John "Wynn" ap Maredudd, Head of the House of Cunedda, 1525–1559*Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet , his descendant, Welsh baronet, Member of Parliament for Carnarvonshire, 1586*Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet...
of Gwydir
Sir John Wynn's estate of Gwydir came to Robert Bertie
Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, 1st Marquess of Lindsey, PC was a British statesman and nobleman.Bertie was born to Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey and Elizabeth Wharton...
, first Duke of Ancaster, in the 17th century, by his marriage with the heiress of the Wynns. On the death of the last duke in 1779, Gwydir was inherited by his sister Priscilla
Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
Priscilla Barbara Elizabeth Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby was a daughter of the 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven. On 23 February 1779, she married Sir Peter Burrell and they later had two children...
, Baronness Willoughby de Eresby
Baron Willoughby de Eresby
Baron Willoughby de Eresby is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ in 1313 for Robert de Willoughby of Eresby Manor, near Spilsby, Lincolnshire. The fourteenth Baron was created Earl of Lindsey in 1626. His great-grandson, the fourth Earl and seventeenth Baron, was created...
in her own right, whose husband was created Baron Gwydyr
Baron Gwydyr
Baron Gwydyr, in the County of Carnarvon, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 16 June 1796 for Sir Peter Burrell, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Boston and Haslemere in the House of Commons...
.
On the death of Alberic, Baron Willoughby de Eresby
Albyric Drummond-Willoughby, 23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
Albyric Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Baron Gwydyr, 23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby was a British noble baron. He was the son of Peter Robert Drummond Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby and Sarah Clementina, née Drummond...
in 1870, this title (now merged in that of earl of Ancaster) fell into abeyance between his two daughters, while that of Baron Gwydir passed to his cousin and male heir. Gwydir itself was sold by the earl of Ancaster in 1895, the house and part of the estate being bought by Lord Carrington
Baron Carrington
Baron Carrington is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of England, once in the Peerage of Ireland and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1643 in favour of Sir Charles Smyth. Only a few days later he was created...
, who also claimed descent from Sir John Wynn.
On 28 May 2010, Llanrwst
Llanrwst
Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....
celebrated the 400th anniversary of the almshouses there, which were built by Sir John Wynn to provide shelter for twelve poor older men of the parish. Today, those twelve rooms are used to show different periods of history.
In this festival, Sir John Wynn was played by actor Sion Rickard, a student studying Performing Arts at Coleg Llandrillo, who arrived with his "wife" in the main square of Llanrwst
Llanrwst
Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....
by horse and carriage from Gwydir Castle
Gwydir Castle
Gwydir Castle is situated in the Conwy valley, North Wales, a mile to the west of the ancient market town of Llanrwst and to the south of the large village of Trefriw...
, then answered questions from the local town crier, went inside the almshouse
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
to check the standard of what he had built and delivered a speech to the people of Llanrwst
Llanrwst
Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....
.