Watkin Williams-Wynn
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...
politician and prominent Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
.
Sir Watkin was the eldest son and heir of Sir William Williams, 2nd Baronet
Sir William Williams, 2nd Baronet, of Gray's Inn
Sir William Williams, 2nd Baronet was a politician in the United Kingdom Great Britain. He was Member of Parliament for Denbigh Boroughs from 1708 to 1710....
, of Llanforda near 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....
; his mother, Jane Thelwall, was a descendant of the antiquary, Sir John Wynn of Gwydir
Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet
Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet , Welsh baronet, Member of Parliament and antiquary, was the son of Morys Wynn ap John. He claimed to be directly descended from the princes of Gwynedd through Rhodri ab Owain son of Owain Gwynedd. However, this claim is disputed in a publication of 1884 entitled...
, Caernarfonshire
Caernarfonshire
Caernarfonshire , historically spelled as Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire in English during its existence, was one of the thirteen historic counties, a vice-county and a former administrative county of Wales....
. The name "Watkin Williams-Wynn" was common to several of the later baronets. There is a Welsh folk song named after the best-known of these.
Education and political career
Educated at Jesus College, OxfordJesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
, Williams succeeded to Wynnstay
Wynnstay
Wynnstay was a famous estate in Wales, the family seat of the Wynns. It is located at Ruabon, near Wrexham.During the 17th century, Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet inherited the Watstay Estate through his marriage to Jane Evans , and renamed it the Wynnstay Estate...
near Ruabon
Ruabon
Ruabon is a village and community in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales.More than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales with 13.6% speaking Welsh....
and the estates of the Wynn baronets of Gwydir
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....
on the death of a later Sir John Wynn in 1719, and took the name of Williams-Wynn. A lifelong Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
, he was Member of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
for Denbighshire
Denbighshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Denbighshire was a county constituency in Denbighshire, in north Wales, from 1542 to 1885.- History :From 1542, it returned one Member of Parliament , traditionally known as the knight of the shire, to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then to the Parliament of Great...
from 1716 until his death, but for a brief interlude from 1741–1742, and was prominent among the opponents of Sir Robert Walpole.
In the election of 1741, the Walpole administration targeted his Denbighshire seat. Although Wynn won the popular vote by 1352 votes to 933 the sheriff disallowed 594 of Wynn's votes and returned his rival. Walpole's first defeat in the ensuing parliament was in a dispute of this election, and after Walpole's resignation early in 1742 Wynn won the seat back and the sheriff was jailed.
Jesus College
The most notable single item of the college's silver collection is a massive silverSilver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
gilt
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
punch bowl that Wynn presented to it in 1732. The bowl, which weighs more than 200 ounces (5.7 kg) and holds 10 gallons (45.5 l), was most famously used at a dinner held in the Radcliffe Camera
Radcliffe Camera
The Radcliffe Camera is a building in Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in the English Palladian style and built in 1737–1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.-History:...
in 1814, to celebrate what was supposed to be the final defeat of Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
. Those present at the dinner included the Tsar
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
, the King of Prussia
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
, Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
, Metternich
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich
Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich was a German-born Austrian politician and statesman and was one of the most important diplomats of his era...
, the Prince Regent
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, the Duke of York
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...
and the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
. There is a college tradition that the bowl will be presented to anyone who can meet two challenges. The first is to put arms around the bowl at its widest point; the second is to drain the bowl of strong punch. The bowl measures 5 in 2 in (1.57 m) at its widest point, and so the first challenge has only been accomplished rarely; the second challenge has not been met.
A portrait of Williams by Thomas Hudson
Thomas Hudson
Thomas Hudson may refer to:* Thomas Hudson , British actor* Thomas Hudson , English portrait painter of the eighteenth century...
was acquired by Jesus College in 1997; it is not on public display as it hangs in the Senior Common Room of the college. It shows him wearing a sky-blue waistcoat, the colour proclaiming his allegiance to the Tory Jacobite cause.
Jacobitism
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
clubs, the Cycle of the White Rose. His Jacobite leanings were never concealed — he even publicly burned a picture of George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
in 1722. Wynn was increasingly regarded by the exiled Stuarts
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
as a key figure in any potential restoration attempt, and in 1740 he promised assistance if the Pretender returned accompanied by a French army. Wynn always insisted on this condition being met, and sensibly refused to pledge support in writing. He engaged in negotiations with Stuart agents in 1740, 1742, and 1743, and went to consult with Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
at Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
. This visit was repeated in October 1744, despite the fact that Britain and France were then at war
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
. In 1745 the Young Pretender
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
arrived without an army, and true to the letter of his promise Wynn provided no aid, travelling to London to attend parliament rather than remaining in Wales to organize support. He sent messages to Prince Charles Edward promising help when a French army arrived, but this did not happen and Wynn never publicly declared his involvement in the rebellion. After the defeat at Culloden
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...
, and in the absence of legal proof of Wynn's involvement, Pelham
Henry Pelham
Henry Pelham was a British Whig statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 27 August 1743 until his death in 1754...
deemed his notoriety to be sufficient punishment.
Death and descendants
Williams was killed by a fall while out huntingHunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
. Although there is still a Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn's Hunt based in Ruabon, the existing pack was re-founded in the year 1843. At his death the Wynnstay estates straddled at least five Welsh counties and extended into Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and yielded an estimated rental income of £20,000 — a very substantial sum at the time.
His first wife, Ann Vaughan (d. 1748), was the heiress of extensive estates in Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...
which still belong to the family. His son and heir, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, Bart
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet was a Welsh politician and patron of the arts.Sir Watkin was the eldest son of the second marriage of his father, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd Baronet, to Frances Shackerley of Cheshire...
. (1749–1789), was the eldest son of Sir Watkin's second marriage to Frances Shackerley. A noted patron of the Arts in Wales, he was the father of another Sir Watkin
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1794 to 1840....
(1772–1842), the 5th baronet. Two other sons attained some measure of distinction: Charles (1775–1850), a prominent Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
politician, and Sir Henry (1783–1856), a diplomatist. A daughter, Frances Williams-Wynn (d. 1857), was the authoress of Diaries of a Lady of Quality, 1797–1844, which were edited with notes by Abraham Hayward in 1864.