VINCENT
family.
This notable clerical family, connected by birth and marriage with numerous landed and clerical families in
Gwynedd
, sprang from the
Corbets
of
Ynys-y-maengwyn
(says
J. E.
Griffith
,
Pedigrees
, 237).
VINCENT
CORBET
of
Ynys-y-maengwyn
(d.
1723
)
had a son,
THOMAS
VINCENT
, whom [it is said] he ‘disinherited’; this
Thomas
(
1677
-
1738
) was successively
vicar
of
Bangor
and
rector
of
Llanfachraeth
(
Anglesey
); he m.
Jane
Anwyl
, a descendant of the
Anwyls
of
Parc
,
Llanfrothen
(qq.v.)
, and they had two sons. The elder,
THOMAS
VINCENT
(
1717
-
1798
), graduated from
Christ Church
in
1739
, and was
archdeacon
of
Brecon
in
1770
— he was also
rector
of
Yatton, Som.
His younger brother,
JAMES
VINCENT
(
1718
-
1783
), graduated from
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, in
1739
, was
master
of
Friars school
(
Bangor
),
vicar
of
Bangor
,
rector
of
Llandwrog, Caerns.
, and became
rector
of
Llanfachraeth
in
1763
. He had several daughters, of whom one,
JANE
(
1751
-
1812
) m. her cousin, an
army officer
named
JOHN
JONES
, son of
Owen
Jones
of
Penychen
(
Aber-erch
),
canon
of
Bangor
, by
Catherine
, daughter of the
Rev.
Thomas
Vincent
(above). Their son,
JAMES
JONES
(
1792
-
1876
), who in
1820
assumed the name
JAMES
VINCENT
, was b.
4 Oct. 1792
, graduated in
1815
from
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, of which he became a
Fellow
, and after a
curacy
at
Beaumaris
became
rector
of
Llanfairfechan
(
1834-62
) and
dean
of
Bangor
(
1862-76
); d.
22 March 1876
. He had m.
Margaret Matilda
Crawley
of
Gorddinog
, and their second son was
JAMES
VINCENT
(
1827
-
1869
), b.
23 April 1827
, who graduated from
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, in
1849
; he was
perpetual curate
of
S. Anne's
,
Llandygai
,
1857-9
, and was then appointed
vicar
of
Llanbeblig
(
Caernarvon
), where he d.
8 Sept. 1869
as a result of his self-sacrifice during a
cholera epidemic
. His sons (by
Grace Elizabeth
, daughter of
William
Johnson
,
rector
of
Llan-faethlu
) call for notice. The eldest,
JAMES
VINCENT
(
1857
-
1909
),
whose career is fully described in
D.N.B.
second supplement, was b.
17 Nov. 1857
, went to [
Winchester
] and
Christ Church
(
B.A.
1880
) and was
called to the Bar
; he became
chancellor
of
Bangor diocese
in
1890
. During the
controversy over land-tenure in Wales
, he defended the landlords in two books,
The Land Question in North Wales
,
1896
(
Welsh
version by
T. R.
Roberts
[q.v.]
in
1897
), and
The Land Question in South Wales
,
1897
; he also published (
1903
) the
Memoirs
of
Sir
Llewellyn
Turner
(q.v.)
; but outside
Wales
he is better known as an
editor of periodicals
and a
writer on topography
. He d.
18 July 1909
. [
The second,
(
Sir
)
HUGH
VINCENT
, b.
27 April 1862
,
knighted
in
1924
, d.
22 Feb. 1931
, a
Bangor
solicitor
, contested the
Caernarvon division
in
1910
.] The youngest,
(
Sir
)
WILLIAM
VINCENT
(
1866
-
1941
),
b.
1 April 1866
, educated at
Brecon
and at
Trinity College
,
Dublin
, entered the
Indian civil service
in
1887
and had a very distinguished career in it; he became member (and
vice-president
) of the
legislative council of India
, was on the
Council of India
from
1923 to 1931
, and represented
India
at the
League of Nations
(
1926
). He was
knighted
in
1913
, and was subsequently made
K.C.S.I.
and
G.C.I.E.
After his return from
India
, he served as
high sheriff
of
Anglesey
in
1931
, and in
1932
became
treasurer
of the
University College of North Wales
; in
1937
the
University of Wales
conferred upon him the honorary degree of
LL.D.
He d. (at
Treborth Uchaf
,
Bangor
)
17 April 1941
.
Bibliography:
-
J. E. Griffith
,
Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire
Families
, 1914
, more especially 237, 337;
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
;
-
Crockford's Clerical Directory
, 1858
ff
;
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
(second supplement);
-
Who's who?
[see
Wynn
-
Pryse
-
Corbet
family.
]
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
