The article in
DWB
takes the family history down to the
5th Baronet
,
Sir
WATKIN WILLIAMS
WYNN
(
1772
-
1840
), and his two brothers,
Charles
and
Henry
, the trio nicknamed ‘Pip, Squeak and Bubble’.
Charles
m.
Mary
, eldest dau. of
Sir
Foster
Cunliffe
and they made their home in
Llangedwyn
.
Henry
's wife was
Hesther
Smith
, the dau. of
Lord Carrington
.
The title and estates were inherited by the eldest son of the
5th Baronet
,
Sir
WATKIN WILLIAMS
WYNN
, the
6th Baronet
(
1820
-
1885
).
He had been born in the family home in
St. James's Square
,
London
,
22 May 1820
and was educ. at
Westminster School
before going to
Christ Church
,
Oxford
, in
1837
. When he entered into his inheritance in
1840
he was under-age to follow his father in the family seat for
Denbighshire
but he was elected
M.P.
in
July 1841
and he retained the seat for the rest of his life. He did not make a name for himself in the
House
; it is said that he never made a speech there but voted consistently for his party. According to
William
Rees
(‘
Gwilym Hiraethog
’,
DWB
, 831-32)
he was not a fluent speaker and was halting in his speech. Nevertheless, he was well regarded as a
landowner
and
benefactor
in spite of the oppressive attitude of some of his agents and there is no doubt about his popularity among ordinary folk. As a mark of respect, for his memory, when he d., as one of the gentry, a
countryman
and
patron of
eisteddfodau
the
Denbighshire Liberals
decided not to nominate a candidate for the vacant seat were the
Tories
to select his young successor to represent them. He was shown great respect throughout his life. There were great celebrations on the family estates when he was born. He was 12 years old when
Princess
Victoria
and her mother stayed at
Wynnstay
and gave further distinction to the family. That was when the
‘King's Head’ hotel
in
Llangollen
became the ‘
Royal Hotel
’. There were even greater celebrations when he came of age in
1841
. He m. his cousin
Marie Emily
, dau. of
Sir
Henry
Williams Wynn
,
K.C.B.
, in
St. James's church
,
London
,
25 Apr. 1852
. A tragedy, which brought a host of messages of sympathy from individuals and public bodies in
Wales
, occurred
5 March 1858
when a large part of
Wynnstay mansion
was burnt, destroying many treasures, including the valuable library of Welsh MSS. Among the messages received was an address from the
Calvinistic Methodist Association in the North
. The present house was rebuilt and
Sir
Watkin
began to re-establish the library by purchasing the genealogical MSS. of
Joseph
Morris
,
Shrewsbury
. He held his family's traditional offices in the administration of
Denbighshire
and
Montgomeryshire
, and with the
1st Denbighshire Volunteer Corps
and the
Montgomeryshire Yeoman Cavalry
. He was the
chief officer
of the
Free Masons
in
north Wales
and he was
responsible for establishing a number of lodges
. There was a special room for them in
Wynnstay
. He had an interest in the
National
Eisteddfod
and was called upon to preside as the ‘Prince of Wales’ on chairing day. He was accepted as a member of the
Gorsedd
of Bards
under the name ‘
Eryr eryrod Eryri
’, the family motto which confirmed the eagles of
Owain Gwynedd
on his coat of arms. He was
president
of the
Hon. Soc. of Cymmrodorion
and such was his interest in the
Welsh School
at
Ashford
that a special memorial service was held for him in
Ashford parish church
. His health was frail in his last years. He regained a measure of health following a Mediterranean cruise on his yacht ‘
Hebe
’ in the winter and autumn of
1875-76
.
Sir
William
Jenner
attended him in his last illness. He d.
Saturday 9 May 1885
at
Wynnstay
and was b. in
Llangedwyn
the following Friday.
The younger of his two daughters d. when she was 14 but the elder,
Louisa Alexandra
(
1864
-
1911
) had m. her cousin
HERBERT LLOYD WATKIN
WILLIAMS-WYNN
(
1860
-
1944
) on
26 Aug.
the previous year. This nephew and son-in-law, therefore, succeeded to the title and estates as the
7th Baronet
. He was b.
6 June 1860
, second s. of
Herbert Watkin
Williams-Wynn
, the younger brother of the
6th Baronet
. He was educ. at
Wellington School
and
Trinity College
Cambridge
where he took his
B.A.
He was
M.P.
for
Denbighshire
from
May to Nov. 1885
but the constituencies were restructured before the general election in Dec. to create two constituencies in place of a single two-member seat. He stood as candidate in
east Denbigh
but was defeated by the
Liberal candidate
,
George Osborne
Morgan
(
DWB
, 644)
and though he stood again in
1886
and
1892
he was not successful and the
Wynnstay
family lost the representation which had been, in a sense, their heritage. He devoted himself, thereafter, to his local activities, serving his community faithfully for close on 60 years. He was elected to
Denbigh county council
as member for the
Ruabon district
in
1888
retaining the seat for the rest of his life. He was
chairman of the quarter sessions
,
1905
,
High Sheriff of Denbighshire
,
1890
and
Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire
. He
served on the commission of peace
in a number of counties; he was a member of the
Territorial Army
,
raising a cavalry regiment
during the
South African War
. He
supported the ambulance service
and was created a
knight of St. John's
. During
World War I
he
established a munitions factory
at
Wynnstay
and in
1939
he gave the stables and other buildings for government use. He had a deep
interest in engineering and construction
and he did much to improve his estates. Following his father and grandfathers he was
Master
of the famous
Wynnstay hunt
and a presentation was made to him in
1935
after 50 years in that office. For many years he held high office with the
Freemasons
and like his predecessors he
set up many lodges
. A keen churchman he was a member of the
Governing Body of the Church in Wales
and as a
lay reader
he took services in local churches as well as being a faithful member of the congregation at
Ruabon parish church
. He spent his life simply and unpretentiously amongst his people and like any other
farmer
he would work on the hay with his workers. He placed a large collection of estate papers in the
National Library
for safe keeping and invited the Library to collect and conserve other documents which were at risk when the army took over some of the buildings. At the same time he placed the
Wynnstay MSS.
in the
National Library
for safe keeping. He d. in
Wynnstay
,
Sat. 24 May 1944
and was buried in
Llangedwyn
. He and his wife had divorced in
1898
; she died in
1911
. They had a son and 2 daughters.
His son,
Sir
WATKIN
WILLIAMS-WYNN
(
1891
-
1949
), the
8th Baronet
, succeeded to the title. B.
26 Jan. 1891
, he m.,
14 Sept. 1920
,
Daisy
, youngest dau. of
John Johnson
Houghton
,
Westwood
,
Neston
. Inheritance tax severely affected the 100,000-acre estates and the
8th Baronet
could afford to spend only brief periods at
Wynnstay
. He moved to
Belan
on the edge of the park and then to
Llangedwyn
. The
Llwydiarth estate
in
Montgomeryshire
was sold and
Glan-llyn estate, Mer.
, was accepted by the
Treasury
in lieu of part of the inheritance tax and was transferred to the care of the
Agricultural Land Commission
to be administered by the
Welsh Sub-commission
.
Plas Glan-llyn
,
Glan-llyn Isa house
and some land were leased to
Urdd Gobaith Cymru
for use as a youth camp.
Wynnstay
was sold to
Lindisfarne public school
. The gentry period of the
Wynns
of
Wynnstay
thus came to an end. Though the
8th Baronet
had had little connection with
Wynnstay
since his youth, he showed the same virtues as his father and grandfather when he came into his inheritance, and had the family circumstances been different, he would, without doubt, have faithfully continued the family tradition. He was educ. at
Eton
and
Trinity College
,
Cambridge
, where he graduated
B.A.
in
1913
. He served with the
Royal Dragoons
in
World War I
and was wounded. He took up his father's social and religious activities in the community and local government. He was
High Sheriff of Denbighshire
and undertook the modernisation of the administration of what remained of the estate. He and his wife had a son and 3 dau. The death of his son in a fire in
Barford camp
,
Barnard's Castle
,
18 Jan. 1946
, was a heavy blow.
Sir
Watkin
died at
Ruthin Castle
,
Monday 9 May 1949
and he was b. at
Llangedwyn
12 May
.
The baronetcy was inherited by his uncle,
Sir
ROBERT WILLIAM HERBERT WATKIN
WILLIAMS-WYNN
,
Plas-yn-cefn
(
1862
-
1951
), the
9th Baronet
. The
5th Baronet
had 2 sons,
Sir
Watkin
Williams-Wynn
(
1820
-
1885
), the
6th Baronet
, and
Herbert Watkin
Williams-Wynn
,
M.P.
for
Montgomeryshire
1850-62
, who m.
Anna
, dau. and heiress of
Edward
Lloyd
,
Cefn Meriadog, Denbs.
They had 3 sons, (1)
Edward Watkin
who was
drowned
near
Windsor
in
1888
, (2)
Sir
Herbert Lloyd Watkin
Williams-Wynn
(
1860
-
1944
), the
7th Baronet
, (3)
Robert William Herbert Watkin
Williams-Wynn
who became the
9th Baronet
. B.
3 June 1862
and educ. at
Wellington School
and
Christ Church
,
Oxford
, he
joined the army
, serving with the
Imperial Yeomanry
in the
South African War
1900-01
and being
mentioned in dispatches
as well as winning the
D.S.O.
He was made
hon. Capt.
in
1900
. He was a
Lieut. Colonel
and
commander
of the
Montgomeryshire Yeomanry
,
1906-1917
, and went out with them to
Egypt
in
1916
. He was
commander
of the
South Egypt division
from
1917 to 1919
. He stood unsuccessfully as the
Conservative candidate
in
Montgomeryshire
in
1894
,
1895
and
1900
against
Arthur Charles
Humphreys-Owen
,
Glansevern
(
DWB
, 398)
. He was awarded a
C.B.
in
1923
,
K.C.B.
1938
. He was
Master
of the
Flint and Denbigh hunt
from
1888 to 1946
and he also had an interest in the
Wynnstay hunt
. He m. in
1904
Elizabeth Ida
, 2nd dau. of
George W.
Lawther
,
Swillington
,
Yorkshire
, and they had
2 sons and 2 dau. He d. at his home,
Plas-yn-cefn
,
23 Nov. 1951
.
He was succeeded by his son,
Sir
OWEN WATKIN
WILLIAMS-WYNN
, the
10th Baronet
(
1904
-
1988
).
