Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn (20 June 1800 – 31 March 1886), was a Scottish landowner in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He played a major part in the development of the Welsh slate industry.

Life

Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant, Vanity Fair, 1882-03-25

Born Edward Gordon Douglas, he was the younger son of the Hon. John Douglas and his wife Lady Frances (née Lascelles). The 14th Earl of Morton was his paternal grandfather and The 17th Earl of Morton was his elder brother. He served as an officer in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

.''Burke's'': 'Penrhyn'. He inherited the Penrhyn Estate near Bangor in north-west Wales through his wife's father,

George Hay Dawkins-Pennant George Hay Dawkins-Pennant (20 February 1764 – 17 December 1840), of Penrhyn Castle, Caernarvonshire, and 56 Portland Place, Middlesex, was a plantation and slave owner, Member of Parliament for Newark and New Romney. He was the second son o ...

, and changed his name to Douglas-Pennant by Royal licence in 1841. This made him the owner of the

Penrhyn Quarry The Penrhyn quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda, North Wales. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly long and deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen. It has ...

near

Bethesda, Wales Bethesda (; ) is a town and community on the River Ogwen and the A5 road on the edge of Snowdonia, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is the fifth-largest community in Gwynedd. History The settlement's ancient name was Cilfoden, formerly kn ...

, which under his ownership developed into one of the two largest slate quarries in the world. He was also involved in politics and sat as Member of Parliament for Caernarvonshire between 1841 and 1866. He also held the honorary post of

Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire. Since 1778, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Caernarvonshire. The post was abolished on 31 March 1974 and replaced with that of Lord Lieutenant of Gwy ...

. On 30 August 1852 he was commissioned as

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Commandant to revive and command the county militia regiment, the

Royal Carnarvon Rifles The Carnarvonshire Militia, later the Royal Carnarvon Rifles, was an auxiliary regiment reorganised in the county of Caernarfonshire (then spelt Carnarvonshire) in North Wales during the 18th Century from earlier precursor units. Primarily inten ...

. He commanded the regiment until 1858, when he became its Honorary Colonel. In 1866 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Penrhyn, of

Llandegai Llandygái (; ; ; also Llandegai) is a small village and community on the A5 road between Bangor and Tal-y-bont in Gwynedd, Wales. It affords a view of the nearby Carneddau mountain range. The population of the community taken at the 2011 ...

in the County of Carnarvon. In 1868 he sacked 80 workers from Penrhyn Quarry for failing to vote for his son, George Douglas-Pennant, in the general election. The village of

Llandygai Llandygái (; ; ; also Llandegai) is a small village and community on the A5 road between Bangor and Tal-y-bont in Gwynedd, Wales. It affords a view of the nearby Carneddau mountain range. The population of the community taken at the 2011 ...

was developed by Lord Penrhyn as a ‘model village’ for his estate workers, in which ‘no corrupting alehouse’ was permitted.A. H. Dodd (1968) ''A History of Caernarvonshire'', Caernarvonshire Historical Society/Bridge Books . The village lies immediately outside of the walls of the Penrhyn Castle demesne walls, with the entrance to the village being some 100m from the castle's Grand Lodge. Lord Penrhyn died in 1886, aged 85.

Family

Lord Penrhyn married, firstly, Juliana Isabella Mary, daughter of

, in 1833. They had two sons and three daughters. After her death in 1842 he married, secondly, Maria Louisa, daughter of

Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton (10 February 1790 – 26 March 1863), styled Viscount Ipswich until 1811 and Earl of Euston between 1811 and 1844, was a British peer and politician. Grafton was the son of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton a ...

, in 1846. They had eight daughters. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son,

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

Notes

References

*'' Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' * ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. * Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * Bryn Owen, ''History of the Welsh Militia and Volunteer Corps 1757–1908: 1: Anglesey and Caernarfonshire'', Caernarfon: Palace Books, 1989, ISBN 1-871904-00-5. * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Penrhyn, Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron 1800 births 1886 deaths British mining businesspeople 19th-century Scottish businesspeople History of Gwynedd Grenadier Guards officers Lord-Lieutenants of Caernarvonshire Carnarvon Militia officers Slate industry in Wales 19th-century Welsh businesspeople UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs who were granted peerages Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies

Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn (20 June 1800 – 31 March 1886), was a Scottish landowner in Wales, and a Conservative Party politician. He played a major part in the development of the Welsh slate industry. Life Born Edwa ...

Scottish landowners Welsh landowners 1

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria