Howell Gwynne (16 April 1718 – 1780) was a British politician. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Radnorshire , HQ = Presteigne , Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin = , Status = historic county, administrative county , Start ...

from 1755 to 1761, and

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest re ...

1761 to 1768. Educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, Howell stood unsuccessfully at the

1754 general election Events January–March * January 28 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word ''serendipity''. * February 22 – Expecting an attack by Portuguese-speaking militias in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Pla ...

as candidate for

Breconshire , image_flag= , HQ= Brecon , Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= Brycheiniog , Status= , Start= 1535 , End= ...

. The following year he was chosen by chosen by the agents of the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

as their candidate for the Radnorshire seat which had been vacated by Sir Humphrey Howorth. He was elected unopposed, and his expenses £173 were paid out of secret service money. His subsequent appointment as

Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Radnorshire. After 1715, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire. The office was abolished on 31 March 1974, being replaced by the Lord Lieutenant of Powys, with ...

offended

Lord Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' havi ...

, and a deal was eventually reached whereby Gwynne would remain Lord Lieutenant for five years, and at the next election abandon Radnorshire in favour of a seat in the

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

. Carnarvon took the Radnorshire seat, and Gwynne was duly returned for Old Sarum at the

1761 general election The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Sco ...

, and held it until 1768. Described as "dim", he not recorded as having ever spoken in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. By 1765 he was canvassing again in Radnorshire. However, Chase Price then entered the race and won such support that Gwynne did not contest the 1768 general election.

References

1718 births 1780 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Lord-Lieutenants of Radnorshire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub