Sir George Wynne, 1st Baronet (May 1700 – 5 August 1756), of

Leeswood Hall Leeswood Hall is a country house in Leeswood, Flintshire, Wales. Dating from 1742, it was built for George Wynne, the design being attributed to Francis Smith. Construction reputedly cost £40,000. The hall is a Grade II* listed building. To the ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, was a Welsh land owner and Whig politician who sat 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. ...

from 1734 to 1742.

Early life

Wynne was the eldest son of John Wynne of Leeswood and his first wife Jane Jones, daughter of Humphrey Jones of

Halkyn Halkyn ( cy, Helygain ; Flintshire Welsh: ''Lygian '') is a village and community in Flintshire, north-east Wales and situated between Pentre Halkyn, Northop and Rhosesmor. At the 2001 Census the population of the community was 2,876, increasi ...

, Flintshire. His mother died in 1703 and his father, who was a poor Welsh country gentleman, remarried Catherine Jones, one of the servants. Wynne succeeded to the Halkyn estate of his mother which then brought about £30 a year. He married Margaret Lloyd, daughter of Evan Lloyd of Tyddyn, Flintshire, on 26 April 1720 against the objection of his father that she had neither fortune nor quality equal to his son. Valuable lead deposits were discovered on the Halkyn estate and after prolonged litigation with his father, Wynne secured control of the estate. His father published a pamphlet in about 1731 entitled “The sufferings of John Wynne of Leeswood, Esq’ accusing his son and father in law of defrauding him of the £22,000 a year yield of the mine. Wynne re-built and re-equipped the family house at Leeswood with no regard to the expense. He was

High Sheriff of Flintshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Flintshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly, the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county, but over the centuries most of the responsibilitie ...

from 1722 to 1724.

Career

At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

Wynne stood for Flint Boroughs, when there was a double return and the seat was awarded to his opponent. He attached himself to Walpole and campaigned against the strong Tory powerbase in Wales, and was rewarded with a

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on 16 July 1731. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

he was returned as

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 ...

for Flint Boroughs in an extremely expensive contest. In Parliament, he was a hard-working Member, taking notes of debates, and regularly voting with the Government. He was appointed Constable of

Flint Castle Flint Castle ( cy, Castell y Fflint) in Flint, Flintshire, was the first of a series of castles built during King Edward I's campaign to conquer Wales. The site was chosen for its strategic position in North East Wales. The castle was only one ...

in about 1734, holding the post until 1750. Just before the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

Wynne was in dire financial straits as a result of his extravagant expenditure and a fall in income from the lead mines. He made a desperate appeal to Walpole, citing the cost of his campaigns against the Tories, and noting that he was in danger of losing his estate to Watkins Wynne. He was once again returned MP for Flint Boroughs after a hotly contested election and took his seat in the House of Commons. He voted with the Government on the chairman of the elections committee on 16 December 1741. However his opponent petitioned, and he was unseated by the anti-Walpole majority of the House on 22 March 1742.

Later life and legacy

Within a year it was reported that Wynne's personal estate had been seized for debt and for a time he was imprisoned in the

King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were hea ...

. He died intestate and without male heir at his house at

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, on 5 August 1756 and was buried at St Margaret's,

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

on 8 August. His only surviving daughter Margaret, wife of Richard Hill Waring of Hayes, Shropshire, inherited the Leeswood estate but died without issue in 1793. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by special remainder by his brother John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynne, Sir George, 1st Baronet 1700 births 1756 deaths British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain