Watkin Williams-Wynn Vanity Fair 14 June 1873

Lt-Col. Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 6th Baronet (22 May 1820 – 9 May 1885) was a Welsh Conservative Party politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1841 to 1885.

Biography

Williams-Wynn was born at the family's London property, the eldest son of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet, and his wife Lady Henrietta Antonia Clive, eldest daughter of

Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis, (7 March 1754 – 16 May 1839), known as the Lord Clive between 1774 and 1804, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1794 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Clive. E ...

.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref> His brother-in-law,

Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis, Knight of the Garter, KG (22 March 1785 – 17 January 1848), styled Viscount Clive between 1804 and 1839, was a British peer and Tory (British political party), Tory politician. He was the grandson of Cliv ...

, inherited

Powis Castle Powis Castle () is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former ...

in Wales. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. He was a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

in the 1st Life Guards in 1839 and a lieutenant in 1842. He succeeded his father to the

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 6 January 1840. He was also at

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

and graduated MA in 1842. Williams-Wynn was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

in 1841 and held the seat until his death in 1885, aged 64. The seat had previously been held by his father,

grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a m ...

and great-grandfather, all of whom were also named Watkin Williams-Wynn. Williams-Wynn was lieutenant colonel of the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry from 1844 to 1877 and of the

1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers The 1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers, later 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Wales, Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1860, it served as a pioneer battalion with the 47th (2nd London) Div ...

from 1862 until his death. He was ADC to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1881. He hunted four days a week, having been appointed master of the hunt at 23. He was a director of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

. In 1845 he served as treasurer of the Salop Infirmary in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

. After

Wynnstay Wynnstay is a country house within an important landscaped park 1.3 km (0.75 miles) south-east of Ruabon, near Wrexham, Wales. Wynnstay, previously Watstay, is a famous estate and the family seat of the Williams-Wynn baronets. The house wa ...

was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1858, Sir Watkin rebuilt it between 1859 and 1865 on the same site, with

Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey List of Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (1 April 1810 – 22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic revival architecture, Gothic Re ...

as his architect. Williams-Wynn married his cousin, Marie Emily Williams-Wynn, youngest daughter of Sir Henry Watkin Williams-Wynn, KCB, on 28 April 1852. He had two daughters, Marie Nesta Williams Wynn (23 October 1868 – 26 January 1883) who is commemorated by a stained glass window at Ruabon parish church, and Louisa Alexandra Williams Wynn (1864–1911), the sole heiress of the Wynnstay estate, who also married her cousin, Herbert Lloyd Watkin Williams-Wynn (1860–1944), who succeeded him as the 7th baronet on his death in 1885.

Coat of arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams-Wynn, Watkin 6 1820 births 1885 deaths Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies British Life Guards officers UK MPs 1837–1841 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 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Directors of the Great Western Railway Montgomeryshire Yeomanry officers 6 Watkin