Sir William Owen, 4th Baronet (1697?–1781), of

Orielton, Pembrokeshire Orielton is a historic country house and estate near Hundleton in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was the seat of the Owen baronets from the 16th to 19th centuries. It was requisitioned during wartime, and later used as a field studies centre for environ ...

, was a Welsh 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 ...

for 52 years from 1722 to 1774. Owen was the eldest son of

Sir Arthur Owen, 3rd Baronet Sir Arthur Owen, 3rd Baronet ( 1674–1753), of Orielton, Pembrokeshire, was a Welsh Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1695 and 1727. Early life Owen was the eldest surviving son Sir Hugh Owen, 2nd Bar ...

, and his wife Emma Williams, daughter of Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet. He matriculated at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, on 16 June 1713, aged 16. He married Elizabeth Lloyd, daughter of Thomas Lloyd of Grove, Pembrokeshire, on 12 December 1725. He married as his second wife his cousin Anne Williams, daughter of John Williams of Chester, on 26 July 1728. Owen was returned as Member of Parliament (MP) for Pembroke Boroughs on the Orielton interest at a by-election on 13 November 1722. He voted with the Administration in every recorded division. He was returned unopposed in the general elections of

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

and

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Georgia in America. * February 16 – ...

and won a contest in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 ** Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. ** Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway. *February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

. At the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th 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 Hen ...

he was returned for Pembroke Boroughs again and also for

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

. He opted to sit for Pembrokeshire. Owen 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 ...

in 1753, inheriting the family seat of Orielton House. He was returned unopposed again for Pembrokeshire at the

1754 British general election The 1754 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Owing to the exten ...

. At the

1761 British general election The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the 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 Scotland in 1707. This was the first P ...

, he was returned again for Pembroke Boroughs. He retired from Parliament at the general election of 1774. He succeeded the previous baronet as

Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire. After 1715, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Pembrokeshire. The county corporate of Haverfordwest was included in this lieutenancy, except for the per ...

in 1753, retaining the position until 1775. He married twice and had 2 sons and 3 daughters. Owen died on 7 May 1781 leaving two sons and three daughters. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son

Hugh Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

References

1690s births 1781 deaths People from Pembrokeshire Alumni of New College, Oxford Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 Baronets in the Baronetage of England Lord-lieutenants of Pembrokeshire {{England-baronet-stub