Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

The Williams Wynn Family

The founder of the Williams Wynn family was Hugh Williams, D.D. (1596-1670). His eldest son was Sir William Williams (1634-1700), who was Speaker of the House of Commons in 1680-1, appointed Attorney General in 1687, and created baronet in 1688. The second baronet, his eldest son, was Sir William Williams (1684-1740), who married Jane Thelwall, great grand-daughter of Sir John Wynn of Gwydir.

The eldest son of this marriage was "The Great" Sir Watkin Williams (d.1749), who inherited the estate of Wynnstay, through his mother, from Sir John Wynn (d.1719), the last baronet of the direct Gwydir line; on succeeding to the Wynnstay estate Sir Watkin adopted 'Wynn' as an additional surname.⁵⁵⁰

Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, 4th Bart., was the elder son of "The Great" Sir Watkin, (1692-1749), and Frances Shakerley of Gwersyllt and Holmes Chapel. He was born on 8 April 1749. There is a portrait of him dated 1750 in Bodrhyddan, Clwyd, by Henry Morland, father of George Morland. It is a pastel drawing of a chubby child in a white smock and cap holding a rose.

He was educated at Westminster School, London, which at that time had Jacobite associations and was a breeding ground for Members of Parliament. He studied at Oriel College, Oxford from May 1766 to May 1768. He did not take a degree, but in 1771 he was created a Doctor of Civil Law.