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 was sold in 1948 and is under private ownership as of 2000.
16-614: During the 17th century, Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet , inherited the Watstay Estate through his marriage to Jane Evans (daughter of Eyton Evans of Watstay), and renamed it the Wynnstay Estate. The gardens were laid out by Capability Brown . Wynnstay was Brown's largest commission in Wales, work beginning in 1774 and completed in 1784, a year after his death. He replaced the older formal gardens with lawns which swept right up to
32-421: A supposed Colonel Hugh Wynn who is alleged to have moved to Virginia and raised a family. However, with no clear heir, Sir John bequeathed the entire Wynnstay estate to Jane Thelwall, great-granddaughter of the first baronet and wife of Sir William Williams, 2nd Baronet (c. 1665 – 20 October 1740). Sir John Wynn and Sir William Williams were the two largest landowners in north Wales at that time and together
48-509: The 1708 British general election and the 1710 British general election . He retired at the 1713 British general election Wynn lived into his nineties, mainly residing in London, but died without issue in 1719. On his death the Wynn baronetcy became extinct and the ancient House of Aberffraw (which claimed direct descent from Rhodri Mawr ap Merfyn in the late 9th century and through him to
64-655: The Kingdom of Gwynedd . This House was the first not being descended from the male line of Cunedda, as king Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog was the last in the direct male line. Through inheritances from the great uncle of Merfyn the Oppressor , the line of Cunedda continued from the maternal side through the House of Aberffraw, and through the House of Dinefwr through Rhodri's son, King Cadell ap Rhodri . The Senior line of
80-784: The Wynnstay Estate. He also, allegedly, won the manor of Stanwardine in Shropshire from Thomas Corbett in a snail race . He succeeded his cousin Sir Richard Wynn, 4th Baronet as a baronet in 1674 but did not inherit the Gwydyr Estate , which passed to his predecessor's daughter Mary (later wife of Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven ). Wynn served as High Sheriff of Denbighshire for 1671–3, as High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire for 1674-75 and as High Sheriff of Merionethshire for 1675–1676. He
96-416: The 15th century. The House of Gwynedd, divided between the earlier House of Cunedda , which lasted from c.401 to 825, was eventually replaced by the later House of Aberffraw , beginning in 844. The first is so named after Cunedda (386-460), the founding King of Gwynedd in late Roman Britain ; following the departure of Magnus Maximus in the 380s, and the second after Aberffraw , the old capital of
112-694: The House of Aberffraw descended from Prince Llywelyn the Great in patrilineal succession and became extinct on the death of Owain Lawgoch in 1378, while the House of Dinefwr was succeeded by its cadet branch, the House of Mathrafal . The House of Gwynedd claimed descent from the mythical king Beli Mawr through the line of Cunedda (b. 386), as appears in the Harleian genealogies and Jesus College MS 20 genealogies . The House of Aberffraw began with
128-644: The Wynnstay estate, it was bought by Lindisfarne College . When the school closed due to bankruptcy, the building was converted to flats and several private houses. The house is a Grade II* listed building. The gardens underwent a process of refurbishment, which was completed by 2016. The gardens are listed as Grade I in the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales . Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet (1628 – 11 January 1719)
144-409: The accession of Rhodri Mawr to the throne of Gwynedd. His father Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad had seized the throne of Gwynedd on the death of the last of the old royal line Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog , Merfyn was descended from Hywel's father, but through the female line, representing a new start for the family of his son, Rhodri, who settled Aberffraw on Anglesey . He was his maternal grandnephew via
160-475: The combined estate dwarfed all others. In honour of his wife's ancestry Sir William Williams changed his name to Sir William Williams-Wynn of Wynnstay. The current baronet is Sir David Watkin Williams-Wynn, 11th Baronet (born 1940). House of Gwynedd The House of Gwynedd was a royal house during medieval Wales (c. 500 – 1500). The dynasty is seen as being divided between
176-717: The founding of the kings settlement in Gwynedd during the Roman invasion of Britain and the subsequent kingdoms in Wales until after the Norman invasion of Wales and the subsequent incorporation of the separate kingdoms into the Principality of Wales . The royal house is defined by the timeline of the Kings of Gwynedd as direct male line descendants of the founder of the Kingdom of Gwynedd , Cunedda Wledig c. 401 , until
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#1732797782874192-474: The house overlooking the lake. Famous occupants of the house and estate included Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet . During the 19th century, Princess Victoria stayed there with her mother, the Duchess of Kent . In 1858, Wynnstay was destroyed by fire and was rebuilt on the same site. After the house was vacated by the Williams-Wynn family in the mid-20th century, in favour of the nearby Plas Belan on
208-436: The legendary line of Brutus ) was left without known male issue. Had Thomas Jones ( Twm Siôn Cati ) really been the illegitimate son of John "Wynn" ap Maredudd (as claimed by Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet in his family history), his children would have been next in line, illegitimate sons having the same rights of inheritance as legitimate ones under ancient Welsh law. There are also several claims that "lost" relatives such as
224-503: The subsequent era of the founding of the palace ( Welsh : Llys ) at Aberffraw c. 873, after the male line expired in the 8th century, because Gwynedd was inherited by Merfyn Frych , a female line descendant of Gwynedd from the Isle of Man . The dynasty lasted until the conquest of Wales by Edward I in the 13th century, and the deposition of the direct line of kings in 1283, and then the senior line of male heirs in medieval Wales, up until
240-421: Was Custos Rotulorum of Merionethshire for 1678–1688, 1690–96 and 1700–1711. Wynn was returned as Member of Parliament for Merioneth in 1679. He was returned again in 1685 and held the seat until 1695. At the 1698 English general election he was returned as MP for Caernarvon Boroughs . At the 1705 English general election he was returned unopposed as MP for Caernarvonshire . He was returned unopposed at
256-583: Was a Welsh landowner and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1679 and 1713. He was among the largest landowners in Wales. Wynn was the only son of Henry Wynn of Rhiwgoch, Merioneth, and was educated at the Inner Temple , 1646. He inherited the Watstay Estate through his marriage to Jane Evans (daughter of Eyton Evans of Watstay), which he renamed
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