GLYNNE, William (1566-1620), of Llanfwrog, Anglesey and Glynllifon, Caern.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. 1566, 1st s. of Thomas Glynne of Glynllifon by Catherine, da. and h. of John ap Richard ap Morris of Plas yng Nglyn, Llanfwrog. educ. Univ. Coll. Oxf. 1578; Furnival’s Inn; L. Inn 1586. m. (1) 9 Oct. 1594, Jane, da. of John Griffith II of Plas Mawr, Caern., 6s. 4da.; (2) c.1608, Alice, da. of John Conway of Bodrhyddan, Flints., wid. of Rowland Bulkeley of Porthamel, Anglesey. Kntd. 1606; suc. fa. c.1608.

Offices Held

?Escheator, Caern. 1585-6; j.p.q. Anglesey 1599, Caern. c.1609; sheriff, Anglesey 1596-7, 1618-19; surveyor of royal timber in Caern. 1608.

Biography

The main branch of the Glynne family was settled at Glynllifon by the fifteenth century. Until the death of his grandfather and namesake in 1594, Glynne appears to have lived with his father in Llanfwrog. Glynne was the first of the family to be educated in England and the first to serve in Parliament. When not in chambers, or engaged in litigation over family land transactions, he probably continued to reside at Plas yng Nglyn until he succeeded to Glynllifon on his father’s death, when he rebuilt the mansion on a grander scale. During this period he saw service in Ireland, and was knighted at Dublin by the lord deputy, Chichester. An attempt by Glynne to install his son in the service of the Duke of Buckingham in 1617 was foiled by the Griffith family of Cefn-amwlch, and engendered a long-standing feud between the two houses. In general, Glynne attached himself to the squires of Lleyn and Eifionydd rather than to the north Caernarvonshire faction allied with the Wynns of Gwydir. His return for Anglesey must have depended on the goodwill of the Bulkeleys; he later married into a junior branch of that family, but quarrelled with them over the dowry. He preserved the literary traditions of his family, and elegies were sung by at least five bards of Gwynedd on his death. The heir was Thomas Glynne, who joined in the local defection from the King in the later years of the civil war.

Griffith, Peds. 12, 172; Cal. Wynn Pprs.79, 86, 128; HMC Welsh, ii. 634-5, 655; C66/198, 1493; Caern. RO q. sess. files 1608/9; HMC 5th Rep. 416; NLW, Carreglwyd ms 1439; Trans. Caern. Hist. Soc. iii. 49; ix. 28; Star Chamber, ed. Edwards (Univ. Wales Bd. of Celtic Studies, Hist. and Law ser. i), 30, 33; W. G. Williams, Arfon y Dyddiau Gynt (Caernarvon c.1915), 101-3; A. H. Dodd, Studies in Stuart Wales, 179-80, 188-9.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: A.H.D.

Notes