Family and Education

bap. 18 July 1647, 4th but 2nd surv. s. of Sir Hugh Owen, 1st Bt., of Orielton, being 2nd s. by 2nd w.; bro, of Sir Hugh Owen, 2nd Bt. m. (1) c.1668, Elizabeth (bur. 4 Aug. 1681), da. and h, of John Horsey of Johnston, s.p.; (2) 8 Jan. 1684, Mary da. of Morgan Powell, attorney, of Tamworth, Staffs., 1s. 1da.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Pemb. 1673-80, 1689 1701, Haverfordwest 1679-80, 1689-91; j.p. Haverfordwest 1677, Pemb. 1680-Apr. 1688, Oct. 1688-at least 1702.

Biography

Owen inherited lands in Pembrokeshire from his father, and acquired Johnston by his first marriage. He represented Pembroke Boroughs in every Parliament between 1679 and 1695. He was marked as a country Member on Lord Huntingdon's list and voted for the first exclusion bill. No other parliamentary activity can be positively attributed to him; the 'Mr Owen' who was appointed to nine committees in 1680 is more probably Thomas Owen*. Like his brother, he may have modified his attitude towards exclusion, especially after his second marriage, for his father-in-law was steward to Thomas Thynne I* and managed the Tory interest in Tamworth. Owen was among the Welsh sheriffs originally picked in January 1688 to preclude them from standing for James II's abortive Parliament, but he was not required to serve. He was absent when his views on the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws were sought in 1688, and was removed from the commission of the peace. he was re-elected to the Convention, but left no trace on its records, voting neither to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant nor for the disabling clause in the bill to restore corporations. The date of his death has not been precisely ascertained; his name appears in the commission of the peace in 1702, but not on the taxation commission. He was the last of this branch of the Owen family to sit in Parliament.2

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Leonard Naylor

Notes

• 1. Richmond Par. Reg. (Surr. Par. Reg. Soc. i), 38; Kimber and Johnson, Baronetage, i. 406; Kensington Par. Reg. 3 information from Major Francis Jones, Wales Herald.
• 2. Bath mss, Thynne pprs. 28, ff. 90-91; HMC Downshire, i. 286.