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WILSON, SIR ROBERT THOMAS, brother of Major William Wilson (qv); b. 17 Aug 1777; adm. 19 Apr 1786; left 1788; at Winchester Coll. 1789-91; Cornet, 15th Light Dragoons 24 Apr 1794; Lieut., 30 Oct 1794; Capt., 21 Sep 1796; Maj., Hompesch’s Mounted Riflemen 28 Jun 1800; Lieut. -Col., 27 Feb 1802; half-pay Oct 1802; 19th Light Dragoons Aug 1804; 20th Light Dragoons 7 Mar 1805; Brevet Col. and ADC to King 25 Aug 1810; Lieut. -Col., 22nd Light Dragoons 10 Dec 1812; Major-Gen., 4 Jun 1813; served in Flanders 1794-5; one of the eight officers commanding the two squadrons of the 15th Light Dragoons which participated in the rout of a much superior French force at Villers-en-Cauchies 24 Apr 1794, preventing the capture of the Emperor Francis II by the French; for this brilliant action Wilson and the other officers were presented with a commemporative gold medal in 1798 by the Emperor, who also conferred on them in 1800 the Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa; George III permitted them to accept this order on 2 Jun 1801, with the rank of Baron of the Holy Roman Empire and knighthood attached; served at the Helder 1799, in Egypt 1801 and at the Cape of Good Hope 1806; present at battle of Eylau 1807; commanded Royal Lusitanian Legion in Portugal 1808-9, receiving rank of Brigadier-Gen. in Portuguese army; accompanied Sir Robert Liston to Constantinope in 1812, with local rank of Brigadier-Gen. in British army; British Commissioner with the Russian Army in 1812-3, taking part in the battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Kulm and Kranpen; British Commissioner with Austrian Army in Germany and Italy 1813-4, serving at Leipzig, Vicenza, Verona and Valaggio; assisted in escape of Comte de Lavalette from Paris and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment 24 Apr 1816; MP Southwark 1818-31; dismissed from British army 15 Sep 1821 for attempting to prevent bloodshed during the disturbance at Queen Caroline’s funeral on the previous day; went to Spain in 1823 to take part in the war there; reinstated in Army with rank of Lieut. -Gen. on accession of William IV in 1830; although he had entered the House of Commons as a member of the Radical wing of the Whig party, he refused to vote for the Reform Bill of 1831, which he regarded as “the initiatory measure of a republican form of government”, and retired from active political life; Col., 15th Light Dragoons, from 29 Dec 1835; Gen., 23 Nov 1841; Governor and Commander in Chief, Gibraltar 4 Oct 1843 – Nov 1848; although the recipient of a number of distinctions from the Allied Sovereigns, he was never honoured by his own; author, The History of the British Expedition to Egypt, 1802, and other works; m. at Gretna Green 7 Jul 1797, and at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London 10 Mar 1798 Jemima, dau. of Col. William Belford, Harbledown, Kent; d. 9 May 1849. Buried North Aisle, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

WILLIS, BROWNE, son of Thomas Willis, Bletchley, Bucks. , and Alice, eldest dau. of Robert Browne, Frampton, Dorset; b. 14 Sep 1682; at school under Knipe (Lipscomb, Buckinghamshire iv, 12); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 23 Mar 1699/1700; MA 1720; DCL 1749; adm. Inner Temple 10 Feb 1699/1700; MP Buckingham 3 Dec1705-8; an industrious and learned antiquary; FSA 1718; author of published histories of various English and Welsh cathedrals, also of Notitia Parliamentaria, 1715, and other works; m. 1707 Katharine, only child of Daniel Eliot, Port Eliot, Cornwall; d. 5 Feb 1760. DNB.

WILLIAMS-WYNN, SIR WATKIN, BART., eldest son of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, Bart. (adm. 1784, qv); b. 22 May 1820; adm. 18 Jun 1832 (Benthall's); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 11 May 1837; Cornet, 1st Life Guards 19 Jul 1839; Lieut., 27 Sep 1842; retd. 7 Jul 1843; succ. father as 6th Baronet 6 Jan 1840; MP (Cons) Denbighshire from 1841; ADC (Volunteers) to Queen Victoria 1881; member, Society of Dilettanti 1883; Busby Trustee 20 May 1879; used to come to the School on St. David’s Day until the last year of his life to ask for an “Early Play” and to tip all the Welsh boys (and “Monos”) a sovereign each; m. 28 Apr 1852 his cousin Mary Emily, youngest dau. of Right Hon. Sir Henry Watkin Williams-Wynn PC KCB GCH, diplomat; d. 9 May 1885.

WILLIAMS-WYNN, SIR WATKIN, BART., elder son of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (formerly Williams), Bart. DCL MP, politician and landowner, and his second wife Frances, dau. of George Shakerley, Gwersylt, Denbighshire; b. 8 Apr 1749; succ. father as 4th baronet 23 Sep 1749; in school lists 1764, 1765; Oriel Coll. Oxford, matr. 9 May 1766; DCl 4 Jul 1771; Grand Tour (Italy) 1768-9; MP Shropshire 5 Mar 1772-4, Denbighshire from 1774; Lord Lieut., Merioneth, from 10 Jun 1775; FRS 17 Jun 1773; member, Society of Dilettanti 1775; m. 1st, 13 Apr 1769 Lady Henrietta Somerset, fifth dau. of Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort (qv); m. 2nd, 21 Dec 1771 Charlotte, dau. of Right Hon. George Grenville PC MP, Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury; d. 29 Jul 1789.

WILLIAMS-WYNN, HERBERT WATKIN, son of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, Bart. (adm. 1784, qv); b. 29 Aug 1822; adm. 20 Apr 1833 (Benthall's); Ensign, 10th Foot 5 Jul 1839; Lieut., 24 Sep 1841; Capt., 7th Foot 28 Apr 1846; Maj., 1 Apr 1853; retd. with rank of Lieut. -Col., 9 Jun 1854; MP Montgomeryshire from Oct 1850; m. 26 Jul 1855 Anna, dau. of Edmund Lloyd, Cefn, Denbighshire; d. 22 Jun 1862.

WILLIAMS-WYNN, CHARLES WATKIN, son of Charles Watkin Willianms-Wynn (adm. 1784, qv); b. 4 Oct 1822; adm. 18 Jun 1832 (Benthall's); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 15 May 1839, Canoneer Student 1839-53; BA 1843; MA 1845; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 6 Apr 1843, called to bar 6 May 1846; North Wales Circuit; Revising Barrister; Recorder of Oswestry 1880; MP (Cons) Montgomeryshire Jul 1862-80; DL JP Montgomeryshire; member, Society of Dilettanti 1871; Busby Trustee 16 Jun 1874; m. 18 Aug 1853 Lady Annora Charlotte Pierrepont, youngest dau. of Charles Pierrepont, 2nd Earl Manvers; d. 25 Apr 1896.

WILLIAMS-WYNN, CHARLES WATKIN, brother of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, Bart. (adm. 1784, qv); b. 9 Oct 1775; adm. 23 Mar 1784; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 24 Dec 1791, Canoneer Student 23 Dec 1791 – void 23 Jun 1805; BA 1795; MA 1798; DCL 1810; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 21 Apr 1795, called to bar 26 Nov 1798, Bencher 30 Jan 1835; MP Old Sarum 29 Jul 1797 – Mar 1799, Montgomeryshire from 14 Mar 1799 (“father” of the House of Commons from 1846); Under-Secretary, Home Office 19 Feb 1806 – Oct 1807; defeated by Manners-Sutton in contest for the Speakership 2 Jun 1817; he had entered politics as a member of the parliamentary group that followed his uncle Lord Grenville, and when the Grenvillites separated themselves from their Whig allies in 1818-9 he sought to form a third party in the House of Commons, but thereafter acted with the Tories, except for a brief period in 1830-1 when he held office in Earl Grey’s incoming Whig government; Privy Councillor 17 Jan 1822; President, Board of Control 8 Feb 1822 – Feb 1828; Secretary at War Nov 1830 – Apr 1831, also member Board of Control; Chancellor, Duchy of Lancaster 26 Dec 1834 – Apr 1835; member, Society of Dilettanti 1805; President, Royal Asiatic Society 1823-41; FRS 24 May 1827; FSA; while at school Wynn assisted Robert Southey (qv) and Grosvenor Charles Bedford (qv) in the production of The Flagellant Mar – Apr 1792; remained an intimate friend of Southey, to whom he made an allowance for some years; took a keen interest in the School, and offered an Indian Writership for competition among the boys in 1826 and 1829; Busby Trustee 15 Jun 1829; author, An Argument upon the Jurisdiction of the House of Commons to commit in Cases of Breach of Privilege, 1810; m. 9 Apr 1806 Mary, eldest dau. of Sir Foster Cunliffe, Bart.; d. 2 Sep 1850. DNB.

WILLIAMSON, SIR JOSEPH, second son of Rev. Joseph Williamson, Vicar of Bridekirk, Cumberland; bapt. 4 Aug 1633; adm.; Min. Can. (aged 16) 1650; Queen’s Coll. Oxford, bateller, matr. 18 Nov 1650; BA 2 Feb 1653/4; MA 1657 (incorp. Cambridge 1659); DCL 1674; Fellow, Queen’s Coll. 1657- Dec 1678; Under-Secretary, Secretary of State’s Office Jul 1660 – Sep 1674; Keeper of State Papers from 31 Dec 1661; Secretary to Sir Henry Bennet (afterwards 1st Earl of Arlington) (qv) 1662; adm. and called to bar, Middle Temple 25 Nov 1664; editor, The London Gazette, of which the first number was published 5 Feb 1666; Extra Clerk, Privy Council 9 May 1666-72, Clerk of the Council in Ordinary 24 Jan 1671/2 – res by 16 Sep 1674; MP Thetford 22 Oct 1669-81, 1685-7, Rochester 1690-1701; knighted 24 Jan 1671/2; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 1 Mar 1671/2; one of the three plenipotentiaries to the Congress of Cologne 1673-4; Secretary of State Sep 1674 – Feb 1678/9; Privy Councillor 11 Sep 1674; a Commissioner of the Admiralty 29 Sep 1674 – Feb 1678/9; refused to allow Daniel Skinner (qv) to publish Milton’s Latin State Letters and the treatise De Doctrina Christina, 1676; committed to the Tower of London by the House of Commons for passing commissions in favour of certain recusants, but promptly released by the King 1678; reappointed to Privy Council 21 Nov 1696; Joint Plenipotentiary at Congress of Nimeguen 1697; Envoy at the Hague 1697-9; FRS 20 May 1663 (one of the original Fellows), President 30 Nov 1677 – 30 Nov 1680; Master, Clothworkers’ Co. 1676; Recorder of Thetford 1682; an industrious and methodical man of affairs; befriended Dr. Lancelot Addison, who named his son Joseph after him; a great benefactor to Queen’s Coll. Oxford; m. Dec 1678 Catherine, widow of Lord O’Brien (son of 7th Earl of Thomond), and dau. of George Stuart, Lord D’Aubigny; d. 3 Oct 1701. Buried in Duke of Richmond’s vault, Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

WILLIAMS-BULKELEY, SIR RICHARD BULKELEY, BART., eldest son of Sir Robert Williams, Bart. (qv); b. 23 Sep 1801; adm. 20 Feb 1815 (Packharness'); left 10 Apr 1819; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 24 Nov 1820; assumed additional surname of Bulkeley 3 Jun 1826, having inherited the estates of his father’s older step-brother, Thomas James Warren- Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley (I) (qv); succ. father as 10th baronet 1 Dec 1830; MP (Whig/Liberal) Beaumaris 8 Feb 1831-2, Anglesey 1832-7, Flint 1841-7, Anglesey 1847-68; Lord Lieut., Caernarvonshire 7 Mar 1851 – 14 Sep 1866; High Sheriff, Anglesey 1870; a well-known sportsman; m. 1st, 27 May 1828 his cousin Hon. Charlotte Mary Hughes, eldest dau. of William Hughes, 1st Baron Dinorben; m. 2nd, 20 Aug 1832 Maria Frances, only dau. of Sir Thomas Stanley-Massey-Stanley, Bart.; d. 28 Aug 1875.

WILLIAMS, THOMAS PEERS, elder son of Owen Williams (qv); b. 27 Mar 1795; adm. 11 May 1808; left 1812; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 21 Oct 1813; MP Great Marlow 1820-68; Lieut. -Col., Royal Anglesey Militia; DL JP Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Anglesey; m. 27 Aug 1835 Emily, youngest dau. of Anthony Bacon, Elcott, Berks.; d. 8 Sep 1875.