Williams-Wynn, Charles Watkin, 1775-1850
- GB-2014-WSA-01480
- Person
- 1775-1850
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.