Texts

The history of the Gwydir family

John Wynn (1553-1627)
  • Early Modern English
  • prose

An English-language history of the Wynn(e) family of the Gwydir estate (Conwy), written by one of its most prominent members, Sir John Wynn (d. 1627), MP and first baronet. The history asserts a claim to noble or royal ancestry by tracing the family’s origins to Gruffudd ap Cynan, king of Gwynedd, through his son Owain (Gwynedd) and grandson Rhodri. Its primary historical value lies in its accounts of more recent events during the later middle ages, although there is much that is imaginative.

Author
Wynn (John) [1553-1627]
Wynn (John) ... 1553-1627
(d. 1627)
Welsh politician and landowner, member of the Wynn family of Gwydir (Caernarfonshire) and author of a history of that family.

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Manuscripts
pp. 181–?216
Autograph manuscript.
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 3075
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 3061
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 2025
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 2035
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Add. MS 27B
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS Wynnstay 120
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 21253D
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 12854D
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 8427B
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 16969B
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 1206
Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Bodewryd MS 11D
Language
  • Early Modern English
Date
Written after 1580, when Wynne inherited the Gwydir estate.
Form
prose (primary)

Classification

Subjects

Wynn family of GwydirWynn family of Gwydir
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] Jones, J. Gwynfor, Sir John Wynn. History of the Gwydir family and memoirs, The Welsh Classics, 4, Llandysul: Gomer Press, 1990.
Internet Archive – Available on loan: <link>
Edition based on the autograph manuscript in Cardiff.
[ed.] Ballinger, John [ed.], The history of the Gwydir family, Cardiff: University of Wales Press Board, 1927.
[ed.] Roberts, Askew [ed.], and W. W. E. Wynne [ass.], The history of the Gwydir family, written by Sir John Wynne, Oswestry: Woodall and Venables, 1878.  
The edition is based on the second one by Daines Barrington, which appeared in his Miscellanies. The preface acknowledges the contributions of “W. W. E. Wynne, Esq., of Peniarth, [who] collated his copy of Miss Lwyd's [1827] edition with the Brogyntyn, Wynnstay, and Peniarth MSS., adding a very large collection of dates, from contemporary records, including the Ministers' Account in the Public Record Office, in London.”
Internet Archive: <link>
Fourth edition.
[ed.] Barrington, Daines [ed.], and Angharad Llwyd [ed.], History of the Gwydir family, by Sir John Wynn ... now re-edited, with additional notes ... [and] Memoirs of celebrated and distinguished contemporary Welshmen, bishops, &c, Ruthin: Taliesin Press, 1827.
Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>
Third edition.
[ed.] Barrington, Daines, Miscellanies by the Honourable Daines Barrington, London: J. Nichols, 1781.
Internet Archive: <link> Canadiana: <link>
343–432 [‘The hidtory of the Gwedir family, by Sir Jhn Wynne’] Second edition.
[ed.] Barrington, Daines [ed.], History of the Gwedir family, by Sir John Wynne: the first Baronet of that name, who was born in 1553, London: Printed for B. White, 1770.
First printed edition.
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
January 2022, last updated: June 2023