Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet

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Portrait of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn and his mother, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, ca. 1768.

Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet (September 23, 1749 – July 24, 1789) was a Welsh politician and patron of the arts.

Sir Watkin was the eldest son of the second marriage of his father, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd Baronet, to Frances Shackerley of Cheshire. He was a baby when his father was killed by a fall from his horse while out hunting, and inherited the extensive Wynnstay estates. On his coming of age in 1770, he held an extravagant party for 15,000 guests. An embroidered suit which he may have worn on this occasion is in the possession of the National Museum of Wales [1].

He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Shropshire from 1772 to 1774, and for Denbighshire from 1774 to 1789. He was Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire from 1775-1789. He was a great patron of the arts, and numbered George Frideric Handel and David Garrick among his friends.

He was married twice, first to Henrietta Somerset, who died shortly afterwards, and in December 1771 to Charlotte Grenville. He had three sons and two daughters from this second marriage. Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a portrait of him with his first wife in theatrical costume, and another of his second wife with her children, in around 1778.

[edit] References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs.
• This page incorporates information from Leigh Rayment's Baronetage page.
• National Museum of Wales