Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet (1553 – 1 March 1627), Welsh baronet, Member of Parliament and antiquary, was the son of Morys Wynn ap John. He claimed to be directly descended from the princes of Gwynedd through Rhodri ab Owain son of Owain Gwynedd. However, this claim is disputed in a publication of 1884 entitled Gweithiau Gethin published by W. J. Roberts in Llanrwst.
He was educated at Oxford, succeeded to his father's estate of Gwydyr in Carnarvonshire in 1580, and was Member of Parliament for this county in 1586. In 1606 he was made a knight and in 1611 became the first of the Wynn Baronets. He was interested in several mining ventures and also found time for antiquarian studies. His son was Sir Richard Wynn.
At Llanrwst Wynn founded an hospital and endowed a school. His work The History of the Gwydir Family, which had a great reputation in North Wales, was intended to assert his claim to royal ancestry. In a legal challenge to these claim Thomas Prys of Plas Iolyn brought a case against him and Sir John was forced to defend himself in court. He won the case and afterwards was recognised as the most prominent heir male of the House of Gwynedd. Under Welsh succession law the head of the Price of Esgairweddan family at the time, descended through Iorwerth ab Owain Gwynedd and Dafydd II, would lead the senior line and be de jure Princes of Gwynedd, however they died out in the male line in 1702 and the royal title would have passed there from to the Wynn Family of Gwydir at that time. John Wynn's book was first published by Daines Barrington in 1770, and in 1878 an edition was published at Oswestry. It is valuable as the only work which describes the state of society in North Wales in the 15th and the earlier part of the 16th century.
Sir John Wynn's estate of Gwydir came to Robert Bertie, first Duke of Ancaster, in the 17th century, by his marriage with the heiress of the Wynns. On the death of the last duke in 1779, Gwydir was inherited by his sister Priscilla, Baronness Willoughby de Eresby in her own right, whose husband was created Baron Gwydyr.
On the death of Alberic, Baron Willoughby de Eresby in 1870, this title (now merged in that of earl of Ancaster) fell into abeyance between his two daughters, while that of Baron Gwydir passed to his cousin and male heir. Gwydir itself was sold by the earl of Ancaster in 1895, the house and part of the estate being bought by Lord Carrington, who also claimed descent from Sir John Wynn.
[1] On 28 May 2010, Llanrwst celebrated the 400th anniversary of the almshouses there, which were built by Sir John Wynn to provide shelter for twelve poor older men of the parish. Today, those twelve rooms are used to show different periods of history.
In this festival, Sir John Wynn was played by actor Sion Rickard, a student studying Performing Arts at Coleg Llandrillo, who arrived with his "wife" in the main square of Llanrwst by horse and carriage from Gwydir Castle, then answered questions from the local town crier, went inside the almshouse to check the standard of what he had built and delivered a speech to the people of Llanrwst.
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Thomas Mostyn |
Custos Rotulorum of Caernarvonshire 1618–1627 |
Succeeded by Sir Richard Wynn |
| Regnal titles | ||
| Preceded by Morys Wynn ap John |
Head of the House of Aberffraw 1580-1627 |
Succeeded by Sir Richard Wynn |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by New creation |
Baronet (of Gwydir) 1611–1626 |
Succeeded by Richard Wynn |