Sir Richard Wynn, 2nd Baronet

Sir Richard Wynn, 2nd Baronet (1588 – 19 July 1649), was the son of Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet.

Educated at Lincoln's Inn, he entered the Lord Chamberlain's service in 1608 and was groom of the bedchamber to Charles, Prince of Wales, from 1617 to 1625. Wynn accompanied the prince on his voyage to Spain in 1623 and later wrote an account of the journey, published by T. Hearne in 1729 with the "Historia vikie et regni Ricardi II".

In 1625, Wynn was appointed treasurer to Queen Henrietta Maria. He became Baron Wynn in 1627 following the death of his father and in 1629 was once again groom of the bedchamber to Charles (now crowned as King Charles I) and Henrietta Maria. He was Member of Parliament for Caernarvonshire, 1614, Ilchester, 1621–2 and 1624, Andover, 1640, and Liverpool, 1640–1649. His unsuccessful contest for Caernarvonshire in 1620, when he was defeated by John Griffith of Cefn Amwlch, marked the eclipse of the political influence of Gwydir in the county.

He erected the Gwydir chapel in Llanrwst church and had a bridge built over the River Conwy in 1633. Despite his close connections with the royal family, he showed no eagerness to waste his estates in the king's service during the Civil Wars.

His marriage in 1618 to Anne, daughter and coheiress of Sir Francis Darcy, was childless, and the baronetcy and estates fell to his brother, Owen Wynn (1592–1660) in 1649.

References

*1911
*"D.N.B.," lxiii; "Cal. Wynn (of Gwydir) Papers," passim; "Clenennau Letters," i, Introduction
*"Hist. Gwydir Family," passim; W. R. Williams, "Parl. Hist. of Wales," passim
*E. Breeze, "Kalendars of Gwynedd," passim; "Cymm.," xxxviii
*"The Welsh Review," v, 187-191; "Trans. Caern. Hist. Soc.," 1939, 37-46; J. E. Griffith, "Pedigrees," 280-1
*E. G. Jones, ‘The Caernarvonshire Squires, 1558-1625’ (unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Wales)