Duchess & Sadie's Domain

Bayfield, CO - [Another photograph taken by Robert L. Wagner, Alva, Oklahoma.] -- As the sunsets four miles west of Alva, Woods, Oklahoma, on the 25th March, we were rounding the corner of the last weekend of March, 2011.

We hear from some of you in northeast Kansas that the chilly, cold weather has caught the tulips and daffodils in their awakening of Spring. Did the blooming spring flowers survive?

This weekend we took the following video of Weaselskin creek flowing towards the last weekend of March 2011. For those of you who can not make it this way and/or do not have a mountain stream or creek nearby to watch and listen to for relaxation, then we share this little video with you all.



Here comes April and another birthday for J. L. "Bud" Clark the latter half of this coming week. If you see my "Bud," please give a Happy Birthday from this Duchess & Sadie Pugsters!

The McGill Wagner's wish you a Happy Birthday, Bud! View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

This Day In History (March 28)

America - It was on this day, March 28, 1979, America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the Unit Two reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania. Click following URL to Read article that appeared in the Times.

On March 28, 1899, August Busch, the American businessman who built Anheuser-Busch into the world's largest brewery, was born. Following his death on September 29, 1989, his obituary appeared in The Times.

On This Date, March 28:
1797 - Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patented a washing machine.

1834 - The U.S. Senate voted to censure President Andrew Jackson for the removal of federal deposits from the Bank of the United States.

1854 - Britain and France declared war on Russia during the Crimean War.

1930 - The names of the Turkish cities of Constantinople and Angora were changed to Istanbul and Ankara, respectively.

1939 - The Spanish Civil War ended as Madrid fell to the forces of Francisco Franco.

1941 - Novelist and critic Virginia Woolf drowned herself near her home in England at age 59.

1943 - Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff died at age 70. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

NW Okie's Ancestrial Lineage

Bayfield, CO - Were the GWIN / GWYNN / GWYN / GUINN / GWYNNE / GUINN of Irish or Welsh descent? That is what I am trying to research now. From what I have come across so far, some reports say they could have been mostly Irish instead of Welsh descent.

The last couple of weeks we have shown you our CRAIG & VANDERVEER ancestrial lineage. This week We shall bring to light and share our paternal grandmother's GWIN / GWINN / GUINN / GWYN lineage.

My grandmother, back in the mid-1920's researched and did her DAR lineage to Capt. David GWIN. Grandmother Constance Estella WARWICK MCGILL ordered a coat of arms for the GWIN's but what I am reading that coat of arms was commonly sold to suspecting GWIN relatives, but was not a GWIN coat of arms.

At least one arms bearing GWYN family in Wales claimed Irish descent. As late as the 19th century, the GWYNs of Breconshire claimed descent from a 5th century Welsh king, Brychan Brycheiniog. Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of an Irish prince named Anlach and his wife, Marchel, heiress of the Welsh kingdom of Garthmadrun which later became known as Brycheiniog (Brecknock in English). The specific ancestry of Prince Anlach is unknown.

Claiming descent from Brychan, the GWYNs of Breconshire adopted the attributed arms of Brychan. You will often see these arms advertised by various companies as a coat-of-arms for all GWINN families which they are definitely not. Click the following URL for more information on King Brychan.

My GWINN Lineage:
1. "Sir" GWINN (1695 - ?), 6th great grandfather [I have seen some showing this as Sir Edward GWINN. I am still searching for more information on this GWINN to make a better connection.]
2. Robert GWIN (1720 - 1785), 5th great- grandfather
3. David (Capt.) GWIN (1742 - 1822), 4th great-grandfather
4. James GWIN (1774 - 1844), 3rd great-grandfather
5. Samuel GWIN (1825 - 1871), 2nd great-grandfather
6. Signora Belle Gwin (1860 - 1934), Great-grandmother
7. Constance Estella WARWICK (1882 - 1968), grandmother
8. Gene M MCGILL (1914 - 1986), Father
9. Linda Kay MCGILL (a.k.a. Linda McGill Wagner & NW Okie), daughter of Gene M McGill

Concerning the Irish Immigration to America, I found the following quote from a sermon delivered in the eighteenth century on the eve of sailing of a ship from Ulster to America. I forgot to list the Google books that I was reading it and can not find the exact quote right now.

BUT . . . Maybe someone out there has seen this quote that gives the reasons for the immigrants coming to the New World of America from Ulster, British Isles. The quote goes like this, "To avoid oppression and cruel bondage; to shun persecution and designed ruin; to withdraw from the communion of idolators; to have opportunity to warship god according to the dictates of conscience and the rules of his word."

Have we, in America, forgotten why our ancestors came to America? Why don't we have the tolerance for others religions since we should know through our history what our ancestors went through in their own countries that caused them to emigrate to America!

Good Night, and Good Luck searching your roots! View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

100th Anniversary of Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

NYC, New York - It was the hundred years ago, March 25, (1911) marks the centennial anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. It was the deadliest workplace accident in New York City's history and a seminal moment for American labor. This is to remind us ALL and memorialize the memories of those who lost their lives on that afternoon, 25 March, 1911.

The 146 garment workers that died that day in March 25, 1911 were mostly young, immigrant women. Were your ancestors amongst the 146 of 500 workers that were listed and leaped to their deaths when they tried to escape the fire when they found the emergency exits locked?

Check out this List of 146 Lives Lost on the afternoon of March 25, 1911, in the heart of Manhatten, 23-29 Washington Place, at the northern corner of Washington Square East. Click the following link to read more about the History of the Victims List.

According to The Triangle Factory Fire website, "The Triangle Waist Company was in many ways a typical sweated factory in the heart of Manhattan, at the northern corner of Washington Square East. Low wages, excessively long hours, and unsanitary and dangerous working conditions were the hallmarks of sweatshops. Many workers toiled under one roof in the Asch building, owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris.

The Cloth Inferno - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was the worst factory fire in the history of New York City. Late in the afternoon of Saturday, 25 March 1911, fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, located on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Asch Building. In less than five minutes fire snuffed out the lives of 146 workers.

Many of the garment workers before 1911 were unorganized, partly because they were young immigrant women intimidated by the alien surroundings. In 1909, an incident at the Triangle Factory sparked a spontaneous walkout of its 400 employees.

Of the many Triangle factory workers, mainly women, some were as young as 14 years old, recent Italian and European Jewish immigrants who had come to America with their families to seek a better life. BUT . . . instead, they faced lives of grinding poverty and horrifying working conditions. The Triangle Factory was a non-union shop, although some of its workers had joined the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.

The labor immigrants back then (1911) were denied any collective bargaining rights. The Triangle workers were powerless to change the abysmal conditions in their factory. There was inadequate ventilation, lack of safety precautions and fire drills and locked doors.

It took the garment unions marching out of this fire, producing the new unionism. It was the Labor Rights legacy of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. The fire unleashed public outrage, forcing government action. It took three years, more than 36 new state laws being passed inequality of workplace conditions.

DemocracyNow.org reports, "100 years after Triangle Fire, we look at some of the major struggles facing workers today in the United States and around the world. In one of many recent firs, 26 workers making clothes for U.S. companies were killed in Bangladesh last December (2010). Workers across the United States, meanwhile, are facing a resurgent assault on salaries, benefits and their right to organize -- as epitomized in Wisconsin's anti-union bill." View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

History of Baseball

America - My brother-in-law, Lou Wagner, commented on Feature #5963 of last week's OkieLegacy Ezine, "Linda, since I was born in Detroit, I always had an interest in the Tigers and Ty Cobb. If asked how to understand life, I would answer 'Read the history of baseball.'"

So I went searching through Google Books in the search of the History of Baseball. I have not had time to read through all the books that I have found, but will get back to you on that as to what I discover in my reading.

Meanwhile, does anyone have any more information to help enlighten us about the History of Baseball?

What was the Old Professional National Association of the early 1870's, and also the National League from 1876 to 1902?

They say that the sport of sports for Americans, alike for men as for boys, is our National game of base ball. It is our National game of base ball which is now the permanently established field game of ball for the American people, and it occupies a position in public estimation which no other sport in vogue equals. Is that so?

some say that it is a noteworthy fact that base ball first taught us Americans the value of physical recreative exercise as an important adjunct to perfect work in cultivating the mind up to its highest point of excellence.

Was base ball considered the introduction as a national pastime that the growth of athletic sports in general in popularity was largely due? Was base ball pointed out to the mercantile community of our large cities that "All work and no play" is the most costly policy they can pursue?

The third year of the new century (1903) introduced us to the eighth decade of base ball history. The first regular base ball club of which we have any reliable record being in 1833. The club in question was the old Olympic Town Ball Club of Philadelphia, which began its first season of ball playing that year.

The game of town ball of that early period was an American modification of the old English game of rounders, known to English use in the 17th century. Town ball was played in Philadelphia by a few enthusiasts as early as 1831. Others of a dozen or more used to gather of an afternoon once a week on a field adjoining the upper part of Market Street, Philadelphia, near where the Episcopal church stood, to play the old game. Others would go over to the Camden fields to enjoy the sport.

I read that an old resident of Camden used to say that the players were laughed at in those days for playing ball, the prejudice against wasting time in that way being very prevalent in the Quaker City of that period.

It is also stated by New Englanders that town ball was played in Connecticut and Massachusetts a decade and more before the Philadelphians adopted it. The Olympic Club of Philadelphia played town ball from 1833 to 1859, when theater phase of base ball, known as the New York game, came into vogue.

The old game of town ball as played during the decade of the 1830's was known in the New England states as the Massachusetts game, in contradistinction to the form of playing base ball afterwards known as the New York game. The new york game coming into vogue in the decade of the 1850's. This latter phase of base ball was Americanized town ball, just as the latter was an American improvement of rounders.

The familiar game of those days known as one-old-cat, was simply the preliminary field exercise with a bat and ball which was engaged in each practice day before the regular base ball games began. It was played as practice before a sufficient number of members of the club had arrived on the ground to play the irregular game.

The basis of the old English game of rounders was the use of a bat and ball in a game which was played on a square infield having four bases besides an extra place for the batsman to stand when batting, and this was also the theory of American town ball. In the American game of the old Knickerbocker club of New York, with its diamond field in place of the square field of town ball, the old rounders rule of throwing base-runners out by hitting them with the ball while running between bases, was in vogue up to the time of the organization of the 1st National Base Ball Association in 1858.

There is one solitary field sport known to Americans that can justly claim to be in every respect an American game, and that is the old Indian game of lacrosse, played by the aborigines long before Columbus discovered America. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Kenneth Dwight Pittman Bio

Oklahoma - A Shafer descendant leaves a comment on Vol. 13, Iss. 3 (2011-01-17), concerning the "Kenneth Dwight Pittman Bio," Feature #5881 -- "Glad I read this article. It's alike to some of my family that I never knew about. I am one of Dean Shafer's kids and my grand father was Ray Shafer." View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Irish Emigrants To USA

Ireland - For those looking for emigrants to the USA, you should check out the National Archives and Records Administration pages, which will give information on how to obtain microfilm records of passenger arrivals. You might need a user ID and password to login into this website, though.

Heritage Quest Online -- A collection of 25,000+ family and local history books, every word searchable. Every page of each book is presented and can be easily downloaded or copied. Complete U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1930. The page images and corresponding indexes for the entire census, 1790-1930 are included. PERSI - The PERiodical Source Index is a comprehensive subject index covering more than 6,500 genealogy and local history periodicals written in English and French (Canada) since 1800. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Irish Ancestors - State Registration (Births, Marriages & Death)

Ireland - Between 1838 and 1852, 163 workhouses were built throughout the country, each at the centre of an area known as a Poor Law Union. The workhouses were normally situated in a large market town, and the Poor Law Union comprised the town and its catchment area, with the result that the Unions in many cases ignored the existing boundaries of parish and county.

Poor Law Union

The Poor Law Union (also known both as the Superintendent Registrar's District and, simply, the Registration District) were indexed and collated centrally, and master indexes for the entire country were produced at the General Register Office in Dublin.

In the 1850s, a large-scale public health system was created, based on the areas covered by the Poor Law Unions. Each Union was divided into Dispensary Districts, with an average of six to seven Districts per Union, and a Medical Officer, normally a doctor, was given responsibility for public health in each District. When the registration of all births, deaths and marriages then began, in 1864, these Dispensary Districts also became Registrar's Districts, with a Registrar responsible for collecting the registrations within this District.

In most cases, the Medical Officer for the Dispensary District now also acted as the Registrar for the same area, but this did not invariably happen. The superior of the Registrar was the Superintendent Registrar, responsible for all the Registers within the old Poor Law Union. The returns for the entire Poor Law Union were indexed and collated centrally, and master indexes for the entire country were produced at the General Register Office in Dublin. These are the indexes which are now generally used for public research. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

GWINN / GWIN

America - From the Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, Vol. II, starting at page 1105, we found the following information concerning the following GWIN / GWINN:

GWIN, William M., a Democratic politician, born in Sumner county, Tennessee, in 1805. He was elected to the Senate of the United States for California in 1850, and was re-elected in 1857. He acted with the pro-slavery party.

GWINN, William, an American naval officer, born at Columbus, Indiana, in 1831. He became a lieutenant in 1856, and commanded a gunboat tat the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, February and April, 1862. He was killed in the attack on Haines' Bluff, near Vicksburg, in January, 1863.

GWINNE, (GWIN) Matthew, an English physician, born in London about 1554, was appointed in 1582 regent of Saint John's College, Oxford, and in 1596 first professor of medicine in Gresham College. he was also a Fellow of the College of Physicians. Died in 1627. See WARD's "Lives of the Gresham Professors."

GWIN-NETT', Button, born in England about 1732, emigrated to Georgia about 1772. In 1776 he was elected to Congress, in which he signed the Declaration of Independence. He became president of the provincial council of Georgia in 1777, and was killed in a duel by General McIntosh in May of that year. See GOODRICH's "Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence."

GWYNN or GWYNNE, gin, Eleanor, an English actress and celebrated beauty, was born in London about 1650. After she had achieved success as an actress, she became a mistress of Charles II. Died about 1690. See P. Cunningham, "The Story of Nell Gwynn," 1852; E. H. D. Adams, "Famous Beauties and Historic Women," Vol. i., London, 1865. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

GWIN / GWINNE / GWYN / GWYNNE

Ireland - We did a search for GWIN / GWINNE / GWYNN / GWYN / GWYNNE in the book, Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 23, pages 399 thru 403. We find the following on Google Books. Go to Google Books; search for Dictionary of National Biography along with your surnames and see if you can find a possible ancestor's history.

GWIN, Robert (fl. 1591), pg. 399. I do not know if any of these GWIN's are related to my GWIN's. I am still searching for a connection.

GWIN, Robert (fl. 1591), a catholic divine, a native of the diocese of Bangor in Wales, received his education at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he was admitted to the degree of B.A. on 9 July 1568 (Oxf. Univ. Reg., Oxf. Hist. Soc., i. 271). In 1573 he went to the English College at Douay and studied divinity. He was ordained priest in 1575, and sent back to this country on the mission on 16 Jan. 1575-6, having just before that date taken the degree of B.D. in the university of Douay. He lived chiefly in Wales, and was much esteemed for his talent in preaching.

By an instrument dated 24 May 1578 Pope Gregory XIII granted him a license to bless portable altars, because at that time there were in England only two catholic bishops, both of whom were in prison, namely, an Irish archbishop and Dr. Watson, bishop of Lincoln.

Gwin, who appears to have been alive in 1591, wrote several pious works in the Welsh language, according to Antonio Possevino, who, however, omits to give their titles, and he also translated from English into Welsh A Christian Directory or Exercise Guiding Men to Eternal Salvation, commonly called The Resolution, written by Robert Parsons, the jesuit, "which translation," says Wood, "was much used and valued, and so consequently did a great deal of good among the Welsh people."

GWINNE, Matthew, M.D. (1558?-1627)

GWINNE, Matthew, M.D. (1558?-1627), pg. 399, physician, of Welsh descent, son of Edward Gwinne, grocer, was born in London. On 28 April 1570, he was entered at Merchant Taylors' School (Robinson, Reg. Merchant Taylors' School, p. 14). He was elected to a scholarship at St. John's College, Oxford, in 1574, and afterwards became a fellow of that foundation. He proceeded B.A. 14 May 1578, and M.A. 4 May 1582 (Reg. Univ. Oxf., Oxf. Hist. Soc., II. iii. 75).

Queen Elizabeth visited Oxford in September 1592, and he took part as replier in moral philosophy in an academic disputation held for her amusement, and at the same time was appointed to oversee and provide for the playes in Christ Church (ib. II. ii. 229, 230). He took the degree of M.B. 17 July 1593, and was the same day created M.D., on the recommendation of Lord Buckhurst, chancellor of the university, and in consideration of the fact that he had been engaged in the study of medicine, which then required no more than the reading of medical books for ten years.One of his questions on this occasion was whether the frequent use of tobacco was beneficial (ib. II. i. 127, 150, 190).

In 1595 he went to France in attendance on Sir Henry Unton, the ambassador. When Gresham College was founded in London, Gwinne was nominated by the university of Oxford on 14 Feb. 1597 the first professor of physic (ib. II. i. 233), and began to lecture in Michaelmas term 1598.

He was admitted a licentiate of the College of Physicians of London 30 Sept. 1600, and a fellow 22 Dec. 1605. He was six times censor, and twice held the office of registrar. In 1605 he was given the appointment of physician to the Tower. When in 1605 James I and Queen Anne visited Oxford, Gwinne disputed on physic with Sir William Paddy for the royal entertainment. The physicians selected for discussion, as likely to be interesting to a royal mother and a royal father, the questions whether the morals of nurses are imbibed by infants with their milk, and whether smoking tobacco is wholesome.

Gwinne resigned his Gresham professorship in 1607, and attained large professional practice. In 1611 was published his only medical work, entitled In assertorem Chymicae seed verse medicine desertorem Fr. Antonium Matthaei Gwynn Philiatri &c. succinct adversary, and dedicated to James I. [See Anthony, Francis].

Gwinne proves that Anthony's aurum potable, as it was called, contained no gold, and that if it had, the virtues of gold as a medicine in no way corresponded to its value as a metal, and were few, if any.

In 1620 Gwinne was appointed commissioner for inspecting tobacco. He was friendly with the chief literary men of the day, and was especially intimate with John Florio [q.v.], to whose works he contributed several commendatory sonnets under the pseudonym of Il Candido. Gwinne lived in the parish of St. Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street, London, and there died in October 1627.

GWINNET, Richard (d. 1717)

GWINNET, Richard (d. 1717), pg. 400, dramatist, son of George Gwinnet of Shurdington, Gloucestershire, was a pupil of Francis Gastrell [q.v.] at Christ Church, Oxford. He remained there some seven years. When he proceeded to London, and took rooms in the Temple, although he was in no way connected with the legal profession. While in London he became engaged to Elizabeth Thomas [q.v.], well known as Dryden's 'Corinna,' but owing to his consumptive tendencies the marriage was postponed, and he withdrew to his father's residence Gloucstershire. During the next sixteen years (1700-16) much correspondence passed between them, Mrs. Thomas writing as "Cornna," Gwinnet as "Pylades."

Their letters were subsequently published in two volumes entitled Pylades and Corrinna or memoirs of the lives, amours, and writings of R. G. (Richard Gwinnet) and Mrs. E. Thomas, Jr. . . . containing the letters and other miscellaneous pieces in prose and verse, which passed between them during a Courtship of above sixteen years . . . Published from their original manuscripts (by Philalethes) . . . To which is prefixed the life of Corinna, written by herself.

In 1716, on the death of his father, Richard Gwinnet returned to London to press his suit, but the wedding was again deferred owing to the illness of the lady's mother. Early in the following Spring Gwinnet suffered a relapse, and died on 16 April 1717.

GWYN,David (fl. 1588)

GWYN, David (fl. 1588), pg. 401, poet, suffered a long and cruel imprisonment in Spain (Cal. State papers, Dom. 1581-90, p. 220). Upon regaining his livery, he published a poetical narrative of his sufferings, entitled Certaine English Verses penned by David Gwyn, who for the space of eleven years and ten Months was in most grievous Servitude in the Gallies, under the King of Spaine, 16mo, London, 1588.

In this tract, consisting of eleven pages, are three poems presented by the author to Queen Elizabeth in St. James's Park on Sunday, 18 Aug. 1588 (Arber, Stationers' Registers, ii. 232). Only one copy is at present known; it fetched 20l. 15s. at the sale of Thomas Jolley's library in 1843-4. [Lowndes's Bibl. Manual (Bohn), ii. 962.]

GWYN, Eleanor "Nell"

GWYN, Eleanor (1650-1687), pg 401, actress and mistress to Charles II, was born, according to a horoscope preserved among the Ashmole papers in the museum at Oxford, and reproduced in Cunningham's Story of Nell Gwyn, on 2 Feb. 1650. Historians of Hereford accept the tradition that she was born in a house in Pipe Well Lane, Hereford, since called Gwyn Street. This account is said to be confirmed by a slab in the cathedral, of which James Beauclerk, her descendant, was bishop from 1746 to 1787.

A second account, resting principally on the not very trustworthy information supplied by Oldys in Betterton's History of the Stage(Curll, 1741) and in manuscript notes still existing, assigns her birth to Coal Yard, Drury Lane.

In the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth series of "notes and Queries' will be found full discussions of the question whether her father, who is aid to have been called James, was a dilapidated soldier or a fruiterer in Drury Lane, and of other points. Her mother Helena (?Eleanor), according to the 'Domestic Intelligencer' of 5 Aug. 1679 and the 'English Intelligencer' of 2 Aug. 1679, 'sitting near the waterside at her house by the Neat Houses at Chelsea (Millbank), fell into the water accidentally and was drowned.' Mrs. Gwyn was buried in the church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, in a tomb subsequently shared by her daughter.

Nell's first public occupation was that of a vendor in the Theatre Royal of oranges, or, according to a satire of Rochester, of herrings. Charles Hart and John Lacy the players and a certain Robert Duncan, Dungan, or Dongan, have been reckoned among her lovers. To Hart she owed her theatrical training; Dungan is said to have promoted her format he place in the pit assigned during the Restoration to the orange-women to the stage of the Theatre Royal. [See images for more information on Eleanor "Nell" GWYN>]

GWYN, Francis (1648?-1734)

GWYN, Francis (1648?-1734), pg 403 politician, son and heir of Edward Gwyn of Llansannor, Glamorganshire, who married Eleanor, youngest daughter of Sir Francis Popham of Littlecott, Wiltshire, was born at Combe Florey in Somersetshire about 1648. Francis Gwyn was trained for the profession of the law, but being possessed of ample means soon showed a preference for politics. On a by-election in February 1673 he was returned for Chippenham. After the dissolution in January 1679 he remained outside the house discharging his official duties, but in 1685 was elected for Cardiff.

In the Convention parliament of 1689-90 and in its successor from 1690 to 1695 he sat for Christchurch in Hampshire, and on the latter, if not on the first occasion, he was recommended by Henry, Earl of Clarendon. He represented Callington, Cornwall, from 1695 to 1698, and was elected for Totnes in 1699 and 1701.

From 1701 till 1710 he represented Christchurch, and Totnes again from 1710 to 1715. Gwyn was a Tory, and lost his seat on the accession of George I until March 1717 he was re-elected for Christchurch. At the general election in 1722 he was returned for both Christchurch and Wells, when he chose Wells, and at the dissolution in 1727 he retired from parliamentary life. In return for the sum of 2,500l. Sir Robert Southwell vacated for Gwyn the post of clerk of the council, and he was sworn in on 5 Dec. 1679, holding the office until January 1685. Until the death of Charles II he was a groom of the bedchamber, and he was twice under-secretary of state, from February 1681 to January 1683, under his cousin, Edward, earl of Conway, and from the Christmas 1688 to Michaelmas 1689. The minutes of the business which he transacted during these periods of office were sold with the effects of Ford Abbey in 1846.

When Lord Rochester was lord high treasurer under James II, Gwyn was joint secretary to the Treasury with Henry Guy [q.v.], and when Rochester was made lord-lieutenant, of Ireland in 1701 Gwyn was his chief secretary, and a privy councillor. He accompanied James on his expedition to the west in November 1688 and his diary of the journey was printed by Mr. C. T. Gatty in the Fortnightly Review, xlvi, 358-64 (1886).

When the House of Lords met at the Guildhall, London, in December 1688, he acted as their secretary, and kept a journal of the proceedings, which has not yet been printed. At one time he served as a commissioner of public accounts. From June 1711 to August 1713 he was a commissioner of the board of trade, and he was then secretary at war until 24 Sept. 1714, when he received a letter of dismissal from Lord Townshend. He was recorder of Totnes and steward of Brecknock. He died at Ford Abbey on 2 June 1734, aged 86, being buried in its chapel.

In 1690 Gwyn married his cousin Margaret, third daughter of Edmund Prideaux, by his wife Amy Fraunceis, coheiress of John Fraunceis of Combe Florey, and granddaughter of Edmund Prideaux, attorney-general of Cornwall. They had four sons and three daughters, besides others who died young, and their issue is dully set out in the pedigree in Hutchins's History of Dorset.

By this union Gwyn eventually became owner of the property of that branch of the Prideaux family, including Ford Abbey. This property passed format he family on the death of J. F. Gwyn in 1840, and there was an eight days' sale of the abbey's contents. The sale of the plate, some of which had belonged to Francis Gwyn, occupied almost the whole of the first day.

The family portraits, collected by him and his father-in-law, were also sold. In the grand saloon was hung the splendid tapestry said to have been wrought at Arras, and given to Gwyn by Queen Anne, depicting the cartoons of Raphael, for which Catharine of Russia, through Count Orloff, offered 30,000l., and this was sold to the new proprietor for 2,200l.

One room at Ford Abbey is called 'Queen Anne's,' for whom it was fitted up when its owner was secretary at war; and the walls were adorned with tapestry representing a Welsh wedding; the furniture and tapestry were also purchased for preservation with the house. Several letters by Gwyn dated 1686 and 1687, one of which was written when he was setting out with Lord Rochester and James Kendall on a visit to Spa, are printed in the 'Ellis Correspondence' (ed. by Lord Dover), i. 170-171, 202-3, 253-4, 314-15. In 'Notes and Queries,' 2nd seer. xii. 44 (1861), is inserted a letter from him to Harley, introducing Narcissus Luttrell the diarist, and many other communications to and from him are referred to in the Historical MSS. Commission's reports. The constancy of his friendship with Rochester was so notorious that in the 'Wentworth Papers,' p. 163, occurs the sentence 'Frank Gwin, Lord Rochester's gwine as they call him.'

[Luttrell's Relation of State Affairs, i. 27, 325, iv. 74, 370, 718, v. 73, vi. 674; Diary of Henry, Earl Clarendon, ed. Singer, ii. 305; Pulman's Book of Axe, pp. 422, 428; M. A[llen]'s Ford Abbey, pp. 66-98; Hutchins's Dorset, ed. 1873, iv. 527-9; Gent. Mag. 1846, pt. ii. 625-6; Oldfield's Parl. History,iv. 427-8, v. 160; Hist. MSS. Comm. 6th Rep. App. pp. 736-8, 7th Rep. App. passim.]

>GWYNN / GWYN / GWYNNE, John (d. 1786)

GWYNN / GWYN / GWYNNE, John (d. 1786), [Dictionary of National biography, Vol. 23, pg 405], architect, was born 'of a respectable family' in Shrewsbury, probably in the parish of St. Chad's, but the year of his birth is not known. He is said to have left his native town in early childhood. He does not seem to have been educated as an architect. In 1760 he was described as 'till of late of another profession' (Observations on Bridge Building, p. 22). He became known in London as early as 1734, as a writer on art and a draughtsman.

Gwynn died on or about 27 Feb. 1786 at Worcester, and was buried in the graveyard of ST. Oswald's Hospital. In his willdated 25 Feb. 1786, made when he was very ill, he mentioned a brother Richard Gwynn of Liverpool, and made provision for the maintenance and education of a natural son Cahrles. Failing him the money was to go to the Royal Society and the Royal Academy. Charles Gwynn died in 1795. Gwynn's works show him to have possessed considerable culture and a keen sense of beauty.

Owen (in Chambers, Biog. Illustr. of Wrocester, p. 504) described him from personal recollection as 'lively, quick, and sarcastic, of quaint appearance and odd manners,' and Boswell called him 'a fine, lively, rattling fellow' (see account of his journey to Oxford with Johnson; Boswell, Life, p. 481). An excellent portrait of him was painted by Zoffany.

GWYNNE, John (fl. 1660)

GWYNNE, John (fl. 1660), captain, a Welshman, was the grandson of Edward Gwynne, barrister-at-law. He was a retainer in the household of Charles I, and was employed in training the royal family in military exercises. he rose to be a captain in the king's regiment of guards. During the civil war he seems to have distinguished himself by his personal courage and activity. After the king's execution he followed the fortunes of Charles II.

GWYNNE was with Montrose in his last unhappy attempt in 1650, and joined the forces of General John Middleton in 1654. When that enterprise also failed he served James, duke of York, and wa with him at the fight before Dunkirk in 1658, and in Flanders. Upon the Restoration Gwynne seems to have been passed over and left to embarrassment, if not to want.

GWYNNE accordingly drew up a statement of the battles, skirmishes, and adventures in which he had exhibited his loyalty. The manuscripts is a very neat one, and is preceded by several letters to persons of consequence whose interest the author was desirous of securing. Whether he proved successful or otherwise in his application is unknown. The manuscript was presented to Sir Walter Scott by the Rev. John Grahame of Lifford, near Strabane, Ireland, into whose hands it fell by accident. Scott published it as 'Military Memoirs of the Great Civil War. Being the Military Memoirs of John Gwynne.' &c., 4to, Edinburgh, 1822. [Scott's Preface to Military Memoirs; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1660-1, p. 443.]

GWYNNTETH, John, (fl. 1557)

GWYNNTETH, John, (fl. 1557), pg. 407, catholic divine and musician, was son of David, ap Llewelyn ap Ithel of Llyn, brother to Robert ap llewelyn ap Ithel of Castelmarch, Carnarvonshire, ancestor of Sir William Jones, knight. He was educated at Oxford, and being a poor man he was says Wood, 'exhibited to by an ecclesiastical Mecasenas,' in the hope that he would write against the heretics. In due course he was ordained priest, and on 9 Dec. 1531 he supplicated the university for leave to practise in music and for the dredge of doctor of music, as he had composed all the responses for a whole year 'in cantos chrispis aut fractis, ut aiunt,' and many masses, including three masses of five parts and five masses of four parts, besides hymns, antiphons, and divers songs for the use of the church (Oxf. Univ. Reg., Oxf. Hist. Soc., i. 167). This request was granted conditionally on his paying to the university twenty pence on the day of his admission, and he was forthwith licensed to proceed. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Origins of the GWINN Family

America - Ron Gwinn sent the link to a couple of his genealogy websites, which I shall give the link below. Ron also says, "Hello, Linda! I believe that you are a descendent of the Gwin(n) family of Augusta County, Virginia. I thought you might find the latest Y-DNA research on the Gwinns to be of interest. Although not mentioned in the websites, two other Gwinn lines have the same results; one is a descendent of Lt. Joseph Gwin, the other is descended from James Gwinn, both sons of Robert Gwin, Sr. of the Calfpasture River."

Ron mentioned some errors of family legend on his site The Origins of the Gwinn Family that the family tradition has two brothers, Samuel and David Gwinn leaving Ireland together, were shipwrecked and Samuel drowned. David was picked up by a sailing vessel and brought to America. He married an English woman, settled in Augusta County, Virginia and reared a large family. Two of David's sons, james and Samuel came to the Vicinity of Lowell, West Virginia from the Calf pasture River, Virginia, about the year 1780.

He goes on to mention on his website that the first GWINN settler on the Calf Pasture River was Robert Gwin, Sr. who was the father of David, Joseph, Robert, James and Samuel.

The family tradition does clearly point to Ireland as the place of origin and Augusta County as the destination of the GWINN family. The story of a shipwreck, or very bad storm, is an enduring legend in the GWINN family and may have a basis in historical fact.

On that same page under the heading "The PUblished Sources," the History of the Graham Family, by David Graham, published in 1899, states "Samuel and James Guinn, two brothers, settled and made their home near that of Graham. Before the Lowell settlement the Grahams and Guinns were neighbors on the Calf Pasture River and had even both sailed over the blue waters from Ireland."

Another source, History of Rockbridge County by Oren F. Morton, says that "John Graham and his family experienced a great storm during their voyage from Ulster." Again echoing the GWINN family legend.

Ron's website states that, "Robert Gwin, Sr. makes his first known historical appearance in a land transaction in Augusta County, Virginia. At a court held for Orange County on Thursday, July 20, 1745, an indenture was acknowledged and ordered to be recorded between James Patton and John Lewis of Beverly Manor, Augusta County and Robert Gwin of the Calf Pasture, Augusta County. The indenture was for the sale of 544 acres on the Great Calf Pasture River to Robert Gwin for five shillings. The indenture was signed by Patton and Lewis and sealed and delivered before witnesses David Kinkead, Robert Bratton and Loftis Pulliam on July 16, 1745."

Ron's other website, The GWINN Family, mentions among other things that, "The Gwinn family was until recently believed to be of Welsh descent. However, Y-DNA testing of three documented descendents of Robert Gwin, Sr. matched the Northwest Irish Modal Haplotype (R-M222). This rare haplotype appears in only 10 percent of men in Ireland. A study conducted by Trinity College Dublin noticed a close relationship of this haplotype with surnames associated in the traditional Irish genealogies with the Ui Neills--Irish and Scottish dynasties claiming descent from the Irish warlord and High King, Niall Noigiallach or 'Niall of the Nine Hostages.'" View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe