Charles Watkin Williams-WynnPC (9 October 1775 – 2 September 1850) was a British politician of the early- to mid-19th century. He held office in both Tory and Whig administrations and was Father of the House of Commons between 1847 and 1850.
During the French Revolutionary War Montgomeryshire had failed to raise a single unit of part-time unit Yeomanry Cavalry or Volunteer Infantry for home defence and internal security duties. After the shortlived Peace of Amiens broke down in 1803, Williams-Wynn overcame the apathy and the county rapidly two formed Troops of Yeomanry cavalry by August 1803. Williams-Wynn took command as Major-Commandant By 2 November this had expanded into a large force, the Montgomeryshire Volunteer Legion. In contemporary terminology a 'Legion' was an all-arms force, and soon after its formation the Montgomeryshire unit comprised three troops of Yeomanry cavalry each 40 strong, and 20 Companies of Volunteer infantry, with Watkins-Wynn as Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant and commander of the legion's cavalry. The Volunteer Infantry were replaced by the Local Militia in 1808, but the cavalry troops carried on as the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry. These were disbanded in 1828, but in view of the disturbances in north-east Wales Williams-Wynn applied to reform the regiment in 1831. It saw service in 1838–39 during the Chartist riots. Williams-Wynn finally retired from the command in 1844 at the age of 77.[1][2]
This drove him into opposition, and when the Whigs came to power in November 1830 under Lord Grey, Williams-Wynn was appointed Secretary at War, although without a seat in the cabinet. He only remained in this post until April of the following year, and held no other position during the three remaining years of the Whig government. In 1834 the Tories returned to office under Sir Robert Peel, and Wynn was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, but again was not a member of the cabinet. The Peel government fell already in April 1835 and Wynn never held office again. However, he was said to have thrice rejected the post of Governor-General of India. Wynn remained Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire until his death, and from 1847 to 1850 he was Father of the House of Commons; at the time of his death, he was the final MP from the 18th century still in Parliament.
Wynn married Mary Cunliffe, daughter of Sir Foster Cunliffe, 3rd Baronet and Harriet Kinloch, in 1806. They had seven children, two sons and five daughters. His eldest daughter Charlotte Williams-Wynn was a well-known diarist; his son, also named Charles, followed him into Parliament. Williams-Wynn died in September 1850, aged 74.
References
^Bryn Owen, History of the Welsh Militia and Volunteer Corps 1757–1908: Montgomeryshire Regiments of Militia, Volunteers and Yeomanry Cavalry, Wrexham: Bridge Books, 2000, ISBN 1-872424-85-6, pp. 57–8, 62–8, 75–82.
^War Office, A List of the Officers of the Militia, the Gentlemen & Yeomanry Cavalry, and Volunteer Infantry of the United Kingdom, 11th Edn, London: War Office, 14 October 1805/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84574-207-2.
