Welsh County

The Vaughans of Corsygedol had represented Merioneth unopposed since 1701, and throughout this period they had the support of the Wynns of Wynnstay, the next leading interest in the county.

The two leading families in Montgomeryshire were the Wynns of Wynnstay and the Herberts of Powis Castle; and Edward Kynaston, who held the seat unopposed from 1747 till his death in 1772, was supported by both families. In 1772 he was succeeded by Watkin Williams, a cousin of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn of Wynnstay; but after the death of Lord Powis in September 1772, the alliance between the two families broke down.

About the middle of the century Glamorgan was fairly evenly divided between Whigs and Tories: Lord Talbot, Admiral Thomas Mathews, and Thomas Morgan of Ruperra were the leaders of the Whigs; the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Windsor, and Sir Charles Tynte, the leaders of the Tories. But the distinction between the two sides was fast disappearing, and the dissolution of the old political system was accelerated by changes in the ownership of the principal estates in the county.

The Mostyn family possessed the dominant interest in Flintshire, and only in 1784 was there any challenge to their hegemony.

The Wynns of Wynnstay possessed the dominant interest in Denbighshire; but during the long minority in the family following the death of Sir Watkin Wynn in 1749, the representation was decided by an arrangement between the heads of the other two leading families, Richard Myddelton of Chirk Castle and Sir Lynch Salusbury Cotton of Llewenny: Myddelton represented the borough and Cotton the county.Add. 32995, f.

About the middle of the eighteenth century the Vaughans of Golden Grove were the leading family in Carmarthenshire. On the retirement of John Vaughan in 1754, his son Richard was opposed by George Rice of Newton, whose grandfather had sat for the county in Queen Anne’s reign and whose father had been unseated on petition in 1722. Rice was supported by Griffith Philipps of Cwmgwili, who was then establishing his control over the borough.

In 1754 the leading Whigs in Cardiganshire were John Lloyd of Peterwell, Thomas Johnes of Croft Castle, and Lord Lisburne of Crosswood. Of the leading Tory families, William Powell of Nanteos had no political ambitions, and John Pugh Pryse of Gogerddan, who had probably the best interest in the county, was a minor. The Tories, guided by Sir John Philipps of Picton Castle, a trustee of the Gogerddan estate, agreed to support Lloyd for the county on condition that John Symmons was supported in the borough by the Whigs.Philipps to Wm. Powell, 19 Apr. 1753, Nanteos mss, NLW.

The dominant interest was in the Morgans of Tredegar. Three other families possessed considerable influence: Jeffreys of the Priory, Jones of Buckland, and Williams of Gwernyfed. The only challenge to the Tredegar hold came in 1754 when Thomas Morgan, the sitting Member, was opposed by Howell Gwynne, whose uncle Roderick Gwynne bought the Buckland estate about this time.Ms poll book, Tredegar ms 33/40; T. Jones, Hist. Brec. iii. 212. Henceforth the Morgans represented Breconshire unopposed until 1806.

By the middle of the eighteenth century the Wynns of Glynllivon held the dominant interest in Caernarvonshire. At the general election of 1754 Sir John Wynn persisted in his determination to oppose the sitting Member, William Bodvell, despite pressure from the Duke of Newcastle; and to avoid a contest Lord Powis agreed to return Bodvell for Montgomery. When in 1761 Thomas Kyffin of Maenan canvassed Caernarvonshire, Sir John Wynn moved to the borough and left the county to his eldest son, Thomas.

The chief interests in Anglesey were those of the Baylys of Plas Newydd, the Bulkeleys of Baron Hill, and the Meyricks of Bodorgan; but there were also a good many smaller interests, and elections usually produced complex negotiations and manœuvres. The Meyricks were traditionally looked upon as Whigs, the Bulkeleys as Tories, while the alignment of the Baylys varied—in 1754 and 1761 Nicholas Bayly counted as ‘country party’; but at all times the politics of the island turned first and foremost on family interests.