Constituency Dates
Pembroke Boroughs [1679 (Mar.)], [1679 (Oct.)], [1681], [1685], [1689], [1690]
Family and Education
bap. 18 July 1647, 4th but 2nd surv. s. of Sir Hugh Owen, 1st Bt.†, of Orielton, Pemb. being 2nd s. by his 2nd w. Catherine, da. of Evan Lloyd of Yale, Denb., wid. of John Lewis of Presaddfed, Anglesey; bro. of Sir Hugh Owen, 2nd Bt.*; m. (1) c.1668, Elizabeth (d. 1681), da. and h. of John Horsey of Johnston, s.p. (2) 8 Jan. 1684, Mary, da. of Morgan Powell, attorney, of Tamworth, Staffs., 1s. 1da.1 Richmond Par. Reg. (Surr. Par. Reg. Soc. i), 38; Kimber and Johnson, Baronetage, i. 406; Kensington Par. Reg. (Harl. Soc. xvi), 3; info. from Maj. Francis Jones.
Address
Main residence: Johnston, Pemb.
biography text

Owen, whose father left him lands and collieries in Pembrokeshire, had improved his fortune still further by his first marriage to an heiress. An Exclusionist in 1679, he may, like his brother, have modified his politics afterwards, especially after his second marriage in 1684 to the daughter of the Staffordshire steward of Lord Weymouth (Thomas Thynne†). Absent when required to answer King James’s questions concerning repeal of the Penal Laws and Test Act, he was in consequence removed from the commission of the peace. His view of the Revolution is unknown, and he was inactive in the Convention. However, Lord Carmarthen (Sir Thomas Osborne†) could still classify him as a Whig in March 1690. A year later he figured on Robert Harley’s* list as a supporter of the Court. However, after the pattern of his service in previous Parliaments he was an inactive Member.2 J. R. Phillips, Owens of Orielton, 41.

The date of Owen’s death has not been ascertained. He may have been ‘Sir Hugh Owen, a gentleman of £3,000 p.a. in Pembrokeshire’ reported in a newsletter of 30 June 1705 to have ‘died some days ago’, since, following his brother’s death in 1699 there was no surviving baronet or knight of that name in the county.3 Folger Shakespeare Lib. Newdigate newsletter, 30 June 1705.

Author
D.W.H.
Volume
Commons 1690-1715
Notes
  • 1. Richmond Par. Reg. (Surr. Par. Reg. Soc. i), 38; Kimber and Johnson, Baronetage, i. 406; Kensington Par. Reg. (Harl. Soc. xvi), 3; info. from Maj. Francis Jones.
  • 2. J. R. Phillips, Owens of Orielton, 41.
  • 3. Folger Shakespeare Lib. Newdigate newsletter, 30 June 1705.