Welsh Journals

His best known legal contest was that with the tenants at Dolwyddelan, to whom he refused twenty-one years' leases in defiance of the order of the Exchequer Court. John Griffith of Lleyn -between whom and the Wynns there was a bitter feud-questioned the title of Sir John to certain lands at Penrhyn.7 But space will not allow more than a reference to the plots and counter-plots by means of which the Griffiths and the Wynns tried to damage one another. When Griffith succeeded in getting a patent as constable of Carnarvon Castle in 1622, the Wynns set Humphrey Jones, keeper of the records at Car- narvon, to search for some ground of exception to the patent.8 At all costs Griffith was to be kept out of the mayoralty, even if it was necessary to induce the Lord Keeper to procure a new charter.8 When John Williams-a kinsman of the Wynns-was in that office, John Griffith, who according to Sir John Wynn was a prying, industrious and malicious fellow,"10 could be checkmated But after the fall of Williams, when John Griffith began to curry favour with Buckingham, the Wynns had to be on their guard.11 Altogether one gets the impression that the two families spent large sums of money in endeavouring to ensure local support and in the prosecution of law-suits. Sir John was certainly always on the alert to find new sources of income. He was particularly interested in the possibility of working minerals. Copperas and alum, he tells Sir Thomas Middelton, may be worked within two miles of Gwydir.12 He drew atten- tion to the copper mines at Parys mountain.13 Lead could be found in his own ground in great store." Apparently he worked this with considerable success. He is negotiating for the carriage of twenty tons of lead by sea from Beaumaris to London in 1622.14 His son Maurice (of whom more later), writing from Hamburg, advises him not to sell to the Dutch and is confident he can find a market for the lead.15 Apparently there was a store of lead kept at Beaumaris in the hope that ships calling there would take some of it away.16 But in this exploitation of lead John Griffith tried to counter the efforts of Sir John. He informed the Gov- ernment that the lead was worth £ 500 a year and that it contained two parts of silver.17 Probably Griffith, who according to the Wynns had spent so much time in the law-courts that he knew afl the stratagems, was aware of the fact that Queen Elizabeth had been able to deprive the Earl of Northumberland of copper mines in Cum- berland by showing that the ore contained a proportion of the precious metals. Whether Griffith's allegations led to the assertion of Crown rights is not stated. Later we find an appeal to Sir John by Lewis Bayly, the Bishop (7) 1034; (8) 1041; (9) 1044; (10) 1000; (11) 1406; (12) 460; (13) 462 and 470; (14) 1021; (15) 1060; (16) 1255; (17) 996 and 998. of Bangor. He asks him to remember that God had conferred on him the discovery of lead mines unknown to his ancestors, and therefore he ought to offer part of the newly found wealth as first-fruits towards the repair of the Cathedral, which this rainy weather for want of a better mantle weepth that it makes my heart bleed to see her. 1118 Since this was written in October and the Bishop is again exhorting Sir John to contribute towards the repair of the Cathedral in December,19 it would appear that the argument about first-fruits had not carried much weight. The reader will learn much about the manners of the time if he traces the history of a member of the Wynn family in the letters. There are many outline biographies for those who care to weave the separate strands. Take Sir John's eldest son and heir-the younger John. He was sent to school at Bedford, where diet, board and lodging cost £ 13 2s. 3d. a year.20 In 1601 he is at Lincoln's Inn, applying himself so well to his studies that his father promises to increase his allowance.21 Three years later the question of finding him a wife begins to claim serious attention. The young man reports that there is a choice between Lady Grey's daughter with a portion of £ 2,500 and Lady Cave's daughter with £ 3,000. 22 The Solicitor-General, Sir Thomas Fleming, also proposes that John should marry his eldest daughter. This suggestion leads Sir John to write to his son's servant, William Lloyd, asking him to ascertain particulars about the Flemings and whether the young lady has been bred cockney like or after the country manner.1123 Lloyd says she is a good, comely and tall gentlewoman." He adds that it is certain there is mutual love between them."24 But he concludes that in his private opinion the best match is where there is the best portion." This sentiment was shared at Gwydir. Sir John requested the Solicitor-General to see that the young people did not meet one another until the matter of the dowry was settled.25 By the end of the year he is making close enquiries about Lady Grey's daughter.26 Then another possi- bility arose. Baptist Hicks, who had a shop in Cheapside and was reputed to be worth twenty thousand pounds, was anxious to find a husband for one of his two daughters.27 Meanwhile, one is glad to find that Bridget Grey has a mind of her own. To a declaration from the young man she replies that though she has no cause to distrust the sincerity of his affection, yet she has little reason to be too credulous."28 John him- self reports that the match was not to the lady's liking. Perhaps to cover his discomfiture he adds her mind was not for Wales and at any (18) 1440; (19) 1445; (20) 180; (21) 221; (22) 267; (23) 284; (24) 290; (25) 312; (26) 318; (27) 334; (28) 333.