THE GLYNNE BARONETS
The Glynne baronetcy was created in 1661 for William Glynne (1638-1690), the former M.P. for Caernarvon. He was the son of Sir John Glynne (1602-1666), Lord Chief Justice during the Commonwealth. Sir William was succeeded by his son, the 2nd baronet who sat as Member of Parliament for Oxford University and for Woodstock. He was succeeded by his brother. Sir Stephen Glynne, 3rd Bt. (1665-1729) who was in turn followed in the title by three of his sons, the last on whom, Sir John Glynne (1713-1777) 6th Bt., made an advantageous marriage to Honora Conway, which doubled the family estates. John and Honora’s son Sir Stephen Glynne, 7th Bt. (1744-1780) was educated at Queen's College, Oxford. He took holy orders and became rector of Hawarden. He married Mary Bennett in 1779 but died out hunting the following year. His widow gave birth to their son Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 8th Baronet (1780-1815) the following month. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. Sir Stephen was an amateur architect and an agriculturalist. On coming of age in 1801 he commissioned a magnificent silver dinner service in the latest style, which included the present lot. In 1806, Sir Stephen married Mary Griffin, daughter of Lord Braybrooke, however he died young at Nice in 1815.

Sir Stephen and Mary’s son, also christened Stephen had been born in 1807. He became a highly respected antiquarian, having been educated at Eton College and Christ Church College, Oxford. His character was described as consistently reserved and quiet whilst portraying an earnest interest for music and church architectural history. This is testament to the 106 volumes of manuscript notes he made on the architectural details and fittings of churches in mostly England and Wales with a small number in Scotland and Ireland. These descriptions later became increasingly useful and valuable for they were the only recordings of the architecture before the Victorian restorations that later occurred. As a committed member of the Ecclesiological Society, Glynne edited the 1847 Hand-Book of English Ecclesiology, serving as one of the honorary secretaries. This led to him founding the Cambrian Archaeological Association.

Initially, Sir Stephen represented the Liberal Party as MP for Flint Boroughs within the House of Commons until in his later years from 1837 when he correspondingly served Flintshire for the Conservative Party. This was possibly because of his dislike of his brother-in-law’s Liberal policies, which in turn showed his general disinterest in politics. He was close to his sister and her husband William Ewart Gladstone and they often resided together at Harwarden Castle. As he never married, the baronetcy became extinct in 1874 and he bequeathed the Hawarden estate and castle to his sister’s eldest son, William Henry Gladstone. The Gladstone family had helped save the estate following some disastrous failed investments made by Sir Stephen in developing iron and coal interest on his Stourbridge estate.

HAWARDEN CASTLE
The Hawarden estate was acquired by Sir John Glynne in 1653 from the Earl of Derby for £9,000. It included the ruins of the thirteenth century stone castle built on an early Norman motte and bailey fortification. For two generations the family did not pay great attention to their Welsh estate, however, the 3rd baronet, Sir John Glynne (1665-1729) made the decision to relocate from Oxfordshire and invest in the Hawarden estate. An orphaned heiress of the Broadlane estate, Honora Conway lived adjacent to that of Hawarden, and she was married Sir John’s third and youngest son Sir John Glynne, 6th Bt., in 1731, which greatly increased the size and value of the Hawarden estate. Broadlane’s evaluation in 1729 confirmed it was a sizeable house with 45 sash windows, 16 transom windows and 25 windows partly glazed.

Sir John Glynne 6th Bt. thus established his family at the then Broadlane Hall and commenced on building the nucleus of the present castle. After competing against Sir George Wynne of Leeswood in the notable Flint election of 1734, Sir John was crippled by £35,000 worth of votes, which prevented him from undertaking any major building scheme to Hawarden for the next 20 years. The seven-bay three-storey house was begun in 1750 and finished after 7 years at a cost of over £2,600. Little is known about the castle’s details whilst under construction, as the main building accounts have disappeared, although evidence of several principle craftsmen have been uncovered. These include the carver who worked on Adlington Hall in Cheshire, known by the name Philips and the marblework for the chimney piece was supplied by Mr Sefton.

After the disaster of the Flint election Sir John Glynne did not neglect his political career. He sat during five successive parliaments whilst raising funds and developing schemes to improve the estate and raise its revenue. He arranged 15 property exchanges to rationalise the Hawarden estate from 1733 to 1734, and took a passionate interest in the grounds, planting 25,000 trees. Hawarden was deemed to be worth a mere £468 at the time of the second baronet’s death in 1721, however, by 1760 under Sir John’s supervision the estate was valued at £1,390, even without the income of Lady Glynne.

Having inherited the castle at the age of twenty-one Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 8th Bt. (1780-1815) set about modernising his grandfather’s house. From 1809 works began to enlarge the house and totally remodel the exterior in a fashionable Gothic Revival style with turrets and crenellations. Although the London architect Thomas Cundy the elder (1765-1825) completely altered the exterior many of the 18th century rooms with their fine plasterwork were preserved. The 8th baronet died in 1815 aged only thirty-four therefore it was left to his son, who came of age in 1828, to finish the scheme and make further improvements. In around 1830 he had the main entrance moved from the south side of the house to the north, and had a vaulted porch added. Sir Stephen initially intended on bequeathing the estate to his brother, Henry Glynne, but both of them died within the two years of 1872 and 1874, leaving Sir Stephen’s brother-in-law William Ewart Gladstone to care for the castle, whilst it passed to his eldest son. He had already added a study, always known as ‘The Temple of Peace’, with additional bedrooms above it, to the north-west corner of the castle. The works were designed by the architect G. Shaw of Saddleworth in 1866. He also later restored the medieval castle ruins. The castle been passed on down through the Gladstone family and the 8th Baronet and his family live there today.