James Owen of Penrhos

and his descendants
Click on pictures for enlargements/ more pictures

Owen ap Robert (aka Owen of Bodsilin)

Owen of Bodsilin and Angharad had sons Robert, William, Owen and John Owen. Robert was married twice and there were children of both marriages. William Owen in about 1605 was rector of Heneglwys. Owen Owen of Bodsilin was archdeacon of Anglesey and rector of Burton Latimer, Northampton; his son, John Owen, born in 1580, was a distinguished Welsh scholar, was chaplain to King Charles I prior to his succession, was later Bishop of St. Asaph and during the Civil War was imprisoned in the Tower.

Brogyntyn Hall John Owen of Bodsilin and Fernhill (c1577 - 1611), son of Owen of Bodsilin, was Secretary to Sir Francis Walsingham and in about 1602 he married Ellin Maurice (1578-1626). Ellin and her sister, Margaret, were co-heiresses of their grandfather, Sir William Maurice of Clenneney (Clennenau), their father, William Wynn Maurice, having predeceased his father. Their grandmother was Margaret, daughter and heiress of Margaret Wynn Lacon, of Porkington (right) , and Llanddyn. John and Ellen had three sons, John, William and Maurice, and five daughters.

Sir John Owen Sir John Owen (1600-1666) (left) was born at Clennenau, near Dolbenmaen, Caernarvonshire. He was a staunch Royalist and supporter of Charles I, who knighted him for his services. On the defeat and arrest of Charles, Sir John too was captured, following the battle of Dalar Hir , which was fought very near Bodsilin. Sir John was charged with, amongst other things, treason to Parliament and was imprisoned in Windsor Castle but he survived the death penalty and various depredations to recover his position with the coming of Charles II. Sir John was a genuine swashbuckling hero and is said to have taken part in seven battles, nine sieges and thirty-two actions.

A report in the North Wales Chronicle of 20 March 1875 about Timothy Morgan Owen, one of James Owen's sons, stated that his family “is distantly connected with that of Penrhos, now extinct, which was descended from the brave Welsh knight, Sir John Owen, of Clenney, Carnarvonshire, who so steadfastly adhered to Charles I”. Presumably that information was provided by Timothy who was a very knowledgeable historian; his published works include A History of England and Wales: From the Roman to the Norman Conquest (1882).