1st Baron Headley

THE BARONS HEADLEY WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KERRY, WITH 13,913 ACRES

The line of Wynns is descended from a cadet of Gwydir, who, in consequence of some family misunderstanding, left Wales in the 16th century, and settled in London. Sir William Segar (Garter King of Arms in the reigns of ELIZABETH I and JAMES I) acknowledged this to be the true descent, by exemplifying to George Wynne, the ancestor of Lord Headley's family, the armorial ensigns of the Wynnes of Gwydir.

GEORGE WYNN (to whom, being draper to ELIZABETH I, a patent of arms was granted in 1604) is the first member of the English branch of whom we find any particular mention. This George Wynn was born about 1560, and died in 1610.

George Wynn married Margaret Green, of London, and had issue,

EDMUND WINN (1583-c1645), of Thornton Curtis, in Lincolnshire, who wedded Mary, daughter of Rowland Berkeley, of the city of Worcester, and sister of Sir Robert Berkeley, Knight, one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench, and had issue,

GEORGE, his heir;
Rowland;
Mark;
Katherine; Margaret; Mary; Joyce; Annie.

The eldest son,

GEORGE WINN (c1607-67),

High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, 1657, proved himself to be a steady friend to the monarchy and to his country during the civil contests which cast a cloud over the last days of the unfortunate CHARLES I, for there is extent in his family a receipt of the date of the very year in which His Majesty suffered, signed by a deputed person on behalf of the exiled prince, his son, from which it appears that George Winn contributed, with his brother Rowland, the sum of 2,000 guilders (a sum, perhaps, in those days not inconsiderable, and certainly not advanced without serious personal risk) towards the support of what might have been considered a hopeless cause. 

In the December following the Restoration, the title of Baronet was conferred by CHARLES II on his faithful subject, as SIR GEORGE WINN, of Nostell, Yorkshire.

Sir George was married thrice: firstly, to Rachel, daughter of John Turner, by whom he had no issue; secondly, to Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Jeffreys, alderman of London, by whom he had,

EDMUND, his successor;
GEORGE, born in 1645, whose grandson was created 1st BARON HEADLEY;
Robert;
Mark;
Rowland.

Sir George espoused thirdly, Anne, daughter of Sir William Pelham, Knight, but by her he had no issue.

At his decease, in 1667, his eldest son, EDMUND, succeeded to the baronetcy, which, in 1805, devolved upon his great-grandson, Sir Edmund Mark Winn, of Acton, Yorkshire, the 7th Baronet, at whose decease, in 1833, it fell to his cousin, the second Baron Headley, Sir George, the 1st Baronet's second son,

GEORGE WINN, of South Ferriby, in Lincolnshire, who married Sarah, daughter of Charles Pelham (ancestor of the Earl of Yarborough), and had issue,

PELHAM WINN, who wedded Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev Gilbert Wighton, by Elizabeth Allanson and Charles Allanson, of Syon, Middlesex, by whom he had an only son,

GEORGE ALLANSON-WINN (1725-98), of whom it is the pride of his family to speak as an instance of rare success and celebrity under no common difficulties.

He succeeded in 1763 to the estates of his cousin, Mark Winn, of Little Warley, Essex, and in 1775 to those of his cousin, Charles Allanson, of Brabham Biggin, Yorkshire, who was the only son of the above-named William Allanson, and died leaving no issue.

Mr Winn was created a Baronet in 1776, owing to the eminence and talents of his exertions as a Baron of the Exchequer in Scotland, and in the same year he obtained licence and authority to assume the name and armorial bearing of ALLANSON.

In 1797, Sir George was elevated to the peerage, in the dignity of BARON HEADLEY, Baron Allanson and Winn, of Aghadoe, County Kerry.

His lordship married firstly, in 1765, Anne, fourth daughter of Sir Rowland Winn Bt, of Nostell, Yorkshire (son of Sir Rowland, the son of Sir Edmund, eldest son of Sir George, 1st Baronet), by whom he had issue, an only daughter, Georgiana Anne (1769-82).

His lady died during the childbirth of a son in 1774.

His lordship wedded secondly, in 1783, Jane, eldest daughter and heiress of Arthur Blennerhassett, of Ballyseedy, County Kerry, in which county the Blennerhassetts (a long-settled and well-known family in Cumberland), formed a distinguished house for many generations, by whom he had further issue,

CHARLES, his successor;
George Mark Arthur Way, grandfather of the 5th Baron;
Jane Elizabeth; Maria.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

CHARLES, 2nd Baron (1784-1840), who inherited the old family baronetcy in 1833, and espoused, in 1826, Miss Anne Matthews, and dsp 1840, when the family honours devolved upon his nephew,

CHARLES, 3rd Baron (1810-77), DL, who wedded, in 1841, Maria Margaret, eldest daughter of Major d'Arley, and had issue,

Rowland William (died in infancy, 1842);
CHARLES MARK, his successor;
Laura Jane; Millicent Julia; Marion Sybil.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

CHARLES MARK, 4th Baron (1845-1913), JP DL, Captain, Honourable Artillery Company, who espoused, in 1867, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev John Blennerhassett, and had issue, an only child and daughter, AVIS MILLICENT BLENNERHASSETT ALLINSON-WINN.

Following the decease of the 4th Baron without male issue, in 1913, the honours reverted to his cousin,

ROWLAND, 5th Baron (1855-1935), also known as Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Farooq.

The titles expired in 1994, following the decease of the 5th Baron's younger son Charles Rowland, 7th and last Baron.

AGHADOE HOUSE, Killarney, County Kerry, was built in 1828, reputedly at a cost of £12,000 (almost £1.3 million in today's money).

Despite this fact, the mansion is largely victorian and Italianate in style.

It is built with red sandstone ashlar and limestone facings, with an irregular two-storey main block, and a three-storey office wing.

The limestone porch has three arches and a balustrade.

The house was burnt in 1922, though later re-built, when the eaves were designed to overhang considerably more than originally.

Aghadoe House has been a youth hostel for many years.

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GLENBEIGH TOWERS, Glenbeigh, County Kerry, was built between 1867-71 for the Hon Rowland Winn.

The house, now ruinous, is Victorian-Medieval in character, with particularly solid stonework.

It comprised a vast square keep of three storeys, a gabled attic; a walled entrance court or bawn on one side, approached through a gateway defended by a corner bastion.

Glenbeigh was inhabited by Rowland Winn's son, also called Rowland, who became the 5th Lord Headley.

It was burnt in 1922, and only a corner of the ruin is now standing.

First published in September, 2019.