Humphreys-Owen family, of Glansevern

Family

Humphreys-Owen family, of Glansevern

The Owen family were descended from Cadifor ap Dinwal, Lord of Castell Hywel. The earlier generations were known as Owen of Glyngynwydd or as Owen of Cefn yr Hafodau. The Owen family fortune was built from the start of the 18th century with shrewd investments in land, mining and by marriage.
Owen Owen (d. 1719) owned property scattered around Montgomeryshire. Following his death, the estate was inherited by his son David Owen (1700-1777). David's eldest son and heir was Owen (1723-1789). By his marriage to Anne, daughter and heiress of Charles Davies of Llifor, he acquired the estates of Rhyd y carw in Trefeglwys and Glanrhiew and Tyn y coed in the parish of Berriew. In around 1760 he moved to Tyn y coed.
David Owen's (1700-1770) third son, William Owen (c. 1735-1778), was a captain in the navy. On the 30th September 1767 he was granted an island in Passamaquoddy Bay by Lord William Campbell, the British Governor of Campo Bello. William was only on the island for a year but pursued the colonization of the island in 1770-1771, creating the foundations upon which later generations of the Owen family built upon.
Owen Owen (1723-1789)'s eldest daughter Mary (1745-1814) married Thomas Jones of Garthmyl Hall, Montgomeryshire. His second son, David (1754-1829), emigrated to New Brunswick, Canada, and controlled Campo Bello from 1787 until 1829, before the land passed to Captain William's second son, Admiral William FitzWilliam Owen. His eldest son, Arthur Davies Owen (1752-1816) acquired Lower Garthmel in 1796 and erected a mansion on the land which became known as Glansevern. Cefn Hafodau had been sold during this period. On Arthur's death without issue, the estate passed to his brother, William Owen (1758-1837), who retired there in 1821 from London where he was a distinguished barrister. William was chairman of the Montgomeryshire Quarter Sessions, a Whig, and was strongly in favour of the abolition of the Great Sessions of Wales. In 1823 he married Anne Warburton (1783-1876).
According to the 1873 return of owners of land, Anne Warburton Owen, of Glansevern owned an estimated 4,482 acres in Wales (all in Montgomeryshire) with an estimated rental of £4,368.
On Anne's death, in the absence of an heir, Glansevern estate devolved upon her husband's great-grand nephew, Arthur Charles Humphreys (1836-1905), great-grandson of Mary and Thomas Jones. On inheriting Glansevern, Arthur settled there and took on the additional surname of Owen. He was Liberal M.P. for Montgomeryshire 1894-1905, first chairman of the Mongomeryshire County Council, and played a prominent role in the politics of Wales and Montgomeryshire. He was succeeded by his son, Arthur Erskine Owen Humphreys-Owen (b. 1876), whose family remained at Glansevern until 1950. His son, Stephen P.F. Humphreys-Owen (1908-1960) died unmarried and the family became extinct in the male line.
In April 1951 the mansion and 110 acres of land were sold to Mr Robert Gordon Barker, a timber merchant.