Family and Education

b. by 1518, 1st s. of Thomas Mostyn of Mostyn and Gloddaeth by Sian, da. of Sir William Gruffydd of Penrhyn, Caern. m. (1) by 1543, Margaret, da. of Robert ap Hywel of Whittington, Salop, 3s. inc. Thomas^† 2da.; (2) Margaret, da. of Sir William Brereton of Brereton, Cheshire. suc. fa. 1558.4

Offices Held

Sheriff, Flints. 1560-1, 1565-6, 1570-1, Caern. 1567-8; commr. piracy, Flints. 1565, Caerwys eisteddfod 1568, militia 1570, victuals 1574, tanneries 1574; j.p.q. Flints. 1573/74-d.5

Biography

William Mostyn’s father, the eldest brother of Peter Mostyn, is said to have changed his name from Thomas ap Richard ap Hywel at the instance of Rowland Lee, president of the council in the marches, in 1539; he did not cease to be Welsh in sentiment or to patronise Welsh culture.6

Until Thomas Mostyn was overtaken by old age in the 1550s little is heard of his son and heir. In 1539 William Mostyn accompanied his father to a muster with 39 men from the town of Mostyn, and he may have chosen the profession of arms, for he was later to serve under William Herbert I, 1st Earl of Pembroke, in the suppression of Wyatt’s rebellion. The credit which this brought him, and the support of Pembroke, may help to explain his election to the two Parliaments of 1554. He is not known to have gone with the earl to France in 1557, perhaps because his father’s health was failing. In July of that year he was granted a new 30-year lease, on surrender of the old one, of the town of Mostyn at an annual rent of £7. With his father’s death he succeeded to the estate and quickly established himself in the administration of his shire. He died on 19 Sept. 1576 while a Member of Elizabeth’s fourth Parliament.7

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: P. S. Edwards

Notes

• 1. OR gives ‘Willielmus Moston miles’, presumably after the formal description ‘militem gladio cinctum’ of the defaced indenture, C219/22/133. The Crown Office list styles Mostyn correctly as ‘armiger’, C193/32/1.
• 2. OR gives ‘Willielmus Moston miles’, presumably after the formal description of the indenture, C219/23/197. The Crown Office list styles him correctly, Huntington Lib. Hastings mss Parl. pprs.
• 3. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.
• 4. Date of birth estimated from first reference. L. N. V. Lloyd-Mostyn and T. A. Glenn, Mostyns of Mostyn, 86, 90, 93, 95; Griffith, Peds. 182; Dwnn, Vis. Wales, ii. 308; Wards 7/18/113.
• 5. R. Flenley, Cal. Reg. Council, Marches of Wales, 109, 127, 141; HMC Welsh, i. 291-5; CPR, 1563-6, p. 36; APC, vii. 286.
• 6. DWB; Lloyd-Mostyn and Glenn, 66-85.
• 7. Lloyd-Mostyn and Glenn, 86, 90, 94n; J. Wynn, Gwydir Fam. ed. Llwyd, 115; CPR, 1557-8, p. 19; HMC Welsh, i. 291; Wards 7/18/113.