This family is of
English
origin, tracing its descent to
Sir
Thomas de
Macclesfield
, an
officer
of
Edward
I
who settled in
Maelor Saesneg
(now a detached portion of
Flintshire
), he and his successors marrying
Welsh
heiresses descended from
Rhys Sais
or
Tudur Trevor
and acquiring estates in the neighbourhood, from one of which the family name was taken.
His great-grandson
Sir
DAVID
HANMER
(d.
c
. 1388
) became a
justice of the king's bench
in
1383
and was
knighted
in
1387
. He m.
Agnes
(or
Angharad
)
, daughter of
Llywelyn Ddu ap Gruffydd ap Iorwerth
, and the
Welsh
tone of the family appears in the support they gave to
Owain Glyn Dŵr
(q.v.)
, who m.
Sir
David
's daughter
Margaret
. Her brothers
GRIFFITH
(who m. into the
Tudor
family of
Penmynydd
) and
PHILIP
joined in proclaiming him
prince of Wales
in
1400
, the latter being in
Paris
in quest of aid for the rebellion as late as
1415
. Their lands were in consequence forfeit to their brother
JOHN
, who also m. a local heiress; but he too later joined
Glyn Dŵr
and acted as his
envoy
in
Paris
in
1404
; the tradition that he fell in the
battle of Shrewsbury
(
1403
) is now discredited. Pardoned in
1411
, he divided his estates between his four sons, the eldest succeeding at
Hanmer
and the others at
Halton
,
Fens
, and
Bettisfield
respectively. The male line of
Halton
Hanmers
ended in the early
16th cent
, with the death abroad of
Sir
EDWARD
HANMER
,
knighted
for his services as ‘
condottiere
’ to the
Medici
, that of
Bettisfield
in
1623
, both estates falling to the senior branch. This in turn terminated in
1746
, when a family settlement concentrated the whole complex of estates in the
Fens
branch.
JOHN
HANMER
(
1575
-
1629
),
bishop of S. Asaph
(
1624
) and
chaplain
to
James
I
(
1615
), was the grandson of
Katherine
Hanmer
of
Halton
(great-grand-daughter of
Sir
David
Hanmer
, above), and of
Richard ap David ap Howel Goch
of
Pentre-pant
,
Selattyn
, near
Oswestry
— a descendant of the
12th cent
,
lords of Iâl and Ystrad Alun
— whose sons took on the surname
Hanmer
. One of these,
MEREDITH
HANMER
(
1543
-
1604
),
vicar
of
Hanmer
(
1574-84
), with subsequent
English
and
Irish
preferments, acquired some fame as an
ecclesiastical historian
and a
controversialist
who entered the lists with the
Jesuit
Edmund
Campion
(
1540
-
1581
) — his life is given in
D.N.B.
Bishop
Hanmer
was b. at
Pentre-pant
and christened at
Selattyn
(
1 Feb. 1575
), inherited the estate from his father,
Thomas
Hanmer
, in
1620
, and d. there without issue on
23 June 1629
; the text of his epitaph on a brass in
Selattyn church
(now lost) is given in
Browne
Willis
,
S. Asaph
(
1801
ed., i, 111). He was educated at
Shrewsbury
and
Oriel College
,
Oxford
, and m.
Mary
, daughter of
Arthur
Kempe
of
Hampshire
, who after his death m.
col.
William
Owen
of
Brogyntyn
(q.v.)
, the
patron
of
Huw
Morys
(q.v.)
.
Puritan
sympathies are suggested by his commission to
Robert
Lloyd
,
vicar
of
Chirk
(q.v.)
, to translate into
Welsh
The Plaine Mans Path-way to Heaven
by
Arthur
Dent
(d.
1607
), the strongly
Puritan vicar
of
Shoebury
,
Essex
(
Llwybr Hyffordd
,
1639
, ‘
Epistol
‘). He was a correspondent of
William
Camden
the
antiquary
. He maintained the connection with the parent house by acting as guardian during the minority of
THOMAS
HANMER
(d.
1619
), father of the
first baronet
(
v. infra
). Details of his career are given in
D.N.B.
Meanwhile the elder branch had provided two soldiers (
Sir
THOMAS
HANMER
, d.
1545
, and his son
Sir
THOMAS
HANMER
,
1526
-
1583
), for the
French and Scottish wars
of the
Tudors
, and both it and the
Fens
branch had begun the long succession of
Hanmer
M.P.
's for
Flintshire
and its borough, which reached a total of nine (with almost twice as many
sheriffs
) by the end of the
19th cent.
Sir
JOHN
HANMER
(d.
1624
), great-grandson of the second
Sir
Thomas
, was made a
baronet
(
1620
) and a member of the
council of Wales
(
30 June 1624
) by
James
I
. He m. into the
Trevors
of
Trefalun
(q.v.)
, tended towards the
Puritan
side in
Parliament
, and devoted part of the
Bettisfield
tithe to the
encouragement of preaching in his parish
. His younger brother
ROGER
HANMER
of
Gredington
, (d.
1675
) supported
Parliament
in the
Civil War
and Commonwealth, but his elder son
Sir
THOMAS
HANMER
was a somewhat lukewarm adherent of
Charles
I
, whom he served as
cupbearer
and who proposed him to
prince
Rupert
as
vice-president of Wales
. His houses were more than once raided by
Roundheads
, and he revenged himself on that of his neighbour
John
Puleston
(q.v.)
, whom he had previously joined in petitioning against
Sir
J.
Milward
,
chief justice of Wales
. In
1644
he obtained leave to go to
France
with his kinsman
WILLIAM
HANMER
(
1622
-
1669
) of
Fens
, but he wrote thence to warn
Parliament
of the king's intrigues with
France
and
Scotland
, a ‘signal service to the
Commonwealth
’ which procured his discharge from sequestration on
6 March 1650
, and from the decimation tax of
1655
. He returned (to live at
Halton
) after the birth abroad of his third son (the father of the future speaker) (
v. infra
), in
1651
. Both he and
William
were fined by
Parliament
(£1,500 and £1,370 respectively), and both were nominated by
Charles
II
for the still-born order of
Knights of the Royal Oak
.
Sir
Thomas
, a keen
gardener
and a correspondent of
Evelyn
, bought up the manorial rights of
Maelor Saesneg
in
1651
. His son
Sir
JOHN
(
3rd bart.
, d.
1701
) became a
Gentleman of the Privy Chamber
and
Commissioner of the Navy
to
Charles
II
, and his
Keeper of the Game
in
North Wales
. As
Lt. Col.
in
James
II
's army he joined in the plot to seize
Hull
for
William
III
, whom he also served at the
Boyne
(
1690
) and as
commissioner for taxes
for
Flintshire
. He repeatedly sat for
Flintshire
or
Flint
in
Parliament
and once for
Evesham
, ending as a member of the
Dublin parliament
. On his death in a
duel
, the estate passed to his nephew —
Sir
THOMAS
HANMER
(
1677
-
1746
),
4th bart.
,
speaker, diplomat, and littérateur
,
friend of
Harley
and
Prior
, who was educated at
Westminster
and
Christ Church
and
sat in Parliament
(variously for
Flintshire
and its borough,
Thetford
, and
Suffolk
) between
1701 and 1727
. He was a
Hanoverian Tory
, supporting the
Occasional Conformity Bill
, opposing the trade clauses of the draft
Treaty of Utrecht
, gaining the favour of
Louis
XIV
on a mission to
Paris
but resisting the blandishments of the
duke of Berwick
on behalf of the
Old Pretender
, and helping to secure the
Hanoverian
succession. He became
Speaker
in
1714
, and on the death of
Anne
was hastily summoned from service at
Hanmer
church to preside over the critical session that followed. Losing the speakership to a
Whig
in
George
I
's first parliament, he was
Tory spokesman
in debates on the repeal of the
Triennial Act
, foreign policy, and standing armies (
1716
), and spoke ‘angelically’ (according to
Prior
) when
Sunderland
was attacked on the
South Sea Bubble
in
1721
. After his speakership he lived entirely on his
Norfolk
estate, devoting himself after
1727
to the production of his great edition of
Shakespeare
. Details of his career are given in
D.N.B.
His death without children carried the succession to the great-grandchildren of
William
Hanmer
of
Fens
(
1622
-
1669
) of whom the first,
WILLIAM
(d.
1754
), pulled down
Fens Hall
and lived at
Hanmer
and
Bettisfield
, while the third (his cousin)
Sir
WALDEN
HANMER
(
1717
-
1783
), initiated the enclosure of the district by
Act of Parliament
in
1775
.
Sir
Walden
's great-great-grandson —
Sir
JOHN
HANMER
(
1809
-
1881
),
3rd bart., (of the second creation)
and
1st baron H
ANMER
of Hanmer and Flint
—
poet
and
politician
, was educated at
Eton
and
Christ Church
,
Oxford
(never graduating), and succeeded his grandfather in the baronetcy in
1828
. He sat as
Liberal M.P.
, first for
English
constituencies, then for
Flint borough
from
1841
to his elevation to the peerage in
1872
, supporting the repeal of the
Corn Laws
and of religious disabilities. He published volumes of verse in
1836
,
1839
, and
1840
, and, in
1878
,
Memorials of the Parish and Family of Hanmer
. He pulled down
Hanmer
and lived at
Bettisfield
. Details of his career are given in
D.N.B.
On his death without children the estate passed to his younger brother (through whom the line continues), but the peerage lapsed.
