lliam Glynne, the first baronet, sat in Parliament for
Woodstock, and died in 1721. It was not till 1723 that the Glynnes moved
to Hawarden, from Bicester. An old stone records the building of a house
in Broadlane in 1727. In 1732 Sir John Glynne, nephew of Sir William,
married Honora Conway, co-heiress with her sister Catherine of the
Ravenscrofts of Bretton and Broadlane, an old family connected with
Hawarden for many generations. {11c} This lady was the great great grand-
daughter of Sir Kenelm Digby, and with her one-half of the Ravenscroft
lands came into possession of the Glynnes; the other half in Bretton
passing eventually to the Grosvenors. She died in 1769. In 1752 Sir
John built a new house at Broadlane, which has since been the residence
of the family.

Though not the founder of the _family_, Sir John Glynne may fairly be
considered the founder of the _place_, and of the estate in its modern
sense. Though he sat for five Parliaments for the Borough of Flint, he
devoted himself largely to domestic concerns and to the improvement of
his property by inclosure, drainage, and otherwise. The present beauty
of the Park is in a great measure due to his energy and foresight. Upon
the acquisition of Broadlane Hall, he at once took in hand the
re-planting of the demesne, {12} first in Broadlane and about the Old
Castle, and in 1747 on the Bilberry Hill. He also turned his attention
to the developement of the minerals on the estate, and attempted the
carriage of coals to Chester by water. He died in 1777.

His Grandson, Sir S. R. Glynne, married in 1806 the Hon. Mary Neville,
daughter of Lord Braybrooke and of Catherine, sister to George, Marquess
of Buckingham, and by her had four children: Stephen, eighth and last
Baronet, born September 22, 1807; Henry, Rector of Hawarden born
September 9th, 1810; Catherine, now Mrs. Gladstone, born January 6, 1812;
and Mary, afterwards Lady Lyttelton, born July 22, 1813. He died in 1815
at the age of 35 years, and of his children Mrs. Gladstone alone
survives. Sir Stephen, the last Baronet, died unmarried in 1874,
surviving his brother the Rector only two years; and the Lordship of the
Manor, together, by a family arrangement, with the estates, then devolved
upon the present owner.

{Catherine Gladstone. Photographed by G. Watmough Webster, Chester:
p12.jpg}

The Old Castle.

The Ruins of Hawarden Castle occupy a lofty eminence, guarded on the S.
by a ste