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Squire John Fraunceis Gwyn of Forde Abbey, Dorset

Forde Abbey.

Squire John Fraunceis was born in October 1762 and his christening took place on November 1st, 1761 in Combe Florey, Somerset.¹ Squire John Fraunceis' father was John Fraunceis - Created Gwyn of Forde Abbey 1780 and his mother was Jane Towill. His paternal grandparents were William Fraunceis and Joanna Whitlock; his maternal grandparents were Edmund Towill and <Unknown>. He had a sister named Joanna-Phillippa. He was the older of the two children. He had two half-brothers and a half-sister, named James, William and Margaretta . He died at the age of 83 on February 28th, 1846.

General Notes
- Also known as John Francis Gwyn, Esq. of Ford Abbey and of Combe Florey, Somerset.
  
  John Fraunceis also took the surname of Gwyn, on the death of his father John Fraunceis Gwyn Esq. of Ford Abbey in 1789.
  
  He was described as a kind generous, well educated and cultured man, who helped many needy people and those less fortunate. He also arranged for major renovation work at Forde Abbey.
  
  The memorial plaque to the last Gwyn in the chapel at Forde Abbey says "Sacred to the memory of John Frauncies Gwyn Esq. late of Combe Florey in the county of Somerset, Llansannor in the county of Glamorgan, and for fifty-six years the proprietor of Ford Abbey. He was born on the 31st of Oct 1762, and on the 8th of October 1789 succeeded his father, who had in 1750, in compliance with the will of his kinsman Francis Gwynn of Ford Abbey and Llansanor, assumed the name of Gwynn. The subject of this simple memorial was the last male descendant of a long line of ancestors who flourished in the counties of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall for many centuries. He was twice married but left no issue. He closed a long life, the greatest part of which was spent in this magnificent abode, on the 28th of February 1846 in the 83rd year of his age."
  
  Note that records from Llansanor parish, Glamorgan, Wales from 1809 and 1833 mention John Francis Gwyn, Esq. as the current Patron of the church dedicated to St. Senewyr, and as Proprietor of the principal part of the Parish.
  See the website:
  http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/GLA/Llansannor/
  
  Apparently impoverished at the time of his death.
  In his will he left the manor of Uplowman, ancient seat of the Fraunceis family, to his great nephew John Fraunceis Griffith Esq. He also left endowments for the poor of the parishes of Combe Florey and Thorncombe, and for the national schools of the united parishes of Cowbridge and of Llanblethian in Glamorganshire, Wales.
  
  After John Fraunceis Gwyn's death in 1846, Forde Abbey was sold to Mr. Miles - a slavetrader from Bristol, who evicted Mrs. Percy and her children and sold off most of the furnishings.
  Forde then passed to the Evans family and then to the Roper family - it now belongs to Mark Roper (visited by Kath and Stan Ballard in 1990).
  Contact Mark Roper, Forde Abbey, Chard, Somerset. TA20 4LU.
  Phone: South Chard (0460) 20231
  
  NOTE - Forde Abbey was founded as a Cistercian Monastery in 1148 and was `modernized' in 1500 by Abbot Chard, whose Great Hall and Tower remain. In 1640 the Abbey was turned by Sir Edmund Prideaux, Cromwell's Attorney General, into a Country House, whose magnificent interior is untouched, and includes a series of unique plaster ceilings and an outstanding set of Raphael Tapestries which were presented to Sir Frances Gwyn, Secretary of War by Queen Anne for services rendered.
  
  Early in the 19th Century the house was rented by Jeremy Bentham the philosopher. Today the Abbey, surrounded by 25 acres of gardens and lakes, on the bank of the River Axe, is the home of the Roper family.
  
  **** See also "A history of Forde Abbey, Dorsetshire" available online at http://www.archive.org/stream/historyoffordabb00londuoft/historyoffordabb00londuoft_djvu.txt
  
  See also "Burke’s Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland" by Bernard Burke, 1847, page 519 at http://books.google.com.au/
  These two valuable books have been kindly pointed out to me by John Criddle of Queensland, Australia.