Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn
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Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
landowner in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and politician. He played a major part in the development of the Welsh slate industry
Slate industry in Wales
The slate industry in Wales began during the Roman period when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in...
.
Born Edward Gordon Douglas, he was the younger son of the Hon. John Douglas and his wife Lady Frances (née Lascelles). James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton
James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton
James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton KT FRS was a Scottish astronomer and representative peer who was President of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh from its foundation in 1737 until his death...
, was his paternal grandfather and George Sholto Douglas, 17th Earl of Morton, his elder brother. He inherited the Penrhyn estate near Bangor
Bangor, Gwynedd
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
in north-west Wales through his wife's father, George Hay Dawkins-Pennant, and changed his name to Douglas-Pennant by Royal license in 1841. Penrhyn was the owner of the Penrhyn Quarry
Penrhyn Quarry
The Penrhyn Slate Quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda in north Wales. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly long and deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen. It has since been superseded in size by slate quarries...
near Bethesda, Wales
Bethesda, Wales
Bethesda is a town lying on the River Ogwen and the A5 road on the edge of Snowdonia, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, colloquially called Pesda by the locals.- History :...
, which under his ownership developed into one of the two largest slate quarries in the world. He was also involved in politics and sat as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Caernarvonshire
Caernarvonshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Caernarvonshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885 and from 1918 until 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post...
between 1841 and 1866. He also held the honorary post of Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire
Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire
This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire. Since 1778, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Caernarvonshire...
. In 1866 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Penrhyn, of Llandegai in the County of Carnarvon.
Lord Penrhyn married, firstly, Juliana Isabella Mary, daughter of George Hay Dawkins Pennant, in 1833. They had two sons and three daughters. After her death in 1842 he married, secondly, Maria Louisa, daughter of Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton
Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton
Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton was the son of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton and Lady Charlotte Maria Waldegrave, daughter of James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave....
, in 1846. They had eight daughters. He died in 1886, aged 85, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, George
George Sholto Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn
George Sholto Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn , was a landowner who played a prominent part in the Welsh slate industry as the owner of the Penrhyn Quarry in North Wales....
.