Thomas Wynne (July 20, 1627 – January 16, 1692) was personal

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

and one of the original settlers of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

in the Province of Pennsylvania. Born in Ysceifiog,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, where his family dated back seventeen generations to

Owain Gwynedd Owain ap Gruffudd ( 23 or 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great ( cy, Owain Fawr) and the first to be ...

, he accompanied Penn on his original journey to America on the ship ''Welcome''.

Early life and education

According to church records, Thomas Wynne was the fourth of five sons of Thomas Wynne Sr.; Thomas Wynne lost his father at the age of 11. While attracted to the study of

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

early on, heavy

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

es levied on his family originally made the acquisition of proper learning materials difficult. His trade was that of

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

. He was later able to make the acquaintance of an established surgeon by the name of Richard Moore, and soon he was able to apprentice until he was deemed worthy of licensing. He was licensed in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

by Drs. Hollins, Needham and Moore. He in turn after the death of Dr. Richard Moore apprenticed his son Mordecai Moore.

Immigration to Pennsylvania

Born into the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

faith, he in 1655 married Quaker Martha Buttall (1627–1676) and found himself profoundly converted. Henceforth a devout Quaker and author of several pamphlets on Quaker doctrine, Wynne faced persecution and even six years' imprisonment in England in the 1680s. After Martha died, he married Mrs. Elizabeth Rowden (b. 1637; d. after 1691) on July 20, 1676, and she accompanied him as he joined Penn on his trip to America, leaving on August 30 and landing on October 27, 1682.

Career

Wynne was notable for erecting the first brick house in the colony of Philadelphia, on his "Liberty Lot" at Front and Chestnut streets (known as Wynne Street until renamed by Penn in 1684). He built a home at 52nd Street and Woodbine Avenue in 1690 named "

Wynnestay Wynnestay or Wynnstay is a historic house, one of the oldest extant houses in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The two-and-a-half-story house was first built in 1689 as the residence of Dr. Thomas Wynne, Pennsylvania founder William Penn's personal ph ...

" (a reference to the famous

Wynnstay Wynnstay is a country house within an important landscaped park 1.3 km (0.75 miles) south-east of Ruabon, near Wrexham, Wales. Wynnstay, previously Watstay, is a famous estate and the family seat of the Wynns. The house was sold in 1948 and i ...

estate in Wales owned by

Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet (1553 – 1 March 1627), was a Welsh baronet, Member of Parliament and antiquary. Life He was the son of Morys Wynn ap John, whom he succeeded in 1580, inheriting Gwydir Castle in Carnarvonshire. John was educated at ...

, a collateral cousin), and several surrounding communities in the greater Philadelphia Area now bear his name. He returned to England with Penn in 1684. He served as speaker for the first two Pennsylvania Assemblies of the Province in Philadelphia in 1687 and 1688 and acted as Justice of Sussex county, now a county in Delaware, from 1687 to 1691. He was appointed a justice of the peace in January 1690 and held the position of justice of the

provincial court The provincial and territorial courts in Canada are local trial "inferior" or "lower" courts of limited jurisdiction established in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. These courts typically hear criminal, civil (or “ small claims” ...

from September 1690 until his death.

Death

His time in America lasted only nine years. His death is noted by the meeting of

Radnor Friends Meetinghouse Radnor Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house on Sproul and Conestoga Roads in Radnor Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. In 1686, there were sufficient number of Friends in Radnor township to begin meetings at the house ...

then at Duckett's Farm which in 1950 was located at the

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

train station not far from his home at

. Thomas Wynne's burial is noted in the Philadelphia Meeting records at Ducketts Farm Burial Ground.Joseph Jackson (1918) Market Street, ''Philadelphia: The Most Historic Highway in America, Its Merchants and Its Story''; page 197.

Family

Among his descendants, through Mary Wynne and Dr. Edward Jones,: John Cadwalader,

Lambert Cadwalader Lambert Cadwalader (December 1742 – September 13, 1823) was an American merchant and leader in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He fought in the Revolutionary War, then represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress and the U.S. Congres ...

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...

Sally Wister Sally may refer to: People *Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military *Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, the Allied reporting nam ...

; through his daughter Rebecca: Charles Dickinson; through his daughter Hannah Joshua Humphreys and

Charles Humphreys Charles Humphreys (September 19, 1714 – March 11, 1786) was a signatory to the Continental Association while representing Pennsylvania in the First Continental Congress. He was born in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and was a slave owner, miller, ...

; through his step daughter Margery Maude Joshua Fisher; great-grandsons, Thomas, and Warner Wynne, through his son Jonathan, son Jonathan all served in the Pennsylvania "

Flying Camp A Flying Camp was a military formation employed by the Continental Army in the second half of 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. History After the British evacuation of Boston in March 1776, General George Washington met with members of ...

" and were taken prisoner by the British at the

Battle of Fort Washington The Battle of Fort Washington was fought in New York on November 16, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. It was a British victory that gained the surrender of the remnant of the garrison of ...

and Thomas was held on the prison ships in New York Harbor. His great-grandson Thomas through his son Jonathan, son Thomas died shortly after Washington's crossing of the Delaware from him Gustavus Wynne Cook. This Thomas is remembered on the Lower Merion Revolutionary War Memorial.

References

External links

Dr. Thomas Wynne's WillDr. Thomas Wynne's Biography in "The National Cyclopedia"Wynnestay homepageTown of Caerwys, Flintshire, North Wales websiteBiography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynne, Thomas 1627 births 1692 deaths People from Caerwys Welsh Quakers Quakers from Pennsylvania Converts to Quakerism People of colonial Pennsylvania Members of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly English emigrants 17th-century Welsh medical doctors Welsh emigrants to the United States 17th-century American physicians