Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn

Who was Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn?

Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn was a Scottish landowner in Wales, and politician. He played a major part in the development of the Welsh slate industry.

Born Edward Gordon Douglas, he was the younger son of the Hon. John Douglas and his wife Lady Frances. James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, was his paternal grandfather and George Sholto Douglas, 17th Earl of Morton, his elder brother.

He inherited the Penrhyn estate near Bangor 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 near Bethesda, Wales, 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 for Caernarvonshire between 1841 and 1866. He also held the honorary post of Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire. In 1866 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Penrhyn, of Llandegai in the County of Carnarvon.

The village of Llandygai was developed by Douglas-Pennant as a ‘model village’ for his estate workers, in which ‘no corrupting alehouse’ was permitted. The village lies immediately outside of the walls of the Penrhyn Castle demesne walls, with the entrance to the village being some 100m from the castle's Grand Lodge.