Owen, George

1. Dates

Born: Henllys, Pembrokeshire, Wales, c.1552

Died: Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, 26 Aug. 1613

Dateinfo: Birth Uncertain

Lifespan: 61

2. Father

Occupation: Lawyer, Gentry

William Owen was a lawyer. He was from an old Welsh family, but it was William who pushed his way up into the ranks of the gentry.

Adequately clear that he was prosperous.

3. Nationality

Birth: English

Career: English

Death: English

4. Education

Schooling: No University

Owen studied law at the Inns of Court in London. He did not attend a university.

5. Religion

Affiliation: Anglican

Owen was strongly anti-Catholic. He was also non-Puritan, and his son was a royalist during the Civil War.

6. Scientific Disciplines

Primary: Geology, Geography

Owen was first of all an antiquarian, who collected information on genealogy, heraldry, historic governmental structures, and the like of Wales. With this went an interest in the topography of Pembrokeshire and of Wales, and associated with his study of topography were very insightful observations of geological structures, in effect strata, though he did not use that word, of limestone and coal. These observations have earned him a reputation as the ancestor of British geology, though the observations were not part of a conscious theory of geology.

His manuscript "Description of Pembrokeshire" was ultimately published in 1892. He also composed a "Description of Wales" (as later ages have entitled it) and a "Description of Milford Haven."

7. Means of Support

Primary: Personal Means

Secondary: Government

His father set him up with a considerable estate when George Owen married. Later he inherited more, including the lordship of Cemais [Kemes], and he added to his estate fairly constantly.

Vice admiral of the maritime counties of Pembroke and Cardigan, 1573. Commission of the Peace in Pembrokeshire. Deputy Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire, 1587-90, 1595-1601. Sheriff of Pembrokeshire, 1587 & 1602. I am not certain that Owen received compensation for these positions, but apparently there was some income from fees, fines, etc.

8. Patronage

Type: Aristrocrat

Owen must be seen as the client of the Earl of Pembroke, under whom he held the lordship of Cemais, and whose support he needed in constant struggles for position within the squirarchy of the county. In 1595 he produced a map of Milford Haven at the Earl's request, and at some point, probably later, a genealogical catalogue of the Earls of Pembroke.

9. Technological Involvement

Types: Cartography, Agriculture, Instruments, Military Engineering

His map of Pembrokeshire is considered a landmark in Welsh cartography. He also produced a map of Milford Haven, based on his own survey, and apparently a map of Wales (which does not survive).

He was an improving landlord, much intent on improving agricultural practice. He wrote a treatise (not published) on marl as a fertilizer.

He invented a new tool for cutting marl that (according to his account) increased efficiency fourfold.

As Deputy Lieutenant, Owen was responsible for matters of defense, especially for the defenses of Milford Haven, on which he made a number of recommendations. He trained the county militia. These duties extended over some fifteen years. They are a very attenuated form of military engineering, but after some thought I have decided to list them.

10. Scientific Societies

Memberships: None

He maintained relations and correspondence with other antiquarians.

Sources

1. Dictionary of National Biography (repr., London: Oxford University Press, 1949-50), 14, 1302-4. J. Challinor, "The Early Progress of British Geology I," Annals of Science, 9 (1953), 127-9.
2. Bertie G. Charles, George Owen: A Welsh Elizabethan, (Aberystwyth, 1973). This is so far superior to anything else on Owen as not to be on the same scale.
3. Henry Owen, "Preface," in Owen's Pembrokeshire, (London, 1892).
4. This volume contains Owen's Description of Pembrokeshire as well as other manuscripts of his composition.

Compiled by:

Richard S. Westfall

Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Indiana University

Note: the creators of the Galileo Project and this catalogue cannot answer email on geneological questions.