The Family of Nell Gwynn
by William Addams Reitwiesner
wargs@wargs.com
Eleanor (Nell) Gwynn, actress and "orange-girl", mistress of King
Charles II (his "Protestant whore") and mother, by him, of Charles
Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St. Albans (1670-1726), was born 2 Feb.
1649/50 and died 14 Nov. 1687 (bur. 17 Nov. 1687, Will dated 9 July,
codicil dated 18 Oct. 1687, proved 7 Dec. 1687), a daughter of
Thomas Gwynn and his wife Eleanor Smith (drowned, while drunk,
in a ditch near Westminster and buried 30 July 1679, in her 56th
year, at St.-Martin's-in-the-Fields) and granddaughter of an
Edward Gwynn (installed Canon of Christ Church 11 May 1615,
d. 24 Aug. 1624). Nell Gwynn used arms similar to the arms of
Gwyn of Llansanwyr. The Gwyns of Llansanwyr are descended from
Richard Gwyn of Llansanwyr, liv. 1545 [WG2 Godwin 6 (C)]
and his wife Ann f. Llywelyn [WG2 Ein. ap G. 16 (A)].
The connection, if any, between Nell Gwynn and the Gwyns of
Llansanwyr is unknown.
Some citations for material on Nell Gwynn and her background:
T. C. D., "The Will of Nell Gwynn", The Genealogists'
Magazine, vol. VII, pp. 8-10.
George Wilson, "Nell Gwynn", The Genealogical Magazine,
vol. IV (1901), pp. 384-389 (contains most of her descendants but
ignores the Jenison-Walworths).
Arthur Irwin Dasent, Nell Gwynne (London: Macmillan,
1924), pp. 20-34.
John Harold Wilson, Nell Gwyn (London: Muller, 1952),
pp. 3-11.
Clifford Bax, Pretty Witty Nell (London:
Chapman and Hall, 1932), pp. 4-7.
H. Noel Williams, Rival Sultanas (London: Hutchinson, 1915),
pp. 39-42.
Lewis Melville, Nell Gwyn (London: Hutchinson, 1924),
pp. 8-23, esp. p. 12.
Peter Cunningham, The Story of Nell Gwyn (New York: Blom, 1923),
pp. 18-20, 154-158.
Bryan Bevan, Nell Gwyn (New York: Roy, 1970), pp. 18-23.
William Addams Reitwiesner
wargs@wargs.com