1552-1613

Welsh Geographer, Geologist, and Cartographer

George Owen of Henllys, lord of Cemais, is best known for his work Description of Pembrokeshire, written in 1603 but not published until 1892. The map he made of Pembrokeshire was considered a landmark, and Owen has been referred to as the patriarch of English geologists. Interested in the lineages of local families, he also documented family histories.

Owen was born in Henllys, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1552. His father was a lawyer who belonged to an old Welsh family, who did much himself to improve the social standing of his family. Collecting information on genealogy, heraldry, and historic structures of Wales, Owen was also interested in the topography and geography of Wales and in geological structures of the area, including strata of limestone and coal. Owen did not attend university, but did study law at the Inns of Court in London.

When George...