[3] As a leader of the Cycle of the White Rose, a Welsh Jacobite society, he "burnt the King's picture" during the 1722 General Election and opposed a "loyal address" to George I following the Atterbury Plot.[5] While fiercely contested, the election confirmed the dominance of Robert Walpole and the Whig party; their exclusion from government resulted in the continuing expression of Jacobite sympathies among the more extreme Tories.Opposition to religious minorities, in general, was fuelled by memories of the divisions that led to the 1639–1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms; it was particularly strong in Wales due to the early 18th century Welsh Methodist revival.[2] After the Rebellion ended, the testimony of Prince Charles' former secretary Murray of Broughton led to the execution of Lord Lovat; he also implicated a number of Tories, including Williams-Wynn and Cotton but the government decided against further prosecutions.[14] The demonstration at Lichfield was one of the last significant displays of Jacobite sentiment, although his son the 4th Baronet re-established the White Rose Cycle in 1770, where it served as a club for a range of independent opinions.[12] Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn left a number of items to Jesus College, including a massive silver-gilt punch bowl weighing more than 200 ounces (5.7 kg) and holding 10 imperial gallons (45 L).
Sir Watkin William-Wynn c. 1740
Sir John Hynde Cotton (1686–1752), Williams-Wynn's Tory colleague in ousting Walpole in 1742
Robert Walpole, Whig Prime Minister 1721–1742
Lord Gower
(1694–1754); in 1742, he became the first Tory to hold senior office under the Hanoverians