Dr Gwilym Owen
Senior Lecturer in Property Law, Equity and Trusts
Overview
- Module leader for Land Law and Equity and Trusts. I teach through the medium of both English and Welsh.
- MA in jurisprudence from Oxford University (1978). Qualified as a solicitor in 1981, and as a solicitor advocate (Higher Courts, Civil) in 1997. Practised as a solicitor for thirty years, specialising in property litigation, before becoming a law lecturer at Bangor University in 2011. I am an SRA-regulated solicitor in England and Wales, not practising.
- Awarded a PhD by publication in September 2017, which analysed certain aspects of the laws of real property in England and Wales.
- Appointed a senior lecturer in 2018.
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2019.
- English and French double degree lead in the School of History, Law and Social Sciences.
- Organised the Law School's annual Law Fair between 2013-2019.
Additional Contact Information
Telephone: 01248 383812
Email: john.g.owen@bangor.ac.uk
Teaching and Supervision
- I teach on the Land Law and Equity and Trusts undergraduate modules.
- I have supervised five PhD students to completion together with two LLM(Res) students. I am currently supervising one PhD student.
Research Interests
- My research interests are in the fields of Land Law and Legal History.
- Some of my proposals for Land Law reform are to be included in a scoping paper in the Law Commission's thirteenth programme for law reform as part of its trusts law project.
Publications
2024
- PublishedDavid Thomas Williams: first curate of Talysarn
Owen, G., 2024, In: Transactions of the Caernarvonshire Historical Society. 80
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2023
- PublishedCan Consumer Law Succeed Where Property Law Has Failed? Evaluating Responses to the Crisis of Leasehold
Carr, H., Hunter, C., Makin, C. & Owen, G., 15 Jun 2023, Modern Studies in Property Law. Mrockova, N., Nair, A. & Rostill, L. (eds.). 1st ed. Hart Publishing, Vol. 12.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
2022
- Published"Estoppel in Agency" and " Estoppel outside Agency" : Getting it Wrong and Putting it Right'
Owen, G., Parker, M. & Perry, T., Jul 2022, In: Journal of Business Law. 2022, 7, p. 606-623
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedDillwyn v. Llewelyn─A Fresh Perspective on a Misconceived Approach: An Article in Honour of the Late Professor Mark Thompson
Owen, G. & Parker, M., Mar 2022, In: Conveyancer and Property Lawyer. 2022, 1, p. 70-86
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedPolish Ordynacje and the English Common Law Entail and Strict Settlement: Social, Political and Religious Comparative Contexts
Korporowicz, L. & Owen, G., 2022, In: Comparative Legal History . 10, 2, p. 172-203 38 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedThe case for separate agricultural legislation for Wales
Owen, G. & Llewelyn Jones, N., Feb 2022, Land Reform in the British and Irish Isles Since 1800 . Evans, S., McCarthy, T. & Tindley, A. (eds.). Edinburgh University Press
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
2021
- PublishedA different approach to leasehold reform
Carr, H. & Owen, G., 5 Sept 2021, In: Solicitors Journal.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedResearch into the Sale and Use of Leaseholds in Wales
Carr, H., Hunter, C., Owen, G., Makin, C. & Wallace, A., 16 Mar 2021, Cardiff: Welsh Government. (Government Social Research; no. GSR report 16/2021)
Research output: Book/Report › Other report
2019
- PublishedAt Variance: The Penrhyn Entail
Owen, G. & Foden, P., 2019, Bangor: Welsh Legal History Society.
Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review - PublishedMarriage, Dispensation and Divorce during the years of Henry VIII’s “Great Matter”: A local case study
Owen, G. & Probert, R., 30 Apr 2019, In: Law and Humanities. 13, 1, p. 76-94
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedOptimising your holiday: a proposal for the optimal system for timesharing from a comparative perspective
Al-Ali, D., Owen, G. & Parker, M., 26 Jul 2019, In: Oxford University Comparative Law Forum. 2019, 3.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedThe Act of Union 1536-43: Not quite the end of the road for Welsh Law
Owen, G. & Cahill, D., May 2019, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium. Harvard University Press, 31 p. (Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review - PublishedTowards a toolkit for estate records
Owen, G., Mathias, J. & Evans, S., 2019, Archives and Records: The Journal of the Archives and Records Association, 40, 1, p. 86-109.
Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
2017
- PublishedA Blend of English and Welsh law in late Medieval and Tudor Wales: Innovation and Mimicry of Native Settlement Patterns in Wales
Cahill, D. & Owen, G., 30 Nov 2017, In: Irish Jurist. 58, p. 153-183
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedCase Comment. Priorities and Registered Land during the Registration Gap: Baker v Craggs [2016] EWHC 3250 (Ch)
Owen, G., May 2017, In: Conveyancer and Property Lawyer. 2017, 3, p. 230-241
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedOverreaching- Getting the Right Balance
Cahill, D. & Owen, J., 22 Feb 2017, In: Conveyancer and Property Lawyer. 81, 1, p. 26-44
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedThe Acts of Union 1536-43: Not quite the end of the road for Welsh Law
Owen, G., 7 Oct 2017.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
2015
- PublishedA New Model for Overreaching: Some Historical Inspiration
Owen, G., 2 Mar 2015, In: Conveyancer and Property Lawyer. 2015, 3, p. 226-239
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2014
- PublishedMedieval Welsh Law and the Mid-Victorian Foreshore
Pryce, H. & Owen, G., Jul 2014, In: Journal of Legal History. 35, 2, p. 172-199
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2013
- PublishedA New Paradigm for Overreaching- Some Inspiration from Down Under
Owen, J. G., 1 Jan 2013, In: Conveyancer and Property Lawyer. 77, p. 377-394
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedAnother Lawyer looks at Welsh Land Law
Owen, G., 1 Oct 2013, Canmlwyddiant, Cyfraith, a Chymreictod: A celebration of the life and work of Dafydd Jenkins 1911-2012. Cox, N. & Watkin, T. G. (eds.). XI ed. The Welsh Legal History Society, p. 183-221
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter - PublishedCustomary land title in Australia and Wales
Davies, C. & Owen, G., 1 Oct 2013, Canmlwyddiant, Cyfraith, a Chymreictod: A celebration of the life and work of Dafydd Jenkins 1911-2012. Cox, N. & Watkin, T. G. (eds.). The Welsh Legal History Society, Vol. XI. p. 76-105
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
2011
- PublishedSection 2(5) of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989: a misconceived approach?
Owen, G. & Rees, O. D., 1 Dec 2011, In: Conveyancer and Property Lawyer. 75, 6, p. 495-506
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2008
- Published"If at first you don't succeed....."
Owen, G., 4 Feb 2008, In: Property Law Journal. 203, p. 22-24
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Projects
-
Research into the Sale and Use of Leaseholds in Wales
21/06/2019 – 01/08/2022 (Finished)
Other Grants and Projects
BA/Leverhulme Small Grants Scheme 2023-24 (Participant)
Landed Estates and Legal Changes in Wales c1250-1600
Passed all quality threshold criteria, but not selected through the randomisation process
Bangor University NERC Discipline-hopping for Environmental Solutions (December 2021)
History For the Future: unlocking archives to solve challenges
£10,000
Member of the core project team
CAHB Seed Funding (October 2021), £2,700 Women, Property and Power in Wales, c. 1300-1600 (Principal Investigator)
Bangor University ESRC (IAA) (July 2019)
Opening the Vaults− a research project to make suggestions for an on-line toolkit to assist members of the public with archival research, £7,312 together with top up of £5,695 (Principal Investigator)
Bangor University ESRC (IAA) (September 2018)
A New Paradigm for Overreaching £8,687 (Principal Investigator)
Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol
Interpretation of legal documents by reference to documents relating to the Penrhyn Estate, £1,440 (April 2013)
Other Information
Member of the following professional and learned societies:
- FRHistS
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Society of Legal Scholars
- Committee member of the Welsh Legal History Society
- Copy editor for the journal Comparative Legal History
- Member of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol
- Legal Wales
- Committee member of the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates
- Member of the European Society for History of Law
- Member of the European Society for Comparative Legal History
CONFERENCE AND MEDIA CONTRIBUTIONS
The Neglected Decade: legal issues of the 1950s (online conference, 2022)
Halfway to Paradise? Leasehold reform in the 1950s
Paper presented with Professor Helen Carr
Talk given to the Eryri section of National Trust (Bangor, 2022)
At Variance: The Penrhyn Entail
Legal Wales (Llandudno, 2022)
Dillwyn v. Llewelyn — a different approach
(presentation given in Welsh)
Radio Cymru (2022)
Interview with Dei Tomos concerning the possible influences by Henry VIII on the marriage choices of a north Wales aristocrat
Modern Studies in Property Law (University of Oxford, 2022)
Can Consumer Law Succeed Where Property Law Has Failed? Evaluating Responses to the Crisis of Leasehold
Paper presented with Professor Helen Carr, Professor Caroline Hunter and Carl Makin
Cymdeithas Hanes Dyffryn Ogwen (Bethesda, 2022)
Harri'r 8ed a Chochwillan
Clwb yr Efail (Bangor, 2021)
Llanerch-hindda
Paper presented on four centuries of the social and legal history of a hill farm in Carmarthenshire
Modern Studies in Property Law (University of Northumbria, 2020)
Paper accepted for conference presentation on the experience of leaseholders in Wales
Anglesey Antiquarians (Oriel Môn Llangefni, 2019)
The Law in Anglesey under the Tudors
Star Chamber Conference (University of Durham, 2019)
Presented paper on Welsh identity with Professor Robin Grove-White
Cymdeithas Gruffydd ap Cynan (Conwy, 2019)
Presented paper on the Acts of Union 1536-43 (presentation given in Welsh)
BBC Radio Cymru (2019)
Interview with Aled Hughes about the marriages of Henry VIII and their possible influence on Edward Griffith of Penrhyn in his relationship with Agnes of Cochwillan
International Conference on Welsh Studies (NAASWCH) 2018 (Bangor)
The persistence of native Welsh law beyond the Acts of Union 1536-43
Ecclesiastical History Society Conference (University of Cambridge, 2018)
Paper presented with Professor Rebecca Probert, Bigamy Entails and the Church
Harvard Celtic Colloquium (2017)
The Acts of Union 1536-43—Were they really the end of the road for Welsh Law?
Modern Studies in Property Law Publication Workshop (University of Cambridge, 2017)
Dillwyn v Llewelyn: Was the case really all about proprietary estoppel?
Modern Studies in Property Law Conference (Queen's University Belfast, 2016)
To register or not to register?—That is the question
Institute of Welsh Maritime Historical Studies (Porthmadog, 2016)
Hen gyfreithiau â'r môr (Medieval Welsh Law and the Mid-Victorian Foreshore). Presentation made in Welsh
BBC Radio Cymru (2016)
Interview with Dei Thomas about the influence of Cyfraith Hywel in the nineteenth century case of Attorney General v. Jones concerning the ownership of the foreshore in Cemaes Bay, Anglesey
The British Legal History Conference (Reading, 2015)
Aspects of the legal history of the Penrhyn entail 1526-1580—A Family at War
Society of Legal Scholars (2014, 2015 and 2017)
A New Model for Overreaching (Nottingham, 2014)
Aspects of the legal history of the Penrhyn entail 1526-1580—A Family at War (York, 2015)
The Acts of Union 1536-43—Were they really the end of the road for Welsh Law (University College Dublin, 2017)
Irish Association of Law Teachers (Belfast, 2013)
Delivered paper on the legal history of the Griffith family of Penrhyn
Welsh Legal History Society (2012 and 2013)
Delivered paper on the Victorian case of Attorney General v. Jones to the Welsh Legal History Society in Cardiff (2012)
Organised conference at Oriel Môn, Anglesey on "Water in the Laws of Wales" (2013).
Legal Wales (2011 and 2016)
Delivered paper on the Welsh concept of cyfran on behalf of the Welsh Legal History Society in Cardiff (2011)
Chaired and organsied session on Landlord and Tenant Law: The Renting Homes (Wales) Act—where to now? Divergence between English and Welsh Law in Bangor (2016)
Spoke in breakout session concerning the emerging Welsh law library in Bangor (2016)
Personal
- Undersheriff of Gwynedd from 2017 to 2023.
- Awarded a Bangor University Teaching Fellowship in 2013.
- Finalist in the LawCareer.Net Law Lecturer of the Year Award National Finals in 2014.
- Finalist in the Bangor University student led Teacher of the Year Awards in 2018.