| Honorific Prefix: | Sir |
| Office: | Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses |
| Term: | 1646 |
| Term2: | 1639 |
| Birth Date: | 1590 |
Hugh Gwyn (1590 - 1654) was a British colonist who owned the first legally-sanctioned slave in the Colony of Virginia, John Punch. Gwyn served several terms in the Virginia House of Burgesses and was a justice.
Sir Hugh Gwyn (sometimes spelled "Wynne",[1] "Wing",[2] or "Gwinne"[3]) either immigrated to Jamestown with the 1608 second supply, or arrived on the George as a servant to Captain William Peirce.[4] [5]
Gwyn claimed to discover Gwynn's Island in .[6] According to legend, Gwynn saved Pocahontas from a sinking canoe near the island.[7]
At a January 1624 muster, Hugh Wing was listed as aged 30 years.[2] In 1635, Gwyn petitioned King Charles I for ownership of the island and in 1640 was given 1000acres.[8] Gwyn built a log cabin and named the area "Gwynnville" .[4]
He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses representing Charles River County in 1639 and York County in 1646. He also served as a judicial officer in 1641.[6] Gywn died around 1654.[9] Elizabeth Gwynn and Hugh Gwynn (likely a son) carried on the name in Virginia.[10] A relation, Hugh Gwynn, was the son of Sir Owen Wynn, 3rd Baronet and represented Gloucester in the House of Burgesses from 1652 to 1690.[11]
In 1640, indentured servants John Punch ("a negro"), Victor ("a Dutchman"), and James Gregory ("a Scotchman") fled their master Gwyn. The three were captured and returned to Gwyn.[12] The General Court of Virginia ruled that all three be whipped, but Punch would be Gwyn's slave for life as punishment for escaping.[13]