The eldest son of Charles Winn of Nostell Priory, near Wakefield, he lived in the 1850s in another family property, Appleby Hall near Scunthorpe, and married Harriet Dumaresque. Aware that the area had produced iron in Roman times, he searched for ironstone on his land, and found it in 1859. He marketed it to iron-makers, leased land for mining, mined his own ore and encouraged the building of iron works.
To transport the iron and to bring the coal necessary for the smelting, Winn campaigned for a railway to be built, which required the passage of an Act of Parliament. The Trent, Ancholme and Grimsby Railway opened in 1866, and Winn also built 193 houses in New Frodingham and enlarged the local school. Later, he financed the building of Scunthorpe Church of England School and St John's Church.
He returned to live at Nostell Priory when he inherited the house from his father in 1874, but his mother and unmarried sisters continued to live at Appleby.
His son Rowland (1857–1919) was MP for Pontefract from 1885 to 1893. His daughter Maud married Lt-General Alan Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. In 1897, Baron[3] and Lady St. Oswald[4] and their daughter Maud were guests at the Duchess of Devonshire's Diamond Jubilee Costume Ball.[5] His daughter Laura married Valentine Lawless, 4th Baron Cloncurry, an Irish nobleman.[6][7]
Arms
Coat of arms of Rowland Winn, 1st Baron St Oswald
Crest
A demi-eagle displayed Or ducally gorged Ermine.
Escutcheon
Ermine on a fess Vert three eagles displayed Or.
Supporters
Two dragons reguardant Vert each gorged with a ribbon Or pendant therefrom an escutcheon Gules charged with a rose Argent.
Motto
Tout Pour Dieu Et Ma Patrie (Everything For God and My Fatherland)[8]