Henry Dawkins II (24 May 1728 – 19 June 1814) was a Jamaican plantation and slave owner and Member of the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

(MP).

Background

The Dawkins family settled on Jamaica shortly after its seizure from the Spanish in 1655. William Dawkins (d. 1694) acquired plantations in Jamaica, by grant, in the period 1669 to 1682. These descended to his grandsons James Dawkins I, and the sons of Henry Dawkins I (1698–1744), James Dawkins II and Henry Dawkins II, sons of Henry Dawkins I, all three being MPs. Both James I and James II left property in England to Henry II, who also inherited Jamaican properties from relatives, for an annual income of £40,000 to £50,000. It has been estimated that the gross income of the Jamaican plantations was more than £44,000 in 1775. At his death in 1744, Henry Dawkins I owned in Jamaica Old Plantation, Parnassus, Friendship, Green River, Leicester Fields, Trout Hall, One Eye, Sandy Gully Pen, Windsor, Folly Pen, Bog Hole Pen, Withywood Pastures and Treadways, including 1,315 slaves in total.

Life

He was born 24 May 1728 in Clarendon, Jamaica. He was the third surviving son of Henry Dawkins I (1698–1744), a slave-owner, sugar planter, and his wife, Elizabeth (1698–1737), daughter of Edward Pennant of Clarendon, chief justice of Jamaica and of Elizabet Moore. His brothers were plantation and slave-owner James Dawkins II, his eldest brother and the elder brother, major slave owner William Dawkins (1726–1753). He studied at

John Roysse John Roysse (1500 or 1501–1571) was an English mercer and benefactor of Abingdon School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Personal life John Roysse was probably connected with the Roysse family of East Hagbourne but there are few records appertaining ...

's Free School in Abingdon, (now

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

) c. 1739-1744 and

St Mary Hall, Oxford St Mary Hall was a medieval academic hall of the University of Oxford. It was associated with Oriel College from 1326 to 1545, but functioned independently from 1545 until it was incorporated into Oriel College in 1902. History In 1320, ...

from 1745. Dawkins's father on his death in 1744 bequeathed 25,000 acres of land and approximately £100,000 to his three surviving sons. James, the eldest son (James Dawkins II, who died in 1757), inherited 14,300 acres, William (died in 1753, without issue) received 5,000, and Henry 5,700. By c. 1750 he owned 20,000 acres in Jamaica (St Elizabeth, Clarendon and Vere) and of estates in Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. By 1809 he owned the total of 1,464 slaves on the estates of Parnassus, Folly, Old Plantation, Friendship and Suttons. From 1752 to 1758 Henry Dawkins was a member of the assembly in Jamaica, and was then on the council to 1759. In 1760 he entered the Parliament of Great Britain as member for , holding the seat to 1768. He then was member for , and Chippenham again, leaving Parliament finally in 1784. He served for a 24-year period with only short breaks (one caused by his defeat at , near his estate at Standlynch, in 1768). He was a Steward of the Old Abingdonian Club in 1769. According to the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, there is no record of Dawkins having spoken in the House of Commons. However, from 1773 to 1805 he was a member of the Society of West India Planters and Merchants, a pressure group. His son

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

succeeded him at Chippenham. He died 19 June 1814 in London and was buried at

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...

. His wealth at death was £150,000.

Properties in England

Dawkins sold his brother's estate at

Laverstoke Laverstoke is a village in north west Hampshire, England. In the early 18th century, Laverstoke Mill was purchased by the Portals, a family of Huguenot immigrants from Languedoc who were establishing a successful paper making business. Henry de ...

in 1759. In 1766 he inherited Over Norton Park in Oxfordshire from his uncle James Dawkins. He kept this property (which remains in the Dawkins family to this day). The family also rented a London property in

Upper Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named a ...

Standlynch House

Also in 1764 he bought Standlynch Park in Wiltshire. This house, now called Trafalgar Park, was bought from

William Young William, Will, Bill or Billy Young may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Young (composer) (died 1662), English composer and viola da gambist * William Young (architect) (1843–1900), Scottish architect, designer of Glasgow City Chambers ...

for £22,000. When Dawkins died in 1814, Standlynch Park was sold for £90,000 to

William Nelson, 1st Earl Nelson William Nelson, 1st Earl Nelson, 2nd Duke of Bronte (20 April 1757 – 28 February 1835), was an Anglican clergyman and an older brother of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. Life Born in Burnham Thorpe, he was a son of the Reverend Edmu ...

, who had been voted the money needed to purchase an estate by Parliament. He changed the name to Trafalgar House and Park.

Intellectual interests

Dawkins was a patron of neoclassical architects. He had alterations done to Standlynch House (a building by the architect John James dating from the 1730s). Dawkins had work done on the wings, by

John Wood, the Younger John Wood, the Younger (25 February 1728 – 18 June 1782) was an English architect, working principally in the city of Bath, Somerset. He was the son of the architect John Wood, the Elder. His designs were highly influential during the 1 ...

, and on the portico by

Nicholas Revett Nicholas Revett (1720–1804) was a British architect. Revett is best known for his work with James "Athenian" Stuart documenting the ruins of ancient Athens. He is sometimes described as an amateur architect, but he played an important role in th ...

. Revett was an associate of Dawkins' brother James, who had antiquarian interests. Revett and both Dawkins brothers were members of the

Society of Dilettanti The Society of Dilettanti (founded 1734) is a British society of noblemen and scholars that sponsors the study of ancient Greek and Roman art, and the creation of new work in the style. History Though the exact date is unknown, the Society is b ...

. As can be seen from the original floor plans signed by J. Wood Arch, Dawkins seems to have built the north wing for himself and his wife Lady Juliana, while the south wing mainly housed the dining room, kitchen and brewery. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1778.

Family

Dawkins married in 1759, Lady Juliana Colyear (1735–1821), daughter of

Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore, KT (27 August 1700 – 5 July 1785), known as Lord Milsington to 1730, of Portmore House, Weybridge, Surrey, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1726 and 1730, when he succe ...

and Juliana Hele. They had eight sons and four daughters. The sons were: *

(1760–1843), Member of Parliament, married in 1785 Hannah Phipps, and secondly in 1814 Maria Forbes, daughter of General Gordon Forbes * George Hay (1764–1840), Member of Parliament, married in 1807 Sophia Mary Maude, daughter of

Cornwallis Maude, 1st Viscount Hawarden Cornwallis Maude, 1st Viscount Hawarden (19 September 1729 – 23 August 1803) was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. Hawarden was the second son of Sir Robert Maude, 1st Baronet and his wife, Eleanor Cornwallis, daughter of Thomas Cornwallis a ...

, and in 1814 Elizabeth, daughter of

William Henry Bouverie Hon. William Henry Bouverie (1752–1806) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 26 years from 1776 to 1802. Bouverie was the second son of William Bouverie, 1st Earl of Radnor and his second wife Rebecca Alleyne, daughter ...

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

(1765–1852), Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge, married in 1788 Augusta, daughter of Sir Henry Clinton, father of

Henry Dawkins Henry Dawkins II (24 May 1728 – 19 June 1814) was a Jamaican plantation and slave owner and Member of the Parliament of Great Britain (MP). Background The Dawkins family settled on Jamaica shortly after its seizure from the Spanish in 1655. ...

(1788–1864), also Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge *William, died an infant 1766 *Richard (1768–1818), married Jane Catherine Long, daughter of

Edward Long Edward Long (23 August 1734 – 13 March 1813) was an English-born British colonial administrator, slave owner and historian, and author of a highly controversial work, ''The History of Jamaica'' (1774). He was a polemic defender of slavery. Li ...

and Mary Ballard Beckford *Edward (1769–1816), took holy orders *Charles (1772–1799), officer in the Grenadier Guards, died after a battle in Holland *John (1774–1844), Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

and barrister The daughters were: *Augusta, died an infant 1761/62? *Elizabeth (1761/62?–1831), married in 1795 William Ronke Leeds Sergeantson or William Rookes Leedes Serjeantson or W. Serjeantson, Esq. of Camphill, Yorkshire, leaving issue *Juliana (b. 1762/63/67?), died unmarried in 1847 *Susanna (1773/75/76?–1830), married in 1804 Sir Edward Dodsworth, 2nd Baronet. Henry was the great-great-great-grandfather of the biologist Professor

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...

. In 2010 Richard Dawkins wrote an obituary for his father, describing how John Dawkins had inherited Over Norton Park from a distant cousin and how the estate, in the Cotswolds

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

, had been in the family since the 1720s.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawkins, Henry 1728 births 1814 deaths People from Clarendon Parish, Jamaica Planters of the British West Indies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Fellows of the Royal Society British slave owners People educated at Abingdon School People from Laverstoke