James Dawkins (1722,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

– 6 September 1757, Jamaica) was a member a British

Member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, antiquarian, Jacobite and sugar planter and slave owner in Jamaica.

Early life and education

The Dawkins family settled on Jamaica shortly after its seizure from the Spanish in 1655. James was the eldest son born to Henry Dawkins I (1698–1744), who was a wealthy sugar planter and slave owner of

Clarendon, Jamaica Clarendon is a parish in Jamaica. It is located on the south of the island, roughly halfway between the island's eastern and western ends. Located in the county of Middlesex, it is bordered by Manchester on the west, Saint Catherine in the eas ...

, and his wife, Elizabeth (1697?–1757), third daughter of Edward Pennant of Clarendon, chief justice of the island and of Elizabeth Moore. His brothers were major slave owner William Dawkins (d. 1753) and Henry Dawkins II. He went to England for his education, attending

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) (then headed by the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

Thomas Woods) and matriculating at St John's College, Oxford on 7 December 1739. His father died in 1744 bequeathing to James 14,300 acres (and making smaller bequests to the two younger sons William and

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, ...

). His plantations included Parnassus Estate, Dawkins Caymanas, Dawkins Salt Pond Pen, Friendship, Leicesterdfields and Old Plantation. James graduated DCL in 1749.

Career

He embarked on a continental

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

then

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, meeting more Jacobite sympathisers along with the experienced traveller

Robert Wood Robert Wood may refer to: Art * Robert E. Wood (painter, born 1971), Canadian landscape artist * Robert William Wood (1889–1979), American landscape artist * Robert Wood (artist), accused and acquitted of the Camden Town murder Military * R ...

. On 5 May 1750, Wood, Dawkins, Dawkins' Oxford friend John Bouverie and the Italian draughtsman Giovanni Borra set off from Naples in the ''Matilda'' to tour and study the Aegean, the coast of Asia Minor, Egypt, Nazareth, Syria (including the ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek), Tripoli and Cyprus, returning in Naples on 7 June 1751. Borra, Wood and Dawkins returned to England, where Dawkins funded Wood's publication of as well as that of James Stuart and

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 t ...

's ''The Antiquities of Athens'' (it was on Stuart's suggestion that, in 1755, Dawkins was elected to 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 ...

). In May 1753 Dawkins travelled to Berlin to meet

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

, in an inconclusive attempt to gain his support for a Jacobite conspiracy by William King of Oxford, the

earl of Westmorland Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, for leading the Rising of the North ...

, and the Prussian ambassador

Earl Marischal The title of Earl Marischal was created in the Peerage of Scotland for William Keith, the Great Marischal of Scotland. History The office of Marischal of Scotland (or ''Marascallus Scotie'' or ''Marscallus Scotiae'') had been hereditary, held b ...

. The British government issued a warrant for Dawkins's arrest in retaliation, but it was not put into effect when he returned to England in 1754. Once back, he bought an estate in

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 ...

and was elected MP for the open borough of Hindon, he held the position until 1757. He also owned, with his brother Henry, the Sutton's Plantation in Jamaica. The anonymous 1756 pamphlet, ''Reflections physical and moral upon the ... numerous phenomena ... which have happened from the earthquake at Lima'', attributed to Dawkins, shows his philosophy to have been opposed to that of Descartes and

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

. On his death in Jamaica in 1757, unmarried, he was buried in Old Plantation, Clarendon before he and his parents' remains were reburied in St Paul's Church, Chapelton, Jamaica when the family estates were sold in 1922.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawkins, James 1722 births 1757 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society British antiquarians Jamaican people of British descent English Jacobites Alumni of St John's College, Oxford People educated at Abingdon School Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1754–1761 British slave owners People from Laverstoke

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

Sources