DOWDESWELL, Charles (c.1688-1714), of Forthampton, Glos.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1713 - c. June 1714

Family and Education

b. c.1688, 1st s. of Charles Dowdeswell of Forthampton by Anne, da. of Timothy Coles of Hatfield, Herefs.  educ. Balliol, Oxf. matric. 12 Mar. 1706, aged 17.  m. 29 May 1707, Anne, da. of Robert Tracy, j.c.p., of Coscombe, Glos. by Anne, sis. of Richard Dowdeswell*, 1da.  suc. fa. 1706.1

Offices Held

Biography

Dowdeswell’s father was the second son of Richard Dowdeswell† of Pull Court (d. 1673), who purchased an estate at Forthampton (two and a half miles from Tewkesbury) from the Earl of Essex in 1671, and bought the manorial estate in 1677. A settlement of 1678 noted that he owned 584 acres in Forthampton and nearby Swinley. Relations between the two branches of the family do not seem to have been good at this time, as a dispute over the rectory of Bushley in 1677 had to be settled in favour of the senior line by Chief Justice Scroggs. Any parliamentary ambitions which his father may have had were blocked by Richard Dowdeswell’s interest at Tewkesbury, but Charles snr. was of sufficient status to be appointed a deputy-lieutenant in Gloucestershire by 1694. The two branches were presumably reconciled by 1707 when Dowdeswell married the daughter of Justice Tracy, whose uncle was his own cousin, Richard Dowdeswell.2

Unlike the senior branch of the family, Charles Dowdeswell was a Tory. Returned with his second cousin William* at the 1713 election, he was described as a Tory on the Worsley list. He made his will on 30 May 1714 and was reported dead on 2 June by Edward Popham*, who had accepted an invitation from ‘the gentlemen that were his [Dowdeswell’s] friends’ to oppose Anthony Lechmere* in the ensuing by-election. Dowdeswell’s will made provision for the possibility of an as yet unborn child, providing a portion of £10,000 for his only daughter Anne, and leaving his estates to his brother Richard in case a male heir was not produced. His widow married Thomas Wylde* in 1720. Richard Dowdeswell required a private Act in 1733 to fulfil the terms of his brother’s will.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Paula Watson / Stuart Handley

Notes

  • 1. Vis. Eng. and Wales Notes ed. Crisp, vii. 66; J. Bennett, Tewkesbury, 441; W. R. Williams, Glos. MPs, 246; IGI, London.
  • 2. Bennett, 441; VCH Glos. viii. 201; CSP Dom. 1694–5, p. 235.
  • 3. PCC 173 Aston; Add. 70251, Popham to Ld. Oxford (Robert Harley*), 2 June 1714; Williams, 246.