Family and Education

b. 17 Sept. 1786, 2nd but 1st surv. s. of Sir Henry Watkin Dashwood, 3rd Bt.* by Mary Helen, da. of John Graham of Kinross. educ. Harrow 1798-c.1801. m. 8 Sept. 1815, Marianne Sarah, da. of Sir William Rowley, 2nd Bt.*, 3s. 3da. suc. fa. as 4th Bt. 10 June 1828.

Offices Held

Page of honour to the King 1794-1802.

Ensign, 3 Ft. Gds. 1802, lt. and capt. 1806-7.

Sheriff, Oxon. 1833-4.

Biography

The son of a courtier, Dashwood became heir to Kirtlington on the death of his elder brother Henry in 1803. He was returned for Truro on a vacancy in 1814, his patron being Edward, 4th Viscount Falmouth. He gave a silent support to ministers, voting with them on 31 May 1815, 18 Mar., 6 and 24 May, 17 and 20 June 1816, and opposed Catholic relief, 9 May 1817. Like his father he voted for the suspension of habeas corpus, 23 June 1817. No speech by him is known, which is not surprising, as he was a proverbially shy man: after being out of Parliament for eight years, he could not be persuaded to stand for Oxfordshire in 1826 and, when he stood for the county in 1830, he was escorted by his old tutor, Rev. William Gordon of Dun’s Tew, who answered questions for him. Dashwood was defeated. He devoted his life to improving his estates and recovering properties alienated by his extravagant father, and was so little seen in public that ‘his character and virtues were little known outside his own family’. He died 22 Sept. 1861.

J. Townsend, The Oxfordshire Dashwoods, 39-42.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: R. G. Thorne

Notes