Henry Dawes

Awarded the compensation for Tufton Hall in Grenada, which he inherited from his brothers.

1. Death April 14 [1819] at St George's Grenada of Lieut. William Dawes RN of Tufton-Hall Grenada. Will of William Dawes of Tufton Hall Grenada proved 15/10/1819. In this will, William Dawes named his eldest brother John Dawes of Threadneedle Street as primary legatee, and refers to other brothers and to his sister Harriett Mary (or Maria) Willock: William Noble of Marylebone testified to the authenticity of the will. By deduction from this and the additional information below, Henry Dawes was the brother of both William and John: conceivably the three were the sons of the banker John Dawes below.

2. Thomas Croft, William Devaynes, John Dawes and William Noble of Pall Mall were bankers whose partnership ended 30/09/1796 and was carried on as Devaynes, Dawes, Noble & Co. The firm (by then comprising John Dawes, William Noble, Richard Henry Croft and Richard Barwick) failed in 1810.

3. Henry Dawes gave £2500 for the purchase of the land St John's Leatherhead in 1867.  The Henry Dawes Centre, the school's new classroom block named after the 19thC donor, was opened on 13/10[2011] by HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, the school's patron.    

4. Maria Dawes of 6 Hyde Park Gardens Middlesex died 02/01/1870, the widow of Henry Dawes (who died 17/11/1869, having made his will dated 18/08/1857 in which he left everything to his wife and appointed her sole executrix). Maria Dawes' will dated 20/07/1869, which described herself as 'the wife of Henry Dawes, formerly of Abingdon House, Cobham but now of 6 Hyde Park Gardens' and identified her father as William Noble, became the subject of contestation in Noble v Phelps and Willock in 1871 over probate after her bequest of (1) £3822 11s 1d consolidated annuities to her executors (William Phelps and her niece Maria Willock) (2) Mills Cragg Farm in Bampton, Westmoreland to her husband and his assigns and then to her heirs (3) £14000 under her marriage settlement available to her in the event of their having no children (which was the case) to her executors subject to her husband's life interest and (4) the residue to her niece Maria Willock.  The provision over her residual estate (which inlcuded of course her husband's former assets) was contested by William Noble (presumably a nephew or brother), and the Court resolved not to grant a general probate but 'limit it in such a way as to leave the question as to property affected by such will open to a Court of Equity without concluding or prejudicing the rights of any party.'   

5. This decision was appealed and then reappealed in 1875 in Willock v Noble. The report of the case says that in 1827 the marriage took place between Henry Dawes 'of the India Civil Service' and Maria Noble of Cobham [it specifies her independent sum as £3800]. It also identifies Maria Willock as the niece of Mr Dawes.  

6. Administration of will of Henry Dawes late of 6 Hyde Park Gardens who died 17/11/1869 granted 11/03/1871 to the administrators of Maria Dawes, effects under £25,000. A handwritten note says Grant withdrawn, administration passed 1875. Death of Henry Dawes aged 84 registered Kensington Q4 1869.   

7. The 1861 census shows the couple at 6 Hyde Park Gardens, Henry Dawes aged 76 landholder born Middlesex and Maria Dawes (alos born Middlesex) aged 60.

T71/880 Grenada claim no. 568 (Tufton Hall Estate). AO14/37 identifies Henry Dawes as 'of Cobham, County of Surrey 02/11/1835.   1. Gentleman's Magazine Vol. 89 (June 1819) p. 585; PROB 11/1621. The John Dawes in the will of William Dawes is the John Dawes of Spanish Place Marylebone whose will was made in 1818 and proved 25/05/1822 (PROB 11/1656), and refers to his brother Henry and sister Harriett Maria Dawes; in a codicil to that will he describes himself as late of Spanish Place and now of Margaret Street Cavendish Square, and makes Henry Dawes the primary legatee in place of Robert John Dawes. John Dawes of 26 Margaret Street Marylebone was buried aged 40 at St Mary Battersea 30/03/1822: Ancestry.com, London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980 [database online].

1. London Gazette, Issue 13942, 18/10/1796, p. 991; London Gazette, Issue 16451, 05/02/1811, p. 247. The bankruptcy was still running in 1841, London Gazette, Issue 19946, 29/01/1841, p. 264.  
2. http://www.stjohnsleatherhead.co.uk/news?page=5 [accessed 18/01/2012]. The school was founded in 1851 by the Rev. Ashby Haslewood of St Mark's Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood London: it moved several times before its final move to Leatherhead in 1872 http://www.stjohnsleatherhead.co.uk/stjohnshistory [accessed 18/01/2012]. An article by Richard Hughes in The Old Johnian (2011), 'Who is Henry Dawes?' confirms the benefactor as the Henry Dawes of 6 Hyde Park Gardens, who gave anonymously through his solicitor William Phelps.  

3. The Law Reports Reported by Richard Searle and John G. Middleton, ed. James Refoord Bulwer, Vol II, from Michaelmas Term 1869 to Michaelmas Term 1872. (London, William Clowes and Son, 1872) p. 276.

4. Nathaniel C. Moak, Reports of cases decided by the English Courts, Vol. XIII (1876), pp. 100-123.

5. National Probate Calendar 1871. The next entry is the administration Maria Dawes' will, efects £14,000, with a note saying limited probate was granted at the Principal Registry in 1872. The limited probate shows effects for her under £80,000; FreeUKGen, England and Wales Free BMD Database, Deaths, 1837-1983 [database online].  

6. 1861 census online.