Henry Dawkins II

Son of Henry Dawkins I and Elizabeth Pennant, brother of James Dawkins, cousin of Edward Morant and Richard Pennant, and father of James Colyear Dawkins (q.v.), George Hay Dawkins Pennant (q.v.), and Henry Dawkins (q.v.). He has a recent entry in the ODNB as 'plantation and slave owner and politician.'

A very wealthy man, he owned 20,000 acres in Jamaica and of estates in Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. He seems to have lived in Jamaica from c.1751 to 1759, when he left to reside permanently in England. Member of Jamaica Assembly, 1752-58 and of the Jamaican council, 1758-59.

Henry Dawkins was listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owner of 1300 acres of land in St Elizabeth, 4232 acres in Clarendon and 229 acres in Vere, total 5761 acres.

Dawkins and Cunningham were listed in the Jamaican Quit Rent books for 1754 as the owners of 500 acres of land in St Elizabeth. This may refer to James Dawkins, James Dawkins the younger or Henry Dawkins II. The Cunningham may be James Cunningham of Chesterfield or perhaps one of the Cunninghames of Grandvale.

In 1759 married Lady Juliana Colyear (1736-1821), daughter of Charles Colyear, Earl of Portmore and Juliana Hele.

Lived at Over Norton, Oxfordshire and Standlynch Park, Wiltshire. Left £150,000.

Variously MP for Southampton, Hindon and Chippenham 1760-1784.

John Brooke observes in the History of Parliament that "Southampton was a borough with a strong West Indian connexion, and Dawkins was first returned there on the death of Anthony Langley Swymmer, another West Indian. In Bute’s list he is marked ‘West Indian—son-in-law to Ld. Portmore—Tory’."

He appears never to have spoken in Parliament though it should be noted that he was returned for Hindon in the Beckford interest and that when he was MP for Chippenham he bought property in the borough 'to secure his interest' and was able to hand the seat over to his son in 1784.

The portrait of Henry Dawkins (probably c. 1750) is by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788) and is pastel on paper, mounted on canvas. It measures 66.7 x 53.3 cm and is in the National Gallery, London (NG5118). See National Gallery: Henry Dawkins

Dawkins, James. "Dawkins, Henry (1728–1814), plantation and slave owner and politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 6 Oct. 2016; Accessed 22 Jan. 2020. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-107418; William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume One 1809-1839 (London, Social Affairs Unit, 2009) reference 1814/23; 'A List of landholders in the Island of Jamaica together with the number of acres each person possessed taken from the quit rent books in the year 1754', TNA CO 142/31 transcribed at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples2/1754lead.htm.; Morning Post, 5/5/1821; Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 7/5/1821; John Brooke, entry in History of Parliament online.

We are grateful to William Norton for his help compiling this entry.