Peter Matthew Dixon

Either the heir or conceivably the son of the heir of Elizabeth Countess of Home, whose will was dated 19/11/1783 and proved 24/01/1784. Given as Peter Mathew Dixon in the Slave Registers for Vere in 1820 and 1826.

1. 'Peter Dixon', the son of Charles Dixon and Elizabeth Clara Dixon (nee Sargant) was heir of Elizabeth, Countess of Home. Elizabeth née Gibbons married in 1720 James Lawes. She left her Portman Square house and Dry River and Bay Macary ['now both known by the name and description of Gibbons estate situate in the parish of Vere'] to William Gale, a relative, and if he died without issue to Peter Dixon, son of Charles and Elizabeth Clara Dixon (the Countess of Home's god-daughter was Clara Dixon). Wm Gale of Jamaica d. 1795, and Peter Dixon was in possession by 1799, described as of St George's Fields, Surrey. The will makes clear that William Gale was a minor and logically Peter Dixon would also have been a minor at the same date, which fits with the birth-date of Peter Matthew Dixon c. 1775. The will also mentions Manley Dixon as the second son of Charles and Elizabeth Clara Dixon: this would appear to be a nephew and namesake of the Admiral, whose parentage is given differently in online sources.

2. Peter Matthew Dixon married Anna Maria Mary Emily Church in St Bartholomew the Great 26/03/1803.

3. May 6th [1843] At Dinan, Brit[t]any, aged 68, Peter Matthew Dixon, esq. of Gibbons Jamaica, nephew of the late Sir Manly Dixon KCB Admiral of the White.

A transcript of the will (PROB 11/1112) by Anne Powers was consulted at http://aparecleofribbons.co.uk accessed 27/08/2013.

1. Lesley Lewis, 'Elizabeth, Countess of Home, and her House in Portman Square', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 109, No. 773 (Aug. 1967) pp. 443-451, 453.

2. Ancestry.com, London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database online].

3. Gentleman's Magazine NS Vol. XX July-December 1843. The name of the estate is garbled as Gibbini or Gibbint in the electronic version of the Gentleman's Magazine online.