The Dawkins family settled on Jamaica shortly after its seizure from the Spanish in 1655. William Dawkins acquired plantations in Jamaica, by grant, in the period 1669 to 1682. These descended to his grandsons James Dawkins I, and the sons of Henry Dawkins I, James Dawkins II and Henry Dawkins II, sons of Henry Dawkins I, all three being MPs. Both James I and James II left property in England to Henry II, who also inherited Jamaican properties from relatives, for an annual income of £40,000 to £50,000.
Life
He was born 24 May 1728 in Clarendon, Jamaica. He was the second surviving son of Henry Dawkins, a sugar planter, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Pennant of Clarendon, chief justice of Jamaica; James Dawkins II, who died in 1757, was his eldest brother. He studied at John Roysse's Free School in Abingdon, c. 1739-1744 and St Mary Hall, Oxford from 1745. Dawkins's father on his death in 1744 bequeathed 25,000 acres of land and approximately £100,000 to his three surviving sons. James, the eldest son, inherited 14,300 acres, William received 5000, and Henry 5700. From 1752 to 1758 Henry Dawkins was a member of the assembly in Jamaica, and was then on the council to 1759. In 1760 he entered the Parliament of Great Britain as member for, holding the seat to 1768. He then was member for, and Chippenham again, leaving Parliament finally in 1784. He served for a 24-year period with only short breaks. He was a Steward of the Old Abingdonian Club in 1769. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, there is no record of Dawkins having spoken in the House of Commons. However, from 1773 to 1805 he was a member of the Society of West India Planters and Merchants, a pressure group. His son James succeeded him at Chippenham. He died in London and was buried at Chipping Norton.
Properties in England
Dawkins sold his brother's estate at Laverstoke in 1759. In 1766 he inherited Over Norton Park in Oxfordshire from his uncle James Dawkins. He kept this property.
Standlynch House
Also in 1766 he bought Standlynch Park in Wiltshire. This house, now called Trafalgar Park, was bought from William Young, for £22,000. When Dawkins died in 1814, Standlynch Park was sold for £90,000 to William Nelson, 1st Earl Nelson, who had been voted the money needed to purchase an estate by Parliament. He changed the name to Trafalgar House and Park.
Intellectual interests
Dawkins was a patron of neoclassical architects. He had alterations done to Standlynch House. Dawkins had work done on the wings, by John Wood, the Younger, and on the portico by Nicholas Revett. Revett was an associate of Dawkins' brother James, who had antiquarian interests. Revett and both Dawkins brothers were members of the Society of Dilettanti. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1778.
Family
Dawkins married in 1759, Lady Juliana Colyear, daughter of Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore. They had eight sons and four daughters. The sons were:
James, Member of Parliament, married in 1785 Hannah Phipps, and secondly Maria Forbes
Henry, Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge, married in 1788 Augusta, daughter of Sir Henry Clinton, father of Henry Dawkins, also Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge
William, died an infant
Richard, married Jane Catherine Long, daughter of Edward Long and Elizabeth Masters. Father of James Dawkins I
Henry was the great-great-great-grandfather of the famous biologist Professor Richard Dawkins. In 2010 Richard Dawkins wrote an obituary for his father, describing how John Dawkins had inherited Over Norton Park from a distant cousin and how the estate, in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, had been in the family since the 1720s.
