Family and Education

b. c.1610, o.s. of John Dalton, vintner, of Nottingham by w. Isabel. m. Anne, da. of Richard Pyott of Streetly, Staffs., 2s. (1 d.v.p.) suc. fa. 1618.1

Offices Held

Alderman, Derby 1645-70, mayor 1646-7, 1652-3, 1668-9; commr. for assessment, Derbys. 1657, Aug. 1660-d., Derby 1663-4, militia, Derbys. Mar. 1660, capt. of militia ft. Mar. 1660-?61, j.p. Mar. 1660-70.2

Biography

Dalton entered a very brief pedigree at the heralds’ visitation of 1662. He had probably lived in Derby since his mother’s second marriage, and by 1641 he was established there as a draper. Presumably he sympathized with the parliamentary cause in the Civil War, as he was first appointed to municipal office in 1645. The only member of his family to enter Parliament, he was first elected in 1659. In the Convention he obtained leave to go into the country on 11 July 1660, but was named to the committees to enable soldiers to exercise trades in corporate towns without apprenticeship and to take accounts of public moneys received. He probably voted with the Opposition. He was again inactive in the Cavalier Parliament, serving on only six committees throughout, three of which were for private bills. He was among those appointed to consider the regulation of the hallage duty on woollen cloth in 1664, and was added to the committee on the bill to regulate printing on 26 Oct. 1666. On 18 Jan. 1667 his colleague Anchitell Grey ‘made a fair excuse for him, as that he was an old man and lame of the gout’, but he was still absent on 13 Feb. and only appeared towards the end of the month when his fine was remitted because of his illness. He was added to the committee for the drainage of Deeping fen in 1668. As a sympathizer with dissenters, he was removed from the commission of the peace in 1670. Sir Richard Wiseman had no hopes of gaining his vote for the court in 1676, and Shaftesbury marked him ‘thrice worthy’ in the following year. He died, the senior alderman of the borough, on a visit to Nottingham on 30 Aug. 1679, and was buried in St. Werburgh’s chancel, Derby.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / John. P. Ferris

Notes

• 1. Glover, Derbys. ii. 487; PCY, 35A, ff. 261-2.
• 2. W. Hutton, Derby, 84-85.
• 3. Lysons, Derby, clviii; Reliquary, xxv. 26; Milward, 65; CJ, ix. 56; Add. 6705, f. 102.