Family and Education

bap. 18 Aug. 1682, 1st s. of Richard Dowdeswell, M.P., of Pull Court by Elizabeth, da. of Sir Francis Winnington, M.P., of Stanford-on-Teme, Worcs., solicitor-gen. to Charles II. educ. Eton 1698; Ch. Ch. Oxf. 1700. m. (1) 13 Mar. 1712, Katharine (d. 1 Nov. 1716), da. of Charles Cokayne, 3rd Visct. Cullen [I], 1s. d.v.p. 1da.; (2) 5 Aug. 1719, Amy, da. of Anthony Hammond, M.P., of Somersham, Hunts., 4s. suc. fa. 1711.

Offices Held

Sheriff, Worcs. 1726-7.

Biography

The Dowdeswells, an old Worcestershire family, had been settled at Bushley, near Tewkesbury, on the Gloucestershire and Worcestershire border, since the 16th century and purchased Pull Court in 1628.1 William Dowdeswell, whose father had represented Tewkesbury in ten successive Parliaments, was classed as a Whig in 1715, when he was re-elected unopposed on his own interest. He voted for the septennial bill in 1716 but against the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts in 1719, and the peerage bill. He did not stand in 1722, although it was ‘take[n] for granted he [could] not fail of being elected one of the members’,2 and died 5 Sept. 1728, leaving his eldest son, William Dowdeswell, a minor.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Shirley Matthews

Notes

• 1. VCH Worcs. iv. 47-48.
• 2. Chandos to Parsons, 1 Feb. 1722, Chandos letter bks.