Family and Education

b. 30 Aug. 1745, 1st surv. s. of Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Bt.. educ. B.N.C. Oxf. 1763; Grand Tour.1 m. 17 July 1780, Helen Mary, da. of John Graham of Kinross, and niece of William and Robert Mayne,2 4s. 2da.  suc. fa. as 3rd Bt. 10 Nov. 1779.

Offices Held

Gent. of privy chamber Mar. 1783- d.

Biography

In 1774 Dashwood contested Wigtown Burghs on the interest of his brother-in-law John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway, was defeated, but returned on petition. He voted with North’s Administration. In 1780 he was defeated at Canterbury, where his uncle William Mayne had sat 1774-80.

In March 1783 the lord chamberlain, the Duke of Manchester, Dashwood’s brother-in-law, tried to obtain for him the place of yeoman of the jewel office, worth only £50 p.a.;3 instead, he was appointed gentleman of the privy chamber—an honorary appointment.

He was a friend of Lord Blandford (later 5th Duke of Marlborough), and in 1784 was returned for New Woodstock on the Marlborough interest. William Adam classed him as ‘Opposition’; but the only vote he is known to have given in this Parliament, on the Regency, was for Administration. When soliciting a peerage in 1794 he pleaded his constant support of Government.4

He seems to have been very extravagant. In 1775 his father paid £25,000 to settle his debts, and Dashwood after he succeeded was forced to sell a large part of the family estates.

He died 10 June 1828.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: John Brooke

Notes

• 1. Dashwood to Sir Wm. Hamilton, 24 June 1768, Add. 41197, f. 55.
• 2. About her see Boswell, Johnson, iii. 407.
• 3. Manchester to the King, 18 Mar. 1783, Fortescue, vi. 288.
• 4. Dashwood to Pitt, 1 Aug. 1794, Chatham mss.