The Dawkins family papers consist of:
The Dawkins family had property in England (predominantly Oxfordshire) and Jamaica. Their estates in Oxfordshire were built up gradually during the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1726, James Dawkins of Rusley, Bishopstone, Wiltshire, bought the Busby estates in Over Norton, Chipping Norton and Salford. Further purchases of land were made in this area for two generations until, in 1797, Henry Dawkins of Standlynch, Wiltshire, bought Salford Manor. In the 19th century, further purchases were made in Over Norton, Chipping Norton and Salford by Col. Henry Dawkins and William Gregory Dawkins.
The connection of the early members of the Over Norton Dawkins family with Jamaica is not clear. The earliest Jamaican Dawkins settlers, Lieut. Col. Richard Dawkins, Major William Dawkins and Henry and Thomas Dawkins, died before James Dawkins of Rusley purchased the Busby estate at Over Norton. Henry Dawkins II of Jamaica, however, later came back to England, and may possibly be Major Henry Dawkins of Stabdlynch, but there is no proof of this.
Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/specialcollections).
The papers were deposited in the Library in 1956 and 1972.
Collection level description created by Emily Tarrant, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.
A full description is available in the Library.
