Sir John Dashwood-King, 4th Baronet

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Sir John Dashwood-King, 4th Baronet (176522 October 1849) was a British Tory politician and country gentleman.

The son of Sir John Dashwood-King, 3rd Baronet and half-nephew of Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer, he shared little of their cultured and hedonistic ways and was a pious churchgoer.

On 29 August 1789, he married Mary Anne Broadhead, by whom he had seven children:

Much given to country life, he established the Bourton Hunt, a pack of harriers, at his estate in Gloucestershire, and was also considered an excellent judge of horses.

In 1793, he inherited the baronetcy and West Wycombe Park, and stood unsuccessfully for the borough of Wycombe. He was returned in 1796, and would hold the seat until 1831, playing an active role in local politics as well. However, he disliked his seat at West Wycombe as unsuitable for hunting and too expensive to maintain, attempting to sell it to the Duke of Somerset, but was not able to do so. He preferred to live in Halton House, near Aylesbury.

An unfortunate incident ensued in 1800, when he suspected his wife of being overly intimate with the Prince of Wales and made her leave London for Bourton.

An independent Tory, he was mobbed in Wycombe for his opposition to the Reform Bill in 1831, and left Parliament in 1831, preferring not to contest the election of 1832. Due to heavy investment in land in Buckinghamshire, he died burdened by poverty and crushing debt.

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Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Earl Wycombe
Sir Francis Baring, Bt
Member of Parliament for Wycombe
with Earl Wycombe 1796–1802
Sir Francis Baring 1802–1806
Sir Thomas Baring, Bt 1806–1831

1796–1831
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Baring, Bt
Robert John Smith
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by
John Dashwood-King
Baronet
(of West Wycombe)
1793–1849
Succeeded by
George Dashwood