Sir William Dawes, 3rd Baronet

Sir William Dawes, 3rd Baronet (12 September 1671 – 30 April 1724) was an Anglican prelate. He served as Bishop of Chester from 1708 to 1714 and then as Archbishop of York from 1714 to 1724.

Education

From the age of nine, William Dawes studied at the Merchant Taylors' School in London. He already excelled in Hebrew by the age of 15. He was hardly 18 when he wrote his work in verse: The Anatomy of Atheisme, and his eminent The Duties of the Closet in prose.

In 1687, William matriculated at St John’s College in Oxford,^[1] the college he also became a fellow of, then migrated to St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1689. He received his M.A. degree from St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1695 on royal decree (per lit. reg.) due to his young age. In 1696 he graduated in theology (D.D.).^[2]

Anglican Priest

William Dawes became the permanent pastor of King William III (1688–1702) and was later court pastor of Queen Anne (1702–14). From 1698, at a young age, he was Canon of the Cathedral of Worcester.

He was Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge between 1697 and 1714^[3] and Vice-Chancellor, 1698–9.

He was elected pastor in the village of Bocking near to his estates in Essex. Here he introduced the innovative custom of taking Holy Communion not only on the three great feasts, but once every month.

From February 1708 he was consecrated Bishop of Chester. He was Archbishop of York from 1714 until his death in 1724^[4] and Privy Councillor. He restored the Archbishop's palace in York, the Bishopthorpe.

He died on 30 April 1724. He was buried in the chapel of St. Catharine’s together with his wife. He was the most outstanding preacher of his period, a representative of the ideal of aristocratic prelate, high and authoritative personality.^[5]

Family

William Dawes was the son of Sir John Dawes, 1st Bart of Putney and Christian Lyons of Bocking.^[6]

He married Frances Cole d'Arcy (1673–1705, daughter of Sir Thomas d'Arcy (1632–1693) and Jane Cole (1640–) in November 1692.

Their daughter Elizabeth married Sir William Milner (−1745), 1st Baronet of Nun Appleton Hall, MP of York in the early 18th century.

See also

• List of archbishops of York
• List of bishops of Chester

References

1. ^ http://www.nicholashedges.co.uk/places/st_johns_college/evidence.htm
2. ^ Dawes, William in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
3. ^ http://www.cambridgeonline.co.uk/articles/St_Catharines_College/
4. ^ http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1092
5. ^ http://ppf.mtak.hu/en/116a.htm
6. ^ A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies ... By John Burke

• Stuart Handley, ‘Dawes, Sir William, third baronet (1671–1724)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
• Leigh Rayment's List of Baronets
• The whole works of … Sir William Dawes, in 3 vols., with a preface, giving some account of the life … of the author. London, 1732, 1733.