John Dawnay, 5th Viscount Downe
Encyclopedia
John Christopher Burton Dawnay, 5th Viscount Downe (15 November 1764–18 February 1832), styled The Honourable John Dawnay until 1780, was a British Whig politician.

Dawnay was the eldest son of John Dawnay, 4th Viscount Downe
John Dawnay, 4th Viscount Downe
John Dawnay, 4th Viscount Downe , was a British peer and Whig politician.-Background:Dawnay was the younger son of the Honourable John Dawnay, eldest son of Henry Dawnay, 2nd Viscount Downe...

, by Laura, daughter of William Burton, of Luffenham, Rutland
Rutland
Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....

. He succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1780. However, as this was an Irish peerage
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...

 it did not entitle him to a seat in the English House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. He subsequently sat as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Petersfield
Petersfield (UK Parliament constituency)
Petersfield was an English Parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Petersfield in Hampshire. It existed for several hundred years until its abolition for the 1983 general election....

 between 1787 and 1790 and for Wootton Basset between 1790 and 1796. The latter year he was created Baron Dawnay, of Cowick in the County of York, in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...

, which gave him a seat in the House of Lords.

Lord Downe was twice married. He married firstly a daughter of Major John Scott of Balconie. After her death in 1798 he married secondly Louisa Maria, daughter of George Welstead, of Apsley
Apsley
Apsley is a 19th century mill town in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is a historic industrial site situated in a valley of the Chiltern Hills. It is positioned below the confluence of two permanent rivers, the Gade and Bulbourne. In an area of little surface water this was an obvious site...

, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, in 1815. There were no children from the two marriages. Downe died in February 1832, aged 67. The barony of Dawnay died with him while he was succeeded in the viscountcy by his younger brother, Reverend William Henry Dawnay. The Viscountess Downe died in March 1867.
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