Family and Education

b. 11 Dec. 1665, o.s. of Sir Basil Dixwell, 1st Bt., of Broom House by Dorothy, da. and coh. of Sir Thomas Peyton, 2nd Bt., of Knowlton. educ. Christ Church, Oxf. 1682. m. (1) Dorothy (d. c.1718), da. and coh. of Sir John Temple of East Sheen, Surr., s.p.; (2) 25 Apr. 1720, his cos. Catharine, da. of William Longueville of the Inner Temple, s.p. suc. fa. 7 May 1668.

Offices Held

Col. of militia horse, Kent by Dec. 1688, j.p. and dep. lt. 1689-?d.; commr. for assessment, Kent, Dover and Folkestone 1689-90, court of lodemanage, Cinque Ports 1689, col. of militia ft. by 1697.1

Auditor of excise 1691-1713, 1714-d.2

Capt. Sandgate Castle 1694-6; lt.-gov. Dover Castle 1696-1702, 1714-?d.3

Biography

Dixwell’s family was of Warwickshire origin, but one of them inherited considerable property around Folkestone and elsewhere in 1622, and sat for Hythe four years later. His great-uncle was John Dixwell the regicide, but his grandfather died before the Civil War and his father came of age only after the Restoration, when he was given a baronetcy. Dixwell acted as spokesman for the Kentish deputy lieutenants at Faversham during the Revolution. The loyal Earl of Ailesbury (Thomas Bruce) called him ‘silly, malign and busy’, and did not overlook his regicide connexion, while the King, who was compelled to accept the escort of Dixwell’s militia, complained of his ‘rude and rebellious carriage’. On his return to Kent on 29 Dec. 1688 Dixwell collected signatures for the Association to stand by the Prince of Orange, and he was elected for Dover a few days later. He was among those chosen to carry the canopy at the coronation, but played no known part in the Convention. Although clearly a Whig, he was not listed as supporting the disabling clause in the bill to restore corporations, and he lost his seat to James Chadwick at the general election. In the two succeeding Parliaments he sat as a court Whig. He died on 25 Mar. 1750, the last of his family, and was buried at Barham.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Basil Duke Henning

Notes

• 1. Hasted, Kent, vi. 350; Add. 29625, f. 120; CSP Dom. 1689-90, p. 210; Eg. 1626, f. 24.
• 2. Cal. Treas. Bks. ix. 1202; xxvii. 92; xxix. 35, 193.
• 3. Arch. Cant. xxi. 256; CSP Dom. 1696, p. 152; 1702-3, p. 162.
• 4. Hasted, Kent , vi. 350-1; viii. 160-1; N. and Q. (ser. 3), vi. 23, 42, 82, 121; Ailesbury Mems. 210-12; Clarke, Jas. II, ii. 259; Add. 28037, f. 50; Arch. Cant. xxi. 254.