Henry Dawnay, 2nd Viscount Downe

Who was Henry Dawnay, 2nd Viscount Downe?

Henry Dawnay, 2nd Viscount Downe, styled The Honourable Henry Dawnay between 1681 and 1695, was an English Tory politician.

Dawnay was the son of John Dawnay, 1st Viscount Downe, by his second wife Dorothy, daughter of William Johnson, of Wickham, Lancashire. He succeeded his father as Member of Parliament for Pontefract in 1690, a seat he held until 1695. The latter year he also succeeded his father in the viscountcy. However, as this was an Irish peerage it did not entitle him to a seat in the English House of Lords. He was consequently eligible for election to the English House of Commons and in 1698 he was returned as one of two Knights of the Shire for Yorkshire, a seat he held until 1701 and again between 1707 and 1727.

Lord Downe married Mildred, daughter of William Godfrey, of Thornock, Lincolnshire, in 1685. She died in August 1725. Downe remained a widower until his death in May 1741, aged 76. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his grandson, Henry, his son the Honourable John Dawnay having predeceased him.