Dashwood's father was a farmer of the
excise, and he himself became a commissioner of excise in 1683.[5] An alderman in 1687, he was removed by
James II for refusing to countenance the suspension of the
Corporation Act.[6]
In 1702, a colonel in the Lieutenancy of the City, Dashwood was made a Justice of the Peace, based on his willingness to use judicial powers.[6] In that year Dashwood was
Lord Mayor of London, and entertained Queen Anne at the
London Guildhall as part of the lavish show that he organised. It was authored by
Elkanah Settle, and marked the final pageant of the old tradition.[7][8]
Personal life
On 17 May 1670, Dashwood was married to Anne Smith, a daughter of John Smith of
Tedworth. Her brother was politician
John Smith, who served as
Chancellor of the Exchequer.[9][10] Together, Samuel and Anne were the parents of four sons and ten daughters, including:
Sarah Dashwood, who married
Richard Crawley, Registrar of the Admiralty.[16]
Annabella Dashwood (d. 1771), who married Thomas Medley, of
Buxted.[17]
Samuel's heir was
George, the fourth son but the oldest who survived his father. His commercial success had enabled him to buy properties in
Buckinghamshire and
Surrey, but he continued to live in the capital until his death on 12 August 1705. He was buried at
St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. He left an estate reportedly valued at £100,000, which was shared among his surviving two sons and five daughters.[18]
^G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes,
Gloucester,
U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume I, page 188.
^Sir Bernard Burke, C.B. LL.D., A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, new edition (1883; reprint,
Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1978), page 10.