Charles Dundas (1751 - 1832)

Born 5 Aug 1751 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 30 Jun 1832 at age 80 in England, United Kingdom

Biography

Charles Dundas was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

Charles Dundas, son of Thomas Dundas and Janet Maitland was born in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland on 5 August 1751^[1]

He was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge on 14 January 1769 aged 18, gaining a BA in 1773 after which he was admitted to the Middle Temple on 11 June 1774, and a MA in 1776. He was called to the bar in 1777.^[2]

Parliamentary Career:

MP for Richmond 1775-80

MP for Orkney and Shetland 1781-4

MP for Richmond 1784-90

MP for Berkshire 1794-1832

In 1802 he was nominated as Speaker of the House but withdrew.^[2]

Charles Dundas Esq. of Lincoln's Inn, Holborn, married Ann Whitley on 16 February 1782 in Richmond, Yorkshire (North Riding), England.^[3][4]

He married Margaret Maitland on 25 January 1822 at Edinburgh, Scotland.
At Edinburgh, on the 25th inst. Charles Dundas, Esq. of Barton Court, M. P. for Berkshire, to Margaret, youngest daughter of the late Hon. Charles Barclay Maitland, and widow of Major Erskine of Venlaw. - Glasgow Sentinel - Wednesday 30 January 1822.^[5]

Charles Dundas (age 80) died and was buried on 9 July 1832 in Kintbury, Barton Court, Kintbury, Berkshire, England.^[6] His will was written on 21 November 1829 and proved on 18 July 1833.^[7][8]

Mentioned in the will:

• Janet Dundas (daughter)
• Her husband Captain James Whitley Deans Dundas (son in law)
• Reverend William Everett (since deceased) and Marianne Dundas, spinster (not mentioned as daughter)
• Charles Dundas (eldest son of Janet)
• James Dundas (second son of Janet)
• Anne (wife of John Arthur Houblon? Esq, eldest daughter of Janet)
• Janet Dundas (second daughter of Janet)
• Sophia Dundas (other daughter of Janet)
• Margaret (wife, executrix)
• Hart Davis Esq., Thomas Merriman Esq (executors)
• Thomas Dundas of Fingask, Major in the army

Also mentioned in the Will: An Indenture of Settlement dated 1st May 1815 for £2500 given to the Trustees of the marriage Settlement of the said William Everett and Marianne Dundas, to be in lieu of the household goods and furniture in his dwelling house in King's Row Pimlico, which he had promised verbally on their marriage to give them, but which promise could not now be performed.

Legacy

Dundas Aqueduct.

Charles Dundas was keen on improving agriculture and transport and was Chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Navigation Company from it's very beginnings. He sat on the committees for proving the viability of the waterway in the 1780s. The first act in Parliament was passed on 17 April 1794 enabling the Canal Company to raise the construction costs by selling shares.^[9]

The aptly named Dundas Aqueduct on the canal, near the proposed junction with the Somersetshire Coal Canal was designed by John Rennie, and has a plaque on one side devoted to Charles:

To Charles Dundas, chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Company from its inception. The proprietors, mindful of his important services and his unremitted exertions through a period of XL [40] years gratefully erected this tablet AD MDCCCXXVIII [1828]

Research Notes

At st. George's, Hanover-square, the Rev. Wm. Everett, Fellow of New College, Oxford, and Vicar of Romford, to Marianne Dundas, daughter of Charles Dundas, Esq. M.P. for Berks. - The Examiner 7 May 1815: Iss 384.^[10][11]

On the 4th inst., at Headington Hill House, near Oxford residence of her son-in-law, James Morrell, Esq., Marian, relict of the Rev. William Everett, B.D., formerly Fellow of New College, Oxford, and Vicar of Romford, Essex, in the 68th year of her age. Reading Mercury - Saturday 14 December 1861.^[12]

He married (1) 16 Feb. 1782, Anne (d. 29 Nov. 1812), da. and h. of Ralph Whitley of Aston Hall, Flintshire, (2) 25 Jan. 1822, his cousin Margaret, daughter of Hon. Charles Barclay Maitland, widow of (a) Charles Ogilvy of Inchmartin, (b) Archibald Erskine of Venlaw. He was created Baron Amesbury 11 May 1832.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth: "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950"
   FamilySearch Record: F31M-5MN (accessed 16 July 2023)
   Charles Dundas born on 5 Aug 1751, son of Thomas Dundas & Janet Maitland, in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Alumni cantabrigienses Volume 2, part 2, page 354, by University of Cambridge; Venn, John, 1834-1923; Venn, J. A. (John Archibald), b. 1883, Published 1922-54 by Cambridge University Press. Archive.org
3. ↑ Marriage: "Yorkshire Marriages"
   Archive: North Yorkshire County Record Office; Reference: PR-RM-1-8; Page: 43
   FindMyPast Image - FindMyPast Transcription (accessed 9 October 2022)
   Charles Dundas marriage to Ann Whitley on 13 Jan 1782 [mistranscribed] in Richmond, Yorkshire (North Riding), England.
4. ↑ Marriage: "Yorkshire Marriages"
   Archive: North Yorkshire County Record Office; Reference: PR-RM-1-6
   FindMyPast Image - FindMyPast Transcription (accessed 9 October 2022)
   Charles Dundas marriage to Ann Whitley on 16 Feb 1782 in Richmond, Yorkshire (North Riding), England.
5. ↑ Glasgow Sentinel - Wednesday 30 January 1822 The British Newspaper Archive
6. ↑ Burial: "Berkshire Burial Index"
   FindMyPast Transcription (accessed 9 October 2022)
   Charles Dundas burial (died in 1832 at age 80) on 9 Jul 1832 in Kintbury, Barton Court, Kintbury, Berkshire, England.
7. ↑ Title: Will of The Right Honorable Charles Dundas or Charles Baron Amesbury of Barton Court ,... Item number: 6013187 Catalogue reference: PROB 11/1807/188 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D259253
8. ↑ Title: Will of The Right Honorable Charles Baron Amesbury heretofore Charles Dundas of Barton... Item number: 6013186 Catalogue reference: PROB 11/1818/210 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D250651 (codicils)
9. ↑ Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways... Joseph Priestley, pub. 1831, Oxford University.
10. ↑ The Examiner 1815-05-07: Iss 384, Open Court Publishing Co
11. ↑ Marriage: "London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938"
    London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: DL/T/089/010
    Ancestry uk Record 1623 #10188577 (accessed 9 October 2022)
    Marianne Dundas marriage to William Everett on 3 May 1815 in St George, Hanover Square, Westminster, England.
12. ↑ Reading Mercury - Saturday 14 December 1861 British Newspaper Archive

• DUNDAS, Charles (1751-1832), of Barton Court, Berks. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
• The Kennet & Avon Canal: an illustrated history by Kenneth R. Clew, Pub. 1968, Newton Abbot, David & Charles