Edwin Hare Dashwood (1825-1882)

In researching Samuel Newport, my wife's great great grandfather, and other family members, I discovered transcripts of letters written by Samuel in November 1842. One letter was to G.H. Dashwood Esq. of West Wycombe Park asking that it be shown to the neighbours. 

West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, England. Photographed by Giano (August 2006)
Click image to enlarge

It required little research to discover who Dashwood was: Sir George Dashwood, the 5th Baronet. He was a Liberal Whig representing Buckinghamshire and later Wycombe as a Member of Parliament in England.  A friend mentioned the Dashwood Pass on State Highway 1 south of Blenheim, so more research.

On the passenger list of the "Mary", which arrived in Nelson 24th February 1849, I discovered one Edwin Dashwood, 19, an agricultural labourer.  Edwin Hare Dashwood was much more than an agricultural labourer.

He was born in West Wycombe 7th Sept. 1825, son of Capt. Edwin Sandys Dashwood and Emily Hare. He was educated at a military school in Germany, obtained an ensigncy in the 10th Regiment of Foot (North Lincolnshire) and served in India before resigning and coming to Nelson.  He purchased a farm in Motueka and a sheep run in the Awatere, Blenheim.

In 1850 he and Capt. Mitchell of the 84th. Regt., along with an old whaler named Harris, traveled overland along the Waihopai River to Port Cooper. This was the first expedition to look for a route to drive sheep to Lyttleton. The route they followed proved unsuitable for the purpose, but the pass Dashwood discovered bears his name today.¹

In 1852, he returned to England. He married Roberta Henrietta Abercromby at Forglen House, Forglen Banffshire Scotland on the 25th October 1853. The couple returned to Nelson bringing with them the cutter "Sprite" that had been built at Cowes for his uncle George Henry Dashwood.  The young Dashwood started ferrying passengers between Nelson, Motueka and Collingwood.

Dashwood's other activities were many and varied. He raced the cutter in Yacht Club events, was active in looking after the affairs of other ex-officers of the Army and Navy, was a Stock agent, land agent, and landlord and served on Grand Juries. His circle appears to have included the notables of Nelson. The name Dashwood appears over 400 times in the Nelson Examiner of the day.

In 1859 Dashwood, now the father of three Nelson born sons, sold off his interests in New Zealand and returned to England, due to the illness of his uncle, Sir George Dashwood. Sir George died on 4th March 1862 and was succeeded by his brother John.

In 1863 Edwin Hare Dashwood, the agricultural labourer who had arrived in Nelson in 1849, succeeded his uncle John, who died unmarried, as 7^th Baronet. He also inherited West Wycombe Park.  Sir Edwin Hare Dashwood died in 1882.

The New Zealand connection continued. Edwin was succeeded by his oldest son Edwin Abercromby Dashwood, who had returned to New Zealand in approx. 1874 as a Kauri gum digger. He married Florence Norton in Auckland on the 24th August 1889, returning to England that year to take up his inheritance and become the 8th Baronet.²  He died suddenly on 7th April 1893 at West Wycombe and was succeeded by his brother Robert.

Robert John Dashwood, the 9th Baronet had returned to England with his parents. He married Clara Adelaide Ida Conyers Lindsay at St. Saviors Paddington 25th July 1893. He died 9^th July 1908 and was succeeded by his son, John Lindsay Dashwood (1896-1966) as the 10th Baronet.

Ownership of West Wycombe Park has now passed to the National Trust, although the Dashwood family still reside in the Manor.

For more information about the Dashwood family, click here.

2009 

Updated: April 2020

Story by: Bill Chapman-Stone

Dashwood West Wycombe Dashwood Pass