Samuel Dashwood

Sir Samuel Dashwood (c.1643–1705) was an English merchant and Tory politician.

The son of Francis Dashwood, a London merchant, by his wife Alice Sleigh, he was a brother of Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet, and cousin of Sir Robert Dashwood, 1st Baronet. He was elected Sheriff of London, and was also knighted, in 1683, and was a City of London Member of Parliament in 1685 and 1690.

Dashwood's father was a farmer of the excise, and he himself became a commissioner of excise in 1683. An alderman in 1687, he was removed by James II for refusing to countenance the suspension of the Corporation Act.

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. 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.

Anne Dashwood, née Smith, portrait by Peter Lely

Dashwood married on 17 May 1670 Anne Smith, sister of the politician John Smith, who was daughter of John Smith of Tedworth. Their daughter Sophia married Francis Lewis, Elizabeth married Andrew Archer in 1702, and Sarah married Fulke Greville, 5th Baron Brooke. Samuel's heir was George, MP for Stockbridge, the fourth son but the oldest who survived his father.