John Dawnay, 1st Viscount Downe (25 January 1625–1 October 1695), known as Sir John Dawnay between 1660 and 1681, was an English politician.

Dawnay was the son of John Dawnay, of Womersley

Womersley

Womersley is a village in the Selby District, in the English county of North Yorkshire. It is near the town of Doncaster.-Location grid:- References :Philip's North Yorkshire Street Atlas...

, Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Hutton, a Judge of the King's Bench

Court of King's Bench (England)

The Court of King's Bench , formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was an English court of common law in the English legal system...

. Sir Christopher Dawnay, 1st Baronet, was his brother.

Dawnay was elected as one of two Knights of the Shire for Yorkshire

Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Yorkshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1290, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...

 in 1660, a seat he only held until 1661, when he was instead returned for Pontefract

Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency)

Pontefract was an English parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1621 until 1885, and one member from 1885 to 1974.-In the unreformed...

. He was knighted in 1660 and raised to the Peerage of Ireland

Peerage of Ireland

The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...

 as Viscount Downe in 1681. As this was an Irish peerage he could remain a member of the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 and continued to represent Pontefract until 1690.

Lord Downe was twice married. He married firstly Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Jophn Melton, in 1645. After her death in February 1662 he married secondly Dorothy, daughter of William Johnson, of Wickham, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, in 1663. He died in October 1695, aged 70, and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his son from his second marriage, Henry

Henry Dawnay, 2nd Viscount Downe

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

.