William Dunn, 1st Baronet, of Lakenheath
Encyclopedia
Sir William Dunn, 1st Baronet, of Lakenheath, MP, JP
, FRGS
(22 September 1833 – 31 March 1912), was a London
banker, merchant and philanthropist
, Liberal Member of Parliament
for Paisley
(1891-1906), and from before 1896 until the outbreak of the Second Boer War
in 1899 consul general for the Orange Free State
in the United Kingdom
.
Dunn's family origins were modest. He was born in Paisley near Glasgow
on 22 September 1833 to John Dunn, a local shopkeeper, and Isabella Chalmers.
Dunn married in South Africa
in 1859 with Sarah Elizabeth Howse (1 May 1830 – 2 February 1919), daughter of James Howse (1796-1852), of Grahamstown
, Cape Colony
, and Sarah Ann Dold (1803-1881). James Howse emigrated to Algoa Bay, South Africa from Oxfordshire in 1820. He started off as a labourer, but later owned the farm "Leeuwfontein". He was killed in an ambush on the way to his farm on New Year's Day 1852.
Dunn emigrated to South Africa
in 1852, supported by a friend of his father's, local Member of Parliament William Barbour.
where he landed in Algoa Bay
. He entered the firm of Mackie & Co. of Port Elizabeth. After two years, still only twenty-one years old, he was offered a partnership in the firm. Another six years later, in 1860, Dunn succeeded his deceased partner as sole proprietor of the business. Over time he built up a large worldwide trading empire from his South African base. Later he returned to Great Britain and controlled his businesses from London. Dunn was senior partner in the firms of William Dunn & Co. of Broad Street Avenue, London EC; Mackie, Dunn, & Co. of Port Elizabeth; W. Dunn & Co. of Durban
; and in Dunn & Co. of East London. He was also a director of the Royal Exchange Assurance Co. and of the Union Discount Co. and chairman of the Home and Foreign Insurance Co.
After his return to Britain he settled in London, where he entered public service, as alderman
for Cheap Ward in the City of London
and from 1891 until the dissolution in 1906 as liberal
member of parliament for Paisley. He was also the consul general of the Orange Free State
until the outbreak of the Second Boer War
. Dunn was also active as chairman of the South African section of the London Chamber of Commerce
and member of the Executive Council of that institution.
Dunn was created a baronet
in 1895, becoming Sir William Dunn of Lakenheath
, after his residence in the country. While in London he lived at 34 Phillimore Gardens, Kensington and alternatively at "The Retreat", Lakenheath, Suffolk. Both he and his wife were buried at West Norwood Cemetery
. On his death in 1912, Sir William's estate was valued at 1.3 million pounds. The baronetcy became extinct upon his death.
Despite his noble gestures in death, described below, Dunn's background and business dealings are shady. During his lifetime and after he received a bad press. He was called "pathologically mean" and "a social climber who married for money". It was rumoured that he sold liquor to the African population in the Eastern Cape. Once in Parliament he allegedly did everything in his power to further his own agenda. And with his will something was amiss as well. His wife contested it and won. On the other hand, there is little evidence to substantiate the accusations and rumours.
. The settlement of the rest of his inheritance he left to his trustees.
After handing out a large number of small grants to hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, etc., the trustees decided on a grander scheme. In cooperation with Sir William Bate Hardy
, secretary of the Royal Society
and Sir Walter Morley Fletcher
, the secretary of the Medical Research Committee, they decided to fund research in biochemistry and pathology. To this end they funded Professor Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861-1947) in Cambridge with a sum of £210,000 in 1920 for the advancement of his work in biochemistry. Two years later they endowed Professor Georges Dreyer (1873-1934) of the Oxford University with a sum of £100,000 for research in pathology.
The money enabled each of the recipients to establish a chair and sophisticated teaching and research laboratories, the Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry
at Cambridge and the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology
at Oxford. Between them, the two establishments have yielded ten Nobel Prize
winners, including Hopkins, for the discovery of vitamins, and professors Howard Florey and Ernst Chain (Oxford), for their developmental work on penicillin
.
The Dunn Trustees also endowed the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory at Cambridge, which opened in 1927. The Dunn Laboratories at Cambridge and at Oxford are forever associated with major discoveries that have helped alleviate human suffering, facts that would surely have pleased Sir William and his trustees.
Dunn himself made more earthly gifts, like the donation – to his birthplace Paisley in 1894 – of a square, "to be kept for the enjoyment of all the inhabitants", which was named "Dunn Square".
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, FRGS
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
(22 September 1833 – 31 March 1912), was a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
banker, merchant and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, Liberal Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
(1891-1906), and from before 1896 until the outbreak of the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
in 1899 consul general for the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Family
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
on 22 September 1833 to John Dunn, a local shopkeeper, and Isabella Chalmers.
Dunn married in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 1859 with Sarah Elizabeth Howse (1 May 1830 – 2 February 1919), daughter of James Howse (1796-1852), of Grahamstown
Grahamstown
Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...
, Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
, and Sarah Ann Dold (1803-1881). James Howse emigrated to Algoa Bay, South Africa from Oxfordshire in 1820. He started off as a labourer, but later owned the farm "Leeuwfontein". He was killed in an ambush on the way to his farm on New Year's Day 1852.
Career
It is suggested that Dunn received his earliest education at home, although there are also indications that he attended school in the working-class West End District of Paisley. At the age of fourteen Dunn became an apprentice at a local accountant's office. In view of the fact that his elder brothers – William was the youngest – all went to work in spinning and weaving, it seems reasonable to surmise that Dunn, through his intelligence and education, was able to break free from his social environment.Dunn emigrated to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 1852, supported by a friend of his father's, local Member of Parliament William Barbour.
where he landed in Algoa Bay
Algoa Bay
Algoa Bay is a wide inlet along the South African east coast, some 425 miles east of the Cape of Good Hope. It is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to 436 m deep...
. He entered the firm of Mackie & Co. of Port Elizabeth. After two years, still only twenty-one years old, he was offered a partnership in the firm. Another six years later, in 1860, Dunn succeeded his deceased partner as sole proprietor of the business. Over time he built up a large worldwide trading empire from his South African base. Later he returned to Great Britain and controlled his businesses from London. Dunn was senior partner in the firms of William Dunn & Co. of Broad Street Avenue, London EC; Mackie, Dunn, & Co. of Port Elizabeth; W. Dunn & Co. of Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
; and in Dunn & Co. of East London. He was also a director of the Royal Exchange Assurance Co. and of the Union Discount Co. and chairman of the Home and Foreign Insurance Co.
After his return to Britain he settled in London, where he entered public service, as alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
for Cheap Ward in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
and from 1891 until the dissolution in 1906 as liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
member of parliament for Paisley. He was also the consul general of the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
until the outbreak of the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. Dunn was also active as chairman of the South African section of the London Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and member of the Executive Council of that institution.
Dunn was created a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
in 1895, becoming Sir William Dunn of Lakenheath
Lakenheath
Lakenheath is a village in Suffolk, England. It has around 8,200 residents, and is situated in the Forest Heath district of Suffolk, close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and at the meeting point of the The Fens and the Breckland natural environments.Lakenheath is host...
, after his residence in the country. While in London he lived at 34 Phillimore Gardens, Kensington and alternatively at "The Retreat", Lakenheath, Suffolk. Both he and his wife were buried at West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery.One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, and is a site of major historical, architectural and...
. On his death in 1912, Sir William's estate was valued at 1.3 million pounds. The baronetcy became extinct upon his death.
Despite his noble gestures in death, described below, Dunn's background and business dealings are shady. During his lifetime and after he received a bad press. He was called "pathologically mean" and "a social climber who married for money". It was rumoured that he sold liquor to the African population in the Eastern Cape. Once in Parliament he allegedly did everything in his power to further his own agenda. And with his will something was amiss as well. His wife contested it and won. On the other hand, there is little evidence to substantiate the accusations and rumours.
Philanthropist
Dunn had no natural heirs and left his fortune to charity. In his will, dated 4 November 1908, Dunn prescribed that his inheritance had be made available for the advancement of Christianity and the benefit of children and young people, for the support of hospitals, as well as "to alleviate human suffering, to encourage education and promote emigration". Dunn allotted about half his capital himself and created the Dunn Chair of New Testament Theology at Westminster College, CambridgeWestminster College, Cambridge
Westminster College in Cambridge is a theological college of the United Reformed Church, formerly the Presbyterian Church of England. Its principal purpose is the training of clergy for ordination, but is also used more widely for training within the denomination...
. The settlement of the rest of his inheritance he left to his trustees.
After handing out a large number of small grants to hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, etc., the trustees decided on a grander scheme. In cooperation with Sir William Bate Hardy
William Bate Hardy
Sir William Bate Hardy FRS was a British biologist and food scientist.He was born in Erdington, Birmingham and graduated with a Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge, where he carried out biochemical research. He first suggested the word hormone to E.H...
, secretary of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
and Sir Walter Morley Fletcher
Walter Morley Fletcher
Sir Walter Morley Fletcher, KBE FRS was a British physiologist and administrator. Fletcher graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge and was most significant in his administration of the Medical Research Council during the interwar years...
, the secretary of the Medical Research Committee, they decided to fund research in biochemistry and pathology. To this end they funded Professor Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861-1947) in Cambridge with a sum of £210,000 in 1920 for the advancement of his work in biochemistry. Two years later they endowed Professor Georges Dreyer (1873-1934) of the Oxford University with a sum of £100,000 for research in pathology.
The money enabled each of the recipients to establish a chair and sophisticated teaching and research laboratories, the Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry
Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry
The Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry at Cambridge University is a research institute endowed from the estate of Sir William Dunn, which was the origin of the Cambridge Department of Biochemistry. Created for Frederick Gowland Hopkins on the recommendation of Walter Morley Fletcher, it...
at Cambridge and the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology
Sir William Dunn School of Pathology
The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology is a Department within the University of Oxford . Its research programme includes the cellular and molecular biology of pathogens, the immune response, cancer and cardiovascular disease...
at Oxford. Between them, the two establishments have yielded ten Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winners, including Hopkins, for the discovery of vitamins, and professors Howard Florey and Ernst Chain (Oxford), for their developmental work on penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
.
The Dunn Trustees also endowed the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory at Cambridge, which opened in 1927. The Dunn Laboratories at Cambridge and at Oxford are forever associated with major discoveries that have helped alleviate human suffering, facts that would surely have pleased Sir William and his trustees.
Dunn himself made more earthly gifts, like the donation – to his birthplace Paisley in 1894 – of a square, "to be kept for the enjoyment of all the inhabitants", which was named "Dunn Square".