Family and Education

b. 1667, 3rd but 1st surv. s. of Sir Charles Dymoke of Scrivelsby, champion of Eng. by Eleanor, da. of Lewis Watson†, 1st Baron Rockingham; bro. of Lewis Dymoke*.  educ. Magdalene, Camb. adm. 6 Feb. 1682 aged 14, MA 1682.  m. c.1696, Jane (d. 1744), da. and h. of Robert Snoden of Horncastle, Lincs., s.p.  suc. fa. 1686.1

Offices Held

Champion of Eng. 1686–d.

Biography

Dymoke’s family had been settled in Lincolnshire since at least the 14th century, when by marriage they had acquired the manor of Scrivelsby, which conferred on its owner the dignity of champion of England. The first of his ancestors to sit in Parliament, John Dymoke, had represented the county in 1372. In the late 17th century the Dymokes were still at the forefront of county society, with the Member’s father described in 1684 as ‘of great fortune and considerable interest in Lincolnshire’. Charles Dymoke first acted as champion at the coronation of William and Mary in 1689, and two months later a warrant was prepared to make him a baronet, although the honour somehow eluded him. In 1696 his estate was estimated at ‘almost £2,000 a year’, but it was thought that ‘he owes more by far than he is worth’.2

Despite these financial worries, Dymoke fought a successful campaign for Lincolnshire in 1698. Shortly afterwards his name appeared in a probable forecast of those who were likely to oppose a standing army, but he was classed as a Court supporter by another political observer. The latter assessment may have been assumed from his position as champion, and was subsequently queried by another analyst. He was not prominent in that Parliament, but secured an unopposed victory at the Lincolnshire election of January 1701, and was listed in February as likely to support the Court in agreeing with the committee of supply’s resolution to continue the ‘Great Mortgage’. The following month he was appointed with two other local Members to draft a bill for the draining of Deeping Fen, Lincolnshire. In the wake of an unopposed return at the second general election of 1701, he made little impact in the House, but voted on 26 Feb. 1702 for the resolution vindicating the Commons’ recent proceedings in the impeachments of the King’s Whig ministers.

As champion, Dymoke took part in the coronation of Queen Anne, and found little difficulty in retaining his seat at the ensuing general election. However, during the first session he died, ‘much lamented’, on 17 Jan. 1703, ‘of a complication of distempers, which a very gross body brought upon him’. He was buried at Scrivelsby, and left extensive property in its neighbourhood to his younger brother Lewis, who succeeded him as champion.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Paula Watson / Perry Gauci

Notes

• 1. IGI, Lincs.; Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lv), 1207; S. Lodge, Scrivelsby, 89.
• 2. Lincs. Peds. 1203; HMC 7th Rep. 298; CSP Dom. 1689–90, p. 68; Pryme Diary (Surtees Soc. liv), 109.
• 3. Lincs. Peds. 1207; Post Boy, 19–21 Jan. 1703; Add. 27440, f. 135; Lodge, 91; PCC 89 Dogg.