Colonel Sir John Swinnerton Dyer, 6th Baronet (30 November 1738 – 21 March 1801) was a British soldier and courtier who was Groom of the Bedchamber to King George IV when Prince of Wales.
Early life
editDyer was born on 30 November 1738 into a family that originally hailed from Heytesbury, Wiltshire.[1] John, who was baptised at Finchingfield, was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Dyer, 5th Baronet and Elizabeth Jones (a daughter of Major Jones).[2]
His paternal grandparents were Sir John Swinnerton Dyer, 2nd Baronet and Elizabeth Johnson (a daughter of Sir Rowland Johnson). His brother, Thomas Dyer, married Mary Smith (daughter of Richard Smith of Islington), and was the father of Thomas Swinnerton Dyer (who died without legitimate male issue), Maj.-Gen. Sir John Dyer of the Royal Artillery (father of Sir Thomas Swinnerton Dyer, 9th Baronet), and Edward Dyer. Among his extended family were uncles Sir Swinnerton Dyer, 3rd Baronet (who died without male issue) and Sir John Swinnerton Dyer, 4th Baronet (who died unmarried).[2]
Career
editDyer, a Colonel in the Guards of the British Army, was Groom of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales (who later became King George IV).[3] He was said to have been "a great friend of HRH the Prince of Wales to whom it is stated he lent 80,000 which was not repaid."[4]
Upon the death of his father on 4 October 1780, he succeeded as the 6th Baronet Dyer, of Tottenham,[2] as well as inheriting Newton Hall, Essex from his father (which he sold) and the London property of his ancestors, the Swinnertons, in St Mary Aldermanbury, St Lawrence Jewry, and Tottenham.[4] In 1782, Elizabeth (née Fleming) Harries left Sir John her entire estate, including the Manor of Westhope in Shropshire, of which he was made Lord of the Manor, in 1792.[1]
Personal life
editOn 9 December 1761, Dyer married Susannah Vicary, a daughter of Henry Vicary of Windsor, at St Vedast Foster Lane.[2] Together, they were the parents of three daughters, Elizabeth Mary Dyer, Eleanor Dyer, and Elizabeth Dyer, who all died unmarried, and one son:[4]
- Sir Thomas Richard Swinnerton Dyer, 7th Baronet (1768–1838),[5] a Lieutenant-General in the British Army who married Elizabeth Standerwick, only daughter and heiress of James Standerwick of Ovington Park. After his death, she married German Baron Friedrich von Zandt.[4]
His wife, Lady Dyer, died on 7 April 1773 and was buried at St Margaret's, Westminster.[4] Sir John died on 21 March 1801 and was buried at the Chancel Vault at Aldermanbury.[6] He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his only son, Thomas.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Williams, Gareth (2021). "Westhope Manor". The Country Houses of Shropshire. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 672–674. ISBN 978-1-80010-347-4. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 1252.
- ^ Debrett, John (1835). Debrett's Baronetage of England: With Alphabetical Lists of Such Baronetcies as Have Merged in the Peerage, Or Have Become Extinct, and Also of the Existing Baronets of Nova Scotia and Ireland. J.G. & F. Rivington. p. 141. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Weaver, Frederick William; Mayo, Charles Herbert (1905). Notes and Queries for Somerset and Dorset ... Volumes 9-10. p. 349. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
- ^ "Monuments to Earl Nelson and Sir T. R. Dyer". The Gentleman's Magazine. E. Cave: 160. 1839. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
- ^ Shrewsbury, Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (1909). Transactions ... Adnitt and Naunton. p. 246. Retrieved 28 February 2024.