The Dickinsons of Kingweston
Caleb Dickinson bought Kingweston in 1741.[1] Caleb was no traditional landowner, he was at the same time a hard headed merchant and plantation owner and also a committed Quaker and a generous benefactor to the Society in Bristol including the school at Quaker Friars. Transforming the family into traditional Anglican gentry landlords took several generations and might not have been Caleb’s vision. However, having decided to become a Somerset landowner Caleb Dickinson spent over £10,600 purchasing and maintaining Kingweston manor between 1740 and 1746. He probably regarded as an investment like his overseas ventures and was prepared to spend good money on it. It is not always clear whether his main interest was in the farms or in creating a country estate for his son William. The house Caleb found would have been markedly inferior to his Bristol home and he clearly had no intention of living in the country himself or exchanging his mercantile life for that of a country gentleman, those ambitions he reserved for his son. Caleb visited Kingweston for a few days each year but depended entirely on his agent William Reynolds whose family had been the most important farmers in the parish since the 16th century. He clearly had the experience and local knowledge to carry out his new master’s wishes.
Caleb Dickinson’s first requirement seems to have been to provide the family with a fitting country house but his vision was modest. The house was repaired in 1742, in 1743 it was roofed with Cornish tile and a new kitchen was built in 1764.[2] Possibly the difficulty of access and a desire for privacy led Caleb to order changes to the local road system, a programme his son was to carry out in earnest. The manor house was still a farm house, new outbuildings were put up in 1765 and a barn in 1772.[3] In 1778 in a codicil to his will Caleb declared that he had spent a lot of money on the Kingweston estate and that he wanted the house to be the family seat and residence of his son.[4]
Caleb died in 1783 and his son William, mindful of his father’s wish turned his attention once more to the house which clearly did not satisfy his ambitions. William built his new house between 1785 and 1788 under the supervision of Samuel Heal of Bridgwater. Another major expense was the extensive work in the new grounds, which William Dickinson considered essential. Large areas of private parkland were envisaged. Despite his grand new house William spent much of his time in London although politics rather than trade attracted him there. Perhaps like Caleb he considered the investment was in the interests of his descendants.
Change continued and accelerated after William Dickinson died in 1806 to be succeeded by his son, also William. The younger William continued his father’s grand schemes for the house and grounds although many were deferred until the 1820s. He continued the expansion of the parkland eastwards, which had been begun in the father’s lifetime by removing hedges.[5] By 1839 parkland extended north, west and south of the house, known as North and Front parks, and there was a lodge in the north-west. Around the drives, beyond Front park, and on the hill to the south-west there were extensive plantations. An absentee like his father, William was kept well informed of farming life in Kingweston by his agent William Peddle.
William died in 1837 and was succeeded by his second son Francis a gentleman antiquarian in the high Anglican tradition. The change from Bristol merchant was complete. As well as pursuing his scholarly interests and rebuilding the church to his own religious tastes, Francis was the undoubted lord of the manor. In 1839 Francis Dickinson he owned the whole parish apart from the 30-a. glebe and he leased most of that. He spent some of his time at the house now surrounded by maturing plantations and avenues, private parkland, and a large acreage of wood to enhance the view.[6]
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Mary Siraut Page 3 Somerset Reference
[1] SRO, DD/DN 1, 167; TNA, CP 25/2/1195/14 & 15 Geo. II Trin.
[2] SRO, DD/DN 407, 409, 411—3.
[3] J. Burden, Winging Westward, 49.
[4] SRO, DD/DN 1.
[5] Ibid. DD/DN 409.
[6] Ibid. tithe award.