Constituency Dates
Haslemere 1679 (Oct.)
Family and Education
bap. 2 Sept. 1619, s. of Richard Dorrington, rector of West Stoke, Suss. 1615-30. m. lic. 22 Apr. 1642, Anne, da. of William Danson, Clothworker, of Westminster, 4s. (2 d.v.p.) 4da.1Information from Prof. H. Horwitz and Mrs P. Gill, Guildhall Lib. mss, 10091/23/69; Mems. St. Margaret’s Westminster, 182-250, 620, 627; PCC 108 Coker.
Offices Held

Freeman, Clothworkers’ Co. 1641, master 1672 – 73, asst. to 1687; lt. of militia ft. Westminster Apr. 1660; commr. for sewers Aug. 1660, assessment, Westminster 1661 – 69, Surr. and Suss. 1679 – 80; alderman, London 1668–9.2Information from Mr J. Reed, clerk to the Clothworkers’ Co.; Merc. Pub. 26 Apr. 1660; C181/7/39; PC2/72/506; J. R. Woodhead, Rulers of London, 61.

Address
Main residences: Westminster; Sidney, Alfold, Surr.
biography text

Dorrington was apprenticed to a London Clothworker, and married his master’s daughter as soon as he was out of his time. His own interests, however, lay chiefly in the shipping and brewing trades. He took no known part in the Civil War, but was joint owner of a London ship, the Constant Ann, licensed to sail to royalist Virginia in 1650. He probably supported the Restoration, serving as a juror on two of the regicide trials. During the second Dutch war his frigate, the Leicester, about to sail with a cargo of brimstone, was sunk as a blockship at Blackwall, for which the Privy Council awarded him £1,500 compensation in 1668. In the same year he tendered against Sir Dennis Gauden and Josiah Child for a naval victualling contract. He was allowed to fine off for alderman at £213 13s.4d., and for the wardenship of his company, but served as master in 1672-3.3CSP Dom. 1650, p. 238; 1667, p. 493; 1667-8, p. 206; PCC 108 Coker; State Trials, v. 1115, 1195; Pepys Diary, 14 Feb., 26 Aug. 1668; Cal. Treas. Bks. v. 1384, information from Mr J. Reed.

By 1676 Dorrington had acquired a small estate on the borders of Surrey and Sussex, seven miles east of Haslemere. When he first stood for the borough as a country candidate in February 1679 he received only three votes; but Lord Treasurer Danby was galvanized into ordering the immediate payment of his 12-year-old claim. Nothing was done, however, and Dorrington stood again in August in partnership with Denzil Onslow. Although he had apparently retired from business, he remained a Middlesex ratepayer, and served on the jury for the trial of Lord Castlemaine (Roger Palmer). He was seated on petition on 11 Nov, but took no known part in the second Exclusion Parliament. He and Onslow were defeated in 1681, and their petition could not be reported during the brief life of the Oxford Parliament. Though Dorrington welcomed the Revolution, advancing £1,100 to the new regime in 1689, he is unlikely to have stood again. He died on 12 June 1693 and was buried at Alfold. None of his descendants sat in Parliament.4Surr. Musters (Surr. Rec. Soc. iii), 344; Cal. Treas. Bks. v. 1205; vi. 480; vii. 706; ix. 1983; Moneys for Secret Services (Cam. Soc. lii), 28; State Trials, v. 1680; CJ, ix. 650, 707; Manning and Bray, Surr. ii. 72.

Author
J.P.F.
Volume
Commons 1660-1690
Notes
  • 1. Information from Prof. H. Horwitz and Mrs P. Gill, Guildhall Lib. mss, 10091/23/69; Mems. St. Margaret’s Westminster, 182-250, 620, 627; PCC 108 Coker.
  • 2. Information from Mr J. Reed, clerk to the Clothworkers’ Co.; Merc. Pub. 26 Apr. 1660; C181/7/39; PC2/72/506; J. R. Woodhead, Rulers of London, 61.
  • 3. CSP Dom. 1650, p. 238; 1667, p. 493; 1667-8, p. 206; PCC 108 Coker; State Trials, v. 1115, 1195; Pepys Diary, 14 Feb., 26 Aug. 1668; Cal. Treas. Bks. v. 1384, information from Mr J. Reed.
  • 4. Surr. Musters (Surr. Rec. Soc. iii), 344; Cal. Treas. Bks. v. 1205; vi. 480; vii. 706; ix. 1983; Moneys for Secret Services (Cam. Soc. lii), 28; State Trials, v. 1680; CJ, ix. 650, 707; Manning and Bray, Surr. ii. 72.