Constituency Dates
Dartmouth 20 Mar. 1714 – 1715
Family and Education
b. c. 1661, 1st s. of John Fownes of Whitleigh, Devon by Mary, da. of Henry Northleigh† of Peamore, Devon, sis. of Henry Northleigh*. educ. Exeter, Oxf. matric. 5 May 1679, aged 18. m. 23 Aug. 1681, Anne, da. of Edward Yarde† of Churston Ferrers, Devon, sis. of Edward Yarde*, 3s. (2 d.v.p.) 3da. (1 d.v.p.). suc. fa. 1670.1 Vivian, Vis. Devon, 373.
Offices Held

Freeman, Dartmouth 1701.2 Trans. Devon Assoc. lxxxv. 78–79.

Address
Main residence: Kittery Court, Devon.
biography text

Fownes, who was descended from a line of aldermen and mayors of Plymouth, moved after his marriage to Kittery Court, a fine house in the vicinity of Dartmouth, and in 1701 was admitted a freeman of that borough (an ‘honorary not a trading freeman’) as part of a mass creation of freemen to build up a rival interest in Dartmouth to that of the Herne family. But it was not until a by-election in 1714 that he stood for Parliament there, as a High Tory, in opposition to the Hanoverian Tory Frederick Herne*, whom he defeated. His son John succeeded him in the seat in 1715, keeping out on that occasion Frederick’s brother Nathaniel Herne*. Fownes himself died on 4 Oct. 1731 and was buried at Brixham.3 Ibid.; Vivian, 373.

Author
E.C.
Volume
Commons 1690-1715
Notes
  • 1. Vivian, Vis. Devon, 373.
  • 2. Trans. Devon Assoc. lxxxv. 78–79.
  • 3. Ibid.; Vivian, 373.