Fortunatus Dwarris

Sir Fortunatus William Lilley Dwarris (1786–1860) was an English lawyer and author.

Life

The eldest son of William Dwarris of Warwick and Golden Grove, Jamaica, by Sarah, daughter of W. Smith of Southam in Warwickshire, he was born in Jamaica on 23 October 1786. He inherited property there, but left the island in infancy, and entered Rugby School 23 October 1801. He went on to University College, Oxford, and took the degree of B.A. on 1 March 1808. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple on 28 June 1811.[1]

Through his connection with Jamaica, Dwarris was appointed in 1822 one of the commissioners to inquire into the state of the law in the colonies in the West Indies. An act of parliament was based upon his report (he was the only surviving commissioner), and he was knighted on 2 May 1838. He acted s a member of the commission for examining into the municipal corporations, a master of the Queen's Bench, recorder of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and counsel to the Board of Health. In 1850 he was elected a bencher of the Middle Temple, and in 1859 he was appointed its treasurer.[1]

Dwarris was a Fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a vice-president of the Archæological Association, and a member of the Archæological Institute. He died at 75 Eccleston Square, London, on 20 May 1860, and was buried in Woking cemetery on 26 May; his wife died in the same house on 10 June 1856, and her remains were placed in the same cemetery on 16 June.[1]

Works

Dwarris published:[1]

He wrote also in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association and Archæologia.[1]

Family

On 28 February 1811 Dwarris married Alicia, daughter of Robert Brereton, a captain in the army. Their family consisted of four sons and two daughters.[1]

Notes

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Dwarris, Fortunatus William Lilley". Dictionary of National Biography 16. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 

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