John
Dunkin was born at Bicester, Oxfordshire on 16 May 1782. He was a son of John
Dunkin (d. 1823) of Bicester and his wife, Elizabeth, widow of John Telford and
daughter of Thomas and Johanna Timms. While attending the local free school, he
suffered a severe accident and for many years it was feared he would remain
disabled for life. While recovering he tried his hand at verse but contrived
also to pick up some knowledge of history and archaeology. At the age of twenty
he was apprenticed to a carpenter or house decorator at Stony Stratford, whom
he left to take up employment in Oxford. At twenty-three he was in London,
working for the clerk of works at Kensington Palace.
On
11 December 1809, at St Mary's, Islington, Dunkin married Ann, daughter of
William Chapman, a civil engineer from Lincolnshire. They had a son, Alfred
John Dunkin (born 1812 in Islington) and a daughter, Ellen Elizabeth (born 1814
in Bromley).
Dunkin
took up printing, served an apprenticeship in London, and set up at the age of
thirty as a bookseller, stationer and printer in Bromley, Kent. Here he
published his first work, “Outlines of the History and Antiquities of Bromley
in Kent” (1815). It was followed by “The History and Antiquities of Bicester”
(1816). The Bicester history attracted the attention of Sir Gregory Turner, a
local proprietor. In 1819 Turner encouraged Dunkin to work up the extensive
collections Dunkin had made for “The History and Antiquities of the Hundreds of
Bullingdon and Ploughley”, which was eventually published in 1823. The work
(limited to 100 copies, of which 70 were for sale at 5 guineas) is based on
thorough topographical investigation, and draws on Dunkin's superintendence of
excavations at Ambrosden and Bicester. He was an original member of the British
Archaeological Association.
Dunkin
moved to Dartford in 1835, where, with his son, he set up a bookshop at 13 High
Street, and started to build a printing business. Shortly afterwards he opened
a branch business at Gravesend. The address of John Dunkin at 13 High
Street, Dartford (near One Bell Corner), is currently occupied by “Prime
Linens”.
13 High Street
Dartford in 2018
The
premises have changed substantially since Dunkin occupied it. A photo in the
2018 Dartford Historical & Antiquarian Society newsletter shows 13 High
Street in c 1892. The building then had
four stories, as compared to two now. The columns and
pediments either side of ground floor frontage can be seen then as now.
13 High Street,
Dartford c 1892
(from the collection of the late Pat Stevens,
courtesy of Dartford Historical & Antiquarian Society).
The
1841 census shows John Dunkin, a printer, his wife Ann and daughter Ellen
living in High Street, Dartford with two apprentices and a servant.
Mr and Mrs Dunkin were attacked on Dartford Heath in 1842 (1). They were driving their phaeton from Bexleyheath to Dartford on a dark evening, when a man rushed up to them and attempted to drag Mr Dunkin to the ground. The only weapon he had was an umbrella which he repeatedly tried to to push into the felon's face. Mrs Dunkin was driving and kept urging the horse to carry on. Eventually they escaped, although the villain pursued them for some distance.
In 1844 Dunkin published his “History and Antiquities of Dartford”. Copies of this book are in the reference section of Dartford Library.
Mr and Mrs Dunkin were attacked on Dartford Heath in 1842 (1). They were driving their phaeton from Bexleyheath to Dartford on a dark evening, when a man rushed up to them and attempted to drag Mr Dunkin to the ground. The only weapon he had was an umbrella which he repeatedly tried to to push into the felon's face. Mrs Dunkin was driving and kept urging the horse to carry on. Eventually they escaped, although the villain pursued them for some distance.
In 1844 Dunkin published his “History and Antiquities of Dartford”. Copies of this book are in the reference section of Dartford Library.
Picture of John
Dunkin, from the 1844 edition of his “History and Antiquities of Dartford”.
Dunkin
died on 22 December 1846 aged 64, and by his own desire was buried on the
eastern side of the lich-gate of St Edmund's Cemetery, Dartford, as near as
possible to the ancient burial-ground of Noviomagus which he had described in
his last book. Most of the gravestones in the cemetery have been cleared away
with some of them (including Dunkin’s) placed against the outside wall. The
inscription reads
Beneath this
mound lie the remains of JOHN DUNKIN who died suddenly Dec 22 1846. A brass
tablet is erected inside the ladye chapel Dartford Church.
John Dunkin’s
gravestone
The
brass tablet that was erected to his memory in Holy Trinity Church, Dartford reads
On the Eastern
side of the lich gate of St Edmunds Cemetery, Dartford, reposes the mortal part
of JOHN DUNKIN born at Bicester Co. Oxon, May 16th 1782, died at
Dartford, Co. Kent, Dec 22nd 1846. A good citizen and most
industrious antiquary. His memory lives in his works, as his histories of
Dartford, Bromley, Oxfordshire, Bicester &c testify, but lest one of the
remembrance of others might seem to suffer undeserved neglect, his family have
erected this memorial of their affection.
He was the son
of John Dunkin, gentleman (who died suddenly November 12th 1823 in
the 84th year of his age and is interred at Bromley Co. Kent), who
was the second son of Thomas, great grandson of John Dunkin of Merton, Co.
Oxon, gentleman, whose loyalty and integrity, obtained from King Charles II,
Letters Patent dated Oct. 14th 1662 confirming the Title and Tenure
of his estate in that parish, together with a Grant of the Manor of Merton to
trustees for the benefit of Dame Katherine Harrington and her children after
the attainder and confiscation of the property of her husband Sir James
Harrington Bart., one of the judges in the memorable trial of King Charles I.
Dunkin’s brass
tablet in Dartford Church
After
his death, censuses show that John Dunkin’s family continued to run a
stationery business at 13 High St, Dartford until at least 1861. His wife Ann
died at Dartford on 12 March 1865, aged 77. His son Alfred John died in 1879
aged 66, his daughter Ellen Elizabeth in 1890 aged 76, both unmarried. The
three of them are buried in the same grave in East Hill Cemetery, Dartford.
Dunkin's
collections were presented to the Guildhall Library by his daughter in 1886. Those
relating to Oxfordshire have been in the Bodleian Library, Oxford since 1954.
Reference 1. Wilmington, A Village in North Kent page 161, by Jean Radford (2008).
Reference 1. Wilmington, A Village in North Kent page 161, by Jean Radford (2008).
