Author: Dallaway, James
Biography:
DALLAWAY, James (1763-1834: ODNB)
He was born in Bristol to James Dallaway (1730-87), a banker of Stroud, Gloucestershire, and his wife Martha Hopton (1739-83). They had married in Stroud on 8 Feb. 1762; of their children, only James and a younger daughter survived infancy. James Dallaway was baptised at SS Philip and Jacob church in Bristol on 18 Mar. 1763. He was educated at Cirencester grammar school and matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford, on 4 June 1778 (BA 1782, MA 1784). He was ordained deacon in 1785 and was a curate first in Rodmarton and then in Rodborough, Gloucestershire. Dallaway became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1789. His interest in heraldry was sparked when he assisted Richard Bigland in editing and publishing two volumes of Historical, Monumental, and Genealogical Collections, Relative to the County of Gloucester (1791-92), a work begun by Ralph Bigland, antiquary and herald. In 1793 he was ordained a priest but returned to Oxford where he earned his MB in preparation for joining Robert Liston as a physician and chaplain during his embassy to the Ottoman empire. They departed overland in Mar. 1794 and Dallaway returned to England via the Greek islands and Italy in 1795. He published Constantinople, Ancient and Modern in 1797. From 1797 until his death Dallaway served as secretary to the Earl Marshall (the dukes of Norfolk) and had rooms in the Heralds’ college. From 1799 to 1803 he was rector of South Stoke, Sussex, and became vicar of Leatherhead, Surrey, in 1804. On 26 June 1800 he married Harriet Anne Jefferis; she was a competent artist who wrote A Manual of Heraldry for Amateurs (1828). They had one daughter, Harriet Jane, who was born in Sept. 1816. Dallaway was a prebendary of Chichester cathedral 1811-26. He published numerous works on art, architecture, and local history although these were sometimes criticised for inaccurate and careless writing. Dallaway died on 6 June 1834 and was buried in a plot of his own choosing in Leatherhead cemetery. His will was proved on 8 July 1834 and provided for his wife, daughter, nephew, and two faithful servants. (ODNB 11 June 2024; ancestry.co.uk 11 June 2024; Alumni Oxonienses; CCEd 11 June 2024; John Britten, The Autobiography of John Britten, FSA [1849]) SR