Thomas Dawson, 1st Viscount Cremorne, owned the Dawtrey estate in County Monaghan, Ireland . He first married Lady Anne Fermor but she died aged 36. He married again in 1770, Philadelphia Hannah Freame, granddaughter of William Penn (the founder of Pennsylvania, USA). Due to the revolution within Ireland of 1789 he settled in Chelsea, London. In addition to owning vasts amount of land he was a successful banker. He died in 1813, aged 89. with no heirs. His unmarked tomb is hidden from public view behind the vestry of St Giles’ church. Anne Fermor’s sister was Juliana who had married Thomas Penn of Stoke Park, so there was already a strong family connection with Stoke Poges.
Thomas Dawson 1st Viscount Cremorne by and published by Charles Knight, after Sir Thomas Lawrence. stipple engraving, published 1794 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. © National Portrait Gallery, London
Motto: Tourjours propice – Always propitious
Heraldry: Dexter background black. Quarter 1st and 4th, Azure on a bend engrailed or three mantlets gules (Dawson), 2nd and 3rd, Azure three torches argent inflamed proper (Dawson). In pretence: Argent a fess engrailed and in base a chevron sable (Freame) Viscount’s coronet. Crest: An estoile of six points. Supporters: Dexter, A greyhound proper collared and chained sable, Sinister: An elk proper collared and chained sable