James William Dunkin

'J.W. Dunkin' was shown as co-owner of the Hamburg estate in Demerara British Guiana in 1826 with Hall M'Garel. This is almost certainly the James William Dunkin of Torrington Square whose will was proved 22/11/1828.

1. Death of James William Dunkin aged 59 formerly of Demerara in Torrington Square 27/11/1828. Among the executors of the will of James William Dunkin of Torrington Square were William King of Wandsworth, Charles M'Garel of Wimpole Street and Philip Frederick Tinne (each of whom q.v.), all connected with British Guiana. Under the will James William Dunkin left monetary legacies of £100-£200 to family members (including his brother Lt Col John Johnstone Dunkin of Dublin) and the remainder of his estate, including unspecified real estate, to his wife Mary.

2. When Mary Dunkin died in 1877, formerly of Torrington Square but late of 32 Campden Hill Gardens, she left £25,000. She had been born in Barbados, and died aged 96.

3. James William Dunkin had at least two daughters: Alicia, who married Robert Howard Sheperd, a Lloyds underwriter, in 1830; and Frances Elizabeth, who married George Fenning, an insurance broker, in 1826. Ralph Henry Dunkin, who was a witness at the marriage of Frances Eliza Dunkin in 1826, was probably also the son of James William Dunkin; he died in 1827 at the age of 24 and his burial record gives his abode as Torrington Square.

4. James William Dunkin was the great-grandfather of E. H. Shepard (1879-1976), illustrator of the Winnie-the-Pooh books.

1. PROB 11/1748/452; Gentleman's Magazine Vol. 98 Part 2 (July-December 1828), p. 472.

2. National Probate Calendar 1877; 1871 census online; Ancestry.com, England and Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 [database online].

3. Ancestry.com, London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database online]; Ancestry.com, London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980 [database online].

4. James William Dunkin's daughter Alicia married Robert Howard Sheperd in 1830; their son Henry Dunkin Shepard married Harriett Jessie Lee in 1875, whose son Ernest Howard Shepard was born in 1879. See online records.

We are grateful to Derek Carley for his assistance with compiling this entry.