Sir Thomas Dunk (died 1718) was an English ironmonger and benefactor. He was appointed

Sheriff of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

in 1711, and served under

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Sir Richard Hoare. Dunk lived at Tongs in

Hawkhurst Hawkhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The village is located close to the border with East Sussex, around south-east of Royal Tunbridge Wells and within the High Weald Area of Outstanding N ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England,

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

, and was from a family of 'great clothiers'. His family's wealth derived from centuries of textile production and diversification into ironmaking.Saint Ronan's School: Tongswood Estate
Tongswood – January 2010 version. Accessed 12 February 2022. The forests of Hawkshurst provided wood for smelting iron from local sandstone. In his will, Dunk endowed for Hawkhurst six

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

s, a school for twenty boys, and a house for a school master. In 1704 Thomas married Cornelia née Palmer (1668–1717), the daughter of Ralph Palmer and Alice née White and sister-in-law to

John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh (5 November 1640 – 23 June 1717), known as Sir John Verney, 2nd Baronet, between 1696 and 1703, was an English peer, merchant and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1710 to 1717. Early life ...

. There were no surviving children from the marriage. In his will Thomas named William Richards (1690–1733), presumed to be an illegitimate son, as his executor; he left William his estate in Chieveley, Berkshire, on condition that William and his heirs took the name and arms of Dunk. William's daughter Anne née Richards (1726–1753) - by his wife Ann née Davis (1704–1727), eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Davis of Hawkhurst, Kent - married, in 1741, George Montagu, 2nd Earl of Halifax who took the name Dunk and became

George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (6 October 1716 – 8 June 1771) was a British statesman of the Georgian era. Due to his success in extending commerce in the Americas, he became known as the "father of the colonies". President of the B ...

. Lord Halifax conveyed a lease on Tongs wood to Jeremiah Curteis of Rye for one thousand years, for a yearly rent of six pence. Curteis was one of the leaders of the notorious gang of smugglers – The Hawkhurst Gang. Dunk's former manor, known as Tongswood, was eventually purchased in 1945 and placed in trust in 1958 for use by Saint Ronan's School.

References

External links

*
Photo of plaque on Dunk's Alms Houses
*
List of Mayors and Sheriffs of London
1718 deaths 18th-century English businesspeople People from Hawkhurst Sheriffs of the City of London Year of birth unknown {{UK-business-bio-stub