The Custody Of Mary Jay Dawson

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The Surrogate. — The father of Mary Jay Dawson, a minor, was a native of England, whence, at the age of sixteen years, he came with his father to this country to reside. He subsequently renounced his allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States. His residence was in the city of New York, from anterior to his marriage until his decease, in 1852. The mother of the infant was a native of the United States, and a resident of this city, where she died in 1846. The minor was born in New York, in the year 1842, and inherited from her mother a large estate situated in this place.

In June, 1852, I appointed Miss Mary Ann Dawson, a paternal aunt, guardian of the infant, after objections made on the part of some of the maternal relatives had been withdrawn, upon the consent of the guardian being given that her ward should continue to reside in the United States. [Source]


The facts bear out that Mary Jay Dawson was the daughter of William and Sarah (Jay) Dawson:

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From a Maryland publication:

Dawson's propensity for getting into legal difficulties is further shown in the custody battle for his little niece, Mary Jay Dawson. In this instance, he defied a number of court orders and apparently got away with it. The second William Dawson had died at New York in March 1852, leaving a daughter Mary Jay Dawson, probably about nine years old. Frederick Dawson went to New York and brought Mary Jay Dawson back to English Consul [home in Maryland] and then sent her to England in the company of his brother, Robert Lee Dawson, a Philadelphia merchant, the pair sailing from Baltimore on 31 August 1852. The child was turned over to Dawson's sisters, Mary Ann and Eleanor Georgiana Dawson, who lived with their married sister, Mrs. Frances Laura Macdonald, wife of archdeacon William Macdonald at Bishops Cannings, Wiltshire.

Mary Jay Dawson married Colville Frankland, who was a descendant of Oliver Cromwell.