John Dawnay (MP)

The Honourable John Dawnay (8 December 1686 – 12 August 1740), was a British Member of Parliament.

Dawnay was the son of Henry Dawnay, 2nd Viscount Downe, by Mildred, daughter of William Godfrey, of Thornock, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. In 1713 he was returned to parliament as one of two representatives for Pontefract, a seat he held until 1716, when he was unseated on petition.

Dawnay married Charlotte Louisa, daughter of Robert Pleydell, of Ampney Crucis, Gloucestershire, in 1724. She died in April 1729. Dawnay died in August 1740, aged 53, predeceasing his father by one year. His sons Henry and John both succeeded in the viscountcy.