| Administrative History | The surname appears in several versions including Daykin, Dakin and Dakeyne. Originally from Norfolk, branches of the family were settled in several Derbyshire parishes by the sixteenth century. The branch based at Snitterton, Darley Dale and Bonsall acquired property in the area mainly by marriages into other local families.
John Dakin (1698-1777) moved from Bonsall to settle in Knabb House in Darley Dale in the early eighteenth century. His son Daniel Dakeyne senior (1734-1819) built Holt House at Darley Dale about 1780. This became the home of his third son Daniel Dakeyne junior (1763-1806).
Daniel Dakeyne junior was a barrister admitted to the Middle Temple in 1789, a banker, minor author, and above all, an antiquary. From about 1790 to his death in 1806 he amassed information for a genealogical and topographical history of Derbyshire, but this never came to fruition. As part of this research he drew up extensive pedigrees for many Derbyshire families and families with a Derbyshire connection. He also collected information about the history of the Dakeyne family and its connections, and his father may have contributed to this work. Much of the research was carried out in person on material held in private hands, although some of the notes relate to material held in national institutions.
The descriptions of church monuments are probably the work of Thomas Brailsford in the early eighteenth century, used later by Bassano for his notes deposited in the College of Arms. These in turn provided J C Cox with much information for his 'Churches of Derbyshire', published in four volumes between 1875 and 1878. Dakeyne's literary efforts are represented by two MS plays and several poems. His legal interests gave rise to notes on legal terms and precedents which can be found in some of his work.
For further information about the family, see 'The Daykins of North East Derbyshire' by Lucinda K Allenby, 'An Initial Survey of the References & Genealogy of the Dakeny/Daukyn/Dakyn/Daykin Families' by PW Daykin, and 'Transcripts of selected Daniel Dakeyne papers by PW Daykin' (available for reference in Derbyshire Record Office).
On the death of Daniel Dakeyne senior in 1819 Holt House and the papers passed to Katherine, daughter of Daniel Dakeyne junior. Her son Arthur J H D Cannon (1862-1899) used the papers and collected further information in his attempts to establish a Dakeyne coat of arms. J Pym Yeatman, a noted antiquarian who published several books on various aspects of Derbyshire history in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, contributed to his research, and in return was allowed to use the Dakeyne papers as a source. |
| Custodial History | The records were donated by the owner, via the British Museum, to Derbyshire County Council in 1922. |