From a Bristol merchant family who were slave owners in Jamaica, he was the eldest son of William Dickinson, also a Member of Parliament, and his wife Philippa Fuller, daughter of Stephen Fuller who was a London West India merchant and Jamaica agent.[1][2] He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford where he matriculated in 1789, graduating with a B.A. in 1793 and an M.A. in 1795. He came into the family estate at Kingweston on his father's death.[1]
According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Dickinson was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837. The British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £1.43 billion in 2020) with interest from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore which was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers (ending in 2015). Dickinson was associated with five different claims, but two of those were in the capacity of executor. For the three plantations he owned (Appleton Estate, Barton Isles Pen, and Pepper Pen & Bona Vista) in Jamaica, he received £11,978 payment at the time.[2]
Dickinson married in 1803 Sophia Smith, daughter of Samuel Smith MP of Woodhall Park; they had three sons and two daughters.[1] The children included:[3]
Francis Henry Dickinson (1813–1890) MP, married in 1830 his first cousin Caroline Carey; she was the daughter of Major General Thomas Carey of the 3rd Foot Guards, and his wife Caroline Smith, sister of Sophia Smith.[4]
