Henry Dawkins (fl. c. 1753 - 1786) was a silversmith, engraver, political activist, and counterfeiter active in New York and Philadelphia the second half of the 18th century. Dawkins was born in England, likely London, and trained there as a silversmith. He emigrated to New York around 1751, immediately establishing himself as an engraver - note his work on the bookplate of John Burnett. In 1755, he advertised that, after working under instrument maker Anthony Lamb, he was establishing his own decorative engraving firm. This must not have worked out, because in 1757, we find him once again in Philadelphia, this time working under the engraver James Turner. Later in the same year, he opened his own Philadelphia shop, which he ran for some fifteen years. He issued engravings for Sir William Johnson, Francis Hopkinson, Princeton, the Pennsylvania Hospital, and the American Philosophical Society. The quality of his work varied dramatically from exceptional to haphazard, suggesting he may have had apprentices whose work he claimed (as was common). On the eve of the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783) he was back in New York. In 1774, he is credited with the unsigned but significant satirical broadsheet Liberty Triumphant or the Downfall of Oppression, one of the few such to survive the war. Shortly thereafter, in 1776, he moved to Long Island where he planned to set up a counterfeit currency operation. This floundered almost immediately when his paper supplier and partner Israel Youngs was arrested - shortly followed by Dawkins himself. In prison, Dawkins became despondent and petitioned the Provincial Congress of New York for his own execution due to the intolerable prison conditions. Also, during his time in prison, he became more involved with Revolutionary activity and overheard a British plan to blow up Kings Bridge, isolating Manhattan and thus trapping George Washington's Army. He used the information to successfully petition for his release from prison. He afterwards moved to Philadelphia again, where he engraved a silver bookplate for the Decatur family. Ironically, around this time he also engraved the first official coat of arms of the State of New York. Although the date of his death is uncertain, nothing more is known of him after 1786. More by this mapmaker...