Life

He was descended from John Dwnn of Radnorshire, was educated at Oxford, where he was a member of All Souls College, and was admitted to the degree of B.C.L. 14 July 1572. Eight years later the higher degree was conferred on him, when he became Principal of New Inn Hall.

He entered the College of Advocates 22 January 1582, and in 1598 was appointed Dean of Arches

Dean of Arches

The Dean of Arches is the judge who sits at the ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. This appeal court is commonly called the Arches Court....

 and master of requests. In the following year he sat with Sir Julius Caesar and others on two commissions which were appointed to inquire into the grievances of Danish and French fishermen and merchants respectively. He was also a member of the commission formed in 1601 with the object of framing measures for the suppression of piracy

Piracy

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...

 by English sailors; and as John Whitgift

John Whitgift

John Whitgift was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 800 horsemen...

's vicar-general he sat with five bishops on special commissions at the provincial synod and at convocation. About this time he was made a master in chancery, and was one of nine civilians who drew up an argument in support of oaths ex officio in ecclesiastical courts.

In 1602 he was appointed commissioner, together with Ralph Eure, 3rd Baron Eure and Sir John Herbert, to confer at Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

 with commissioners sent by the King of Denmark concerning the feasibility of a treaty which should put an end to the frequent quarrels between Danish and English fishermen. On the successful termination of this mission Donne was rewarded with a knighthood. Shortly after the accession of James I he was placed on a commission under the Archbishop of Canterbury to inquire into heresies and offences against the marriage laws in the diocese of Winchester

Diocese of Winchester

The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England.Founded in 676, it is one of the oldest and largest of the dioceses in England.The area of the diocese incorporates:...

, with powers of summary jurisdiction, and he also attended the conference held at Hampton Court in reference to ecclesiastical courts. In the same year, when the universities were empowered to send representatives to parliament, he was one of the first two elected by Oxford University

Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)

Oxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Electoral System:...

, and he was reelected in 1614. A pension was in the following year granted to him by royal warrant.

The last commission on which Donne sat was that appointed in 1616 to conduct an examination on the marriage of Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset

Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset

Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, , was a politician, and favourite of King James I of England.-Background:Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr of Ferniehurst, Scotland by his second wife, Janet, sister of Walter Scott of Buccleuch...

. Donne published nothing, but in Letters from the Bodleian Library, 1813, ii. 207-21, is an account of William Aubrey

William Aubrey

William Aubrey was Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford from 1553 to 1559, and was one of the founding Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford. He was also a MP.-Early life and Oxford University:...

, printed from a manuscript supposed to be in his writing. He had married one of Aubrey's six daughters, and had succeeded him in the headship of New Inn. He died 15 September 1617.