[1] He was born at Newton Grange, Oswaldkirk, near Helmsley, Yorkshire, in the house of his maternal grandfather, Ralph Sandwith.
He devoted himself early to antiquarian research, in which he was greatly assisted by the fact that his father, Matthew Dodsworth, was registrar of York Minster, and could give him access to the records preserved there.
He married Holcroft Hesketh, the widow of Laurence Rawsthorne of Hutton Grange, Penwortham, Lancashire where he subsequently resided until his death in August 1654.
At various times in his life he was able to study the records in the library of Sir Robert Cotton, in Skipton Castle and in the Tower of London.
He collected a vast store of materials for a history of Yorkshire, a Monasticon Anglicanum, and an English baronage.