DAWSON, WILLIAM, 1773-1841.
William Dawson collection, 1819-1824

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], William Dawson Collection, Archives and Manuscript Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.

Processing

Processed by Aimee Morgan, 2005.

Biographical Note

William Dawson, preacher, was born on March 30, 1773 near Leeds. His father, Luke, served as colliery steward for Sir Thomas Gascoigne of Gawthorpe for 21 years. After his father died in 1791, William succeeded him in the position. After hearing prominent ministers at the Leeds conference in 1793, Dawson became a Wesleyan and was accredited as a local preacher. He was a skilled and popular orator, but declined an invitation to become an itinerant minister because his family depended on his income as colliery steward. In 1837 Dawson retired from his steward position and made several preaching tours. He died on July 4, 1841.

Biographical Source: W. B. Lowther, ‘Dawson, William (1773-1841)’, rev. Tim Macquiban Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of two letters written by William Dawson and a silhouette portrait of him by an unknown artist. The first letter is dated February 15, 1819 and is addressed to a Mr. Everett. The second is dated May 26, 1824 and is addressed to P. Phillips at Mr. Brown’s in Ripon. In it, Dawson declines an invitation to preach because his responsibilities as colliery steward make it difficult for him to leave home.