Dawson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
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England
Ireland
Scotland

Etymology of Dawson

What does the name Dawson mean?

Dawson is a name that came to England in the 11th century wave of migration that was set off by the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Dawson family lived in Westmorland (now part of Cumbria). The family was originally from Osonvilla, near Dieppe, Normandy, and it is from the local form of this name, D'Oson, which means from Oson, that their name derives. 1

Early Origins of the Dawson family

The surname Dawson was first found in the West Riding of Yorkshire at North Bierely, a township, in the parish and union of Bradford, wapentake of Morley. "Royds Hall [in North Bierely], which has been for many years the residence of the Dawson family, was originally built by the Rookes." 2

Langcliffe was another ancestral seat of the family. "Langcliffe was parcel of the possessions of Sawley Abbey, and subsequently for a century and a half the property of the Dawsons, a family highly distinguished in point of alliances and personal desert. Whitaker gives a copy of verses, printed in 1690, by William Dawson, containing an account of a village destroyed by the Scots in the reign of Edward II." 2

The name is "a north of England name, mostly found in Cumberland and Westmoreland, Durham, West Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Cheshire, and extending into central Scotland." 3

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 had many early entries of the family: Johannes Dauson; Robertus Dauson; Johanna Dowedoghter; Osbarn Daweson; and Wallerus Daweson. "In the same village occur, among a few inhabitants: Robertas Doweson; and Willelmus Daweson." 4

Further to the north in Scotland, early record there revealed: "John Daweson was a merchant in the service of Archambaud, Earl of Douglas in 1405. John Dawson is recorded in Kethyk in 1466, and James Dawson was godson of King James IV. Duncan Dalsoun was coalman to the king in 1531. " 5

Early History of the Dawson family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dawson research. Another 209 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1170, 1466, 1531, 1541, 1568, 1571, 1576, 1578, 1607, 1624, 1637, 1658, 1659, 1662, 1671, 1677, 1699, 1700, 1797 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Dawson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dawson Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries. For that reason, spelling variations are common among many Anglo-Norman names. The shape of the English language was frequently changed with the introduction of elements of Norman French, Latin, and other European languages; even the spelling of literate people's names were subsequently modified. Dawson has been recorded under many different variations, including Dawson, Daweson and others.

Early Notables of the Dawson family

Edward Dawson or Davison (1576?-1624?), English Jesuit, the only son of respectable parents, 'connected with Sir Anthony Staunden,' was born in London in 1576 or 1578
George Dawson (1637-1700), was an English jurist, educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1658-1659, M.A. in 1662, and was presented by his college to the vicarage of Sun...

Dawson World Ranking

the United Kingdom, the name Dawson is the 125^th most popular surname with an estimated 40,105 people with that name. 6 However, in Australia, the name Dawson is ranked the 139^th most popular surname with an estimated 20,215 people with that name. 7 And in New Zealand, the name Dawson is the 140^th popular surname with an estimated 3,470 people with that name. 8 Canada ranks Dawson as 355^th with 12,757 people. 9 Newfoundland, Canada ranks Dawson as 788^th with 52 people. 10 The United States ranks Dawson as 307^th with 87,045 people. 11

Migration of the Dawson family to Ireland

Some of the Dawson family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 97 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dawson migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia included the First Fleet, Second Fleet and Third Fleet of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

First Fleet

Mr. James Dawson, British settler convicted in Middlesex, England in 1788, sentenced to Life for theft, transported aboard the ship "Neptune, Scarborough or Surprize" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 12
Mr. John Dawson, (b. 1767), aged 34, British settler convicted in Middlesex, England in 1788, sentenced to 7 years for Stealing, transported aboard the ship "Surprize" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 13
Miss Jane Dawson, (b. 1744), aged 43, British settler convicted in London, England in 1787, sentenced to 7 years for theft, transported aboard the ship "Lady Juliana" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 13
Miss Mary Dawson, (Bray), (b. 1765), aged 34, British settler convicted in Middlesex, England in 1787, sentenced to 7 years for theft, transported aboard the ship "Lady Juliana" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 13

Second Fleet

Mr. James Dawson, British settler convicted in Middlesex, England in 1790, sentenced to Life for theft, transported aboard the ship "Albermarle" leaving in 1790 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1791 13

Third Fleet

Miss Margaret Dawson, (b. 1770), aged 17, English settler convicted in London on 22nd February 1786, sentenced for 7 years for theft, transported aboard the ship "Lady Penrhyn" leaving in 1787 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1788 13

Following the First, Second and Third Fleets, other convicts and early settlers arriving in Australia include:

Dawson Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Dawson, British convict who was convicted in Lancashire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Calcutta" in February 1803, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, the settlement was listed as abandoned and most of the convicts transported to Tasmania on the "Queen" in 1804 13
Mr. Thomas Dawson, English convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Elizabeth" in May 1816, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 14
Mr. William Dawson, (b. 1788), aged 28, English seaman who was convicted in Bristol, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Fame" on 9th October 1816, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1820 15
Mr. John Dawson, English convict who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Dromedary" on 11th September 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 16
Mr. Thomas Dawson, British Convict who was convicted in Norfolk, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Earl St Vincent" on 6th April 1820, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 17
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dawson migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Dawson Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

G F Dawson, who landed in Wanganui, New Zealand in 1841
T F Dawson, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1841
William Dawson, aged 24, a farm servant, who arrived in Otago aboard the ship "Phoebe Dunbar" between 1841 and 1850
Mary Dawson, aged 23, who arrived in Otago aboard the ship "Phoebe Dunbar" between 1841 and 1850
Mr. William Dawson, British settler travelling from England aboard the ship"Phoebe Dunbar" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand in 1850 18
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dawson migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 19

Dawson Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Rich Dawson, aged 28, who landed in Barbados in 1635 20
Hugh Dawson, aged 18, who arrived in Barbados in 1635 20
Mr. Richard Dawson, (b. 1607), aged 28, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Peter Bonaventure" arriving in Barbados and St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 21
Mr. Hugh Dawson, (b. 1614), aged 21, British settler travelling aboard the ship "Expedition" arriving in Barbados in 1636 22

Dawson migration to Canada +

Dawson Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Thomas Dawson was a merchant in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland in 1771 23
Capt. George Dawson U.E. who settled in Parr Town [Saint John], New Brunswick c. 1784 he served in the King's Orange Rangers 24
Mr. George Dawson U.E. who settled in Charlotee County, New Brunswick c. 1784 member of the Penobscot Association 24
Mr. James Dawson U.E. who settled in Kingston, Ontario c. 1784 24
Michael Dawson was a fiddler in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1794 23

Dawson Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Catherine Dawson from county Kilkenny was married in St. John's Newfoundland in 1824 23
Catherine Dawson, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1826
Mary Dawson, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1832
Peter Dawson, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1833
Richard Dawson, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1841
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dawson Settlers in Canada in the 20th Century

Miss N Dawson, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1907

Dawson migration to the United States +

Dawson Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Will Dawson, who landed in Jamestown, Va in 1607 20
William Dawson, aged 25, who landed in Virginia in 1621 aboard the ship "Discovery" 20
Owen Dawson, who arrived in Virginia in 1622-1623 20
Georg Dawson, aged 24, who arrived in Virginia in 1623 aboard the ship "Southampton" 20
Charles Dawson, who landed in Virginia in 1635 20
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dawson Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Gregory Dawson, who landed in Virginia in 1701 20
Richard Dawson, who landed in Virginia in 1703 20
Margaret Dawson, who arrived in Virginia in 1704 20
Thomasin Dawson, who landed in Virginia in 1713 20
Nicho Dawson, who landed in Virginia in 1714 20
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dawson Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

W Dawson, aged 28, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1803 20
Eliza Dawson, aged 38, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1805 20
Patrick Dawson, aged 22, who arrived in New York in 1812 20
William Dawson, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1812 20
Washington Dawson, who landed in New York, NY in 1815 20
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Dawson (post 1700) +

Air Chief Marshal Sir Walter Lloyd Dawson KCB, CBE, DSO, RAF (1902-1994), British officer and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the 1950s
Colonel James Lennox Dawson VC (1891-1967), Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross
Henry Dawson (1811-1878), English landscape painter
Charles Dawson (1864-1916), amateur British archaeologist who is credited and blamed with discoveries that turned out to be imaginative frauds, including that of the Piltdown Man
Bertrand Edward Dawson (1864-1945), English physician
Alma Dawson (1943-2025), American scholar of librarianship, retired as Russell B. Long Professor at the School of Library & Information Science, Louisiana State University in 2014, awarded Emeritus status in 2015, honored with the Essae Martha Culver Distinguished Service Award from the Louisiana Library Association (2019)
Effie Vena Dawson (1926-6888), American private in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, first all-female, all-African-American battalion to server overseas
Casey Dawson (b. 2000), American speed skater, bronze medalist at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Alfred Ronald Dawson (1932-2024), Irish rugby union player
... (Another 137 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Dawson family +

Air New Zealand Flight 901

Mr. Peter Massie Dawson (1929-1979), New Zealander passenger, from Piopio, North Island, New Zealand aboard the Air New Zealand Flight 901 for an Antarctic sightseeing flight when it flew into Mount Erebus; he died in the crash 25
Thomas Dawson (b. 1822), British passenger who died aboard the ship "Cataraqui" when sailing for Melbourne, Australia she struck rocks of Kings Island and sank on 4th April 1845
Jane Dawson (b. 1823), British passenger who died aboard the ship "Cataraqui" when sailing for Melbourne, Australia she struck rocks of Kings Island and sank on 4th April 1845
Birket Dawson, British crew who died aboard the ship "Cataraqui" when sailing for Melbourne, Australia she struck rocks of Kings Island and sank on 4th April 1845
George Dawson, British crew who died aboard the ship "Cataraqui" when sailing for Melbourne, Australia she struck rocks of Kings Island and sank on 4th April 1845
... (Another 18 entries are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Sources +

Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
"Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/calcutta
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 1st March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elizabeth
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 27th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th July 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/dromedary
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 10th September 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-st-vincent
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's. Retrieved 23rd September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 29th September 2021. Retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Mount Erebus, Memorial, Roll of Remembrance (Retrieved 2018, February 21st). Retrieved from http://www.erebus.co.nz/memorialandawards/rollofremembrance.aspx