Remembering William Waterhouse Dawson
Remembering William Waterhouse Dawson
William Waterhouse Dawson was a wood and coal merchant, and later a grain broker, with his business based on Tyne Street and his home on Ure Street. He was an early citizen of Oamaru and one of many who find their final resting place in the Oamaru cemetery.
Dawson was born in the now ‘drowned’ village of Derwent in Derbyshire, England; the village was flooded for the creation of the Ladybower Reservoir in the 1940s. His father, Matthew Dawson, was a farmer. William Dawson was educated in Derbyshire and also acquired knowledge of agriculture through the teachings of his father.
In the early 1870s, Dawson made the decision to travel to New Zealand. He initially arrived in Dunedin, and married his first wife Emily Wilson, at Knox Church in September 1873. The couple made their home in Oamaru where Dawson resided for the rest of his days.
Dawson entered into a business relationship with John Vernor and George Manly who were coal and wood merchants based in Tyne Street. He remained in this partnership for approximately 20 years. During this period he lost an infant son in 1877 and his wife at the age of 23 in 1878. In 1881 Dawson remarried at a ceremony in Port Chalmers to Ann Campbell; sadly Ann passed away only five years later in 1886.
In 1885, Dawson’s business relationship with Vernor and Manly dissolved and he went into business on his own as a grain merchant, also based in Tyne Street. He married again, to Sarah Birch in February 1888 at St Luke’s Anglican Church in Oamaru. Sarah was from Hobart Tasmania.
William Dawson was a man about town when it came to grain. According to his obituary he was ‘widely recognised as one of the highest authorities on grain in the Dominion’. He often stood as a judge at grain shows and was known to regularly give advice to grain buyers. Dawson was a very popular man with his peers often acting as advisor to North Otago men with investments in grain; he was well trusted and respected.
As well as a keen interest in his work Dawson was involved in a number of the town’s community organisations. He was actively involved in the North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association. For many years he was a working member of the Association and for two successive years he was the vice-president.
Dawson was also a member of the Hospital Committee and as he was a keen floral arranger he was a member of the North Otago Horticultural Society, exhibiting enthusiastically at many of the Society’s shows. Dawson was also very good at lawn bowls, and was an early member of the Phoenix Bowling Club. During his time with the Bowling Club he was considered one of its best players.
Dawson passed away on 8 May 1921 in his 80th year leaving his third wife Sarah, and son to his first wife, Frank William Dawson, to mourn his loss. William Waterhouse Dawson is buried in the Oamaru Cemetery with his wife Sarah, who passed away in 1941 at the age of 95 years. Dawson’s son Frank is remembered as the first New Zealand born General Manager of the Bank of New Zealand, where he worked for 47 years.
Sources for this article:
The North Otago Museum would like to thank Beryl Miller for the information received regarding William Waterhouse Dawson.
- Miller, Beryl (2009) Notes on William Waterhouse Dawson.
- Oamaru Mail (9 May 1921), Obituary - W W Dawson.
- Wikipedia (2009) Derwent, Derbyshire.
- Wises Directory (1913) Oamaru Street Directory. p. 253
Written by Shanann Carr, Curator of Archives, September 2009