Sir John William Dawson

Sir John William Dawson was born in 1820 in Pictou, Nova Scotia and raised Presbyterian. He studied at Edinburgh University in the 1840's, and was appointed Nova Scotia's first superintendent of education (1850-1853). Then from 1855-1893, he served as principal of McGill University. He died in 1899 in Montreal, Quebec.

Marriage

In 1847, John married Margaret Ann Young Mercer (b. 1823 Scotland) at Saint Cuthberts in Edinburgh, Scotland. They had several children:

• Dr. George Mercer Dawson (b. 1853 Pictou, N.S.)
• William Bell Dawson (b. 1853 N.S.)
• Eva Dawson (b. 1861 Montreal, QC)

Stations

• elected President @ Natural History Society (the oldest scientific society in Canada)

Bibliography

Papers

• "Lower Carboniferous Formation of Nova Scotia", Quarterly Journal, 1843.
  • initiated communicated by Sir Charles Lyell to the Geological Society of London
• 150+ articles in the "Canadian Naturalist", "Journal of the Geological Society of London", etc.

Books

• "Geography and Natural History of Nova Scotia"
• "Contributions to the Improvement of Agriculture"
• "Acadian Geology", Edinburgh: 1855.
• "Archaia, or Studies of the Narrative of Creation in the Hebrew Scriptures", London: 1855.
  • revised as "The Origin of the World", 6th ed. 1893
• "The Story of the Earth", 1870. Eleven editions.
• "Nature and the Bible", New York: Carters, 1875
  • based on lectures given in the winter of 1874-1875 at Union Theological Seminary of New York, and Princeton.
• "Facts and Fancies in Natural Science", Philadelphia: Crozer Institute.
• "Links in the Chain of Life", London: Religious Tract Society.
• "Fossil Men and their Modern Representation", London: Hodder and Stoughton
  • one of the best books Sir Dawson wrote, according to his autobio.
• "The Dawn of Life", Montreal: 1888.
• "Salient Points in the Science of the Earth", London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1893.
• "Relics of Primeval Life"
  • based on six lectures given in 1896 in Boston at the Lowell Institute, by invitation of Augustus Lowell.
• "Notes on the Post-pliocene of Canada", 1870.
  • based on a series of papers in the Canadian Naturalist. Some of his notes were also included in 1863 for Logan's "Geology of Canada".
• "The Ice Age in Canada", London & Montreal: 1894.

Also See

• Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography 1600-1899, pp. 127-128
• "Fifty Years of Work in Canada"
  • Sir Dawson's autobiography, published post-humously by his sons.