William Dawes (1762 – 1836) was an officer of Royal Marines, scientist, surveyor and administrator. He travelled to New South Wales with the First Fleet on board HMS Sirius.
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Early life
Dawes was the eldest son of Benjamin Dawes, afterwards clerk of works in the Ordnance Office at Portsmouth. He joined the marines as Second Lieutenant on 2 September 1779 and was wounded in action against the French Navy under the Comte de Grasse at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781. He volunteered for service with the First Fleet and, being known as a competent astronomer, was asked to establish an observatory and make astronomical observations on the voyage and in New South Wales.
New South Wales
In the settlement he was employed from March 1788 as engineer and surveyor, and built his observatory on what is now Dawes Point, under the southern approach to Sydney Harbour Bridge. In his several roles, Dawes made astronomical observations, constructed batteries on the points at the entrance to Sydney Cove, laid out the government farm and first streets and allotments in Sydney and Parramatta. He took part in several explorations to the mountains west of Sydney, beyond the Nepean River and the Cowpastures; the first attempt to cross the Blue Mountains. His skill in computing distances and map making were invaluable in the new colony. Dawes was also interested in studying the local Eora people, and became an authority on their language. He developed a close relationship with a young girl, Patyegarang, who stayed in his hut as language teacher, servant and perhaps lover.
Conflict with Governor Phillip
Although a soldier, Dawes refused on principle to go on a punitive expedition in December 1790 against the Eora people after the colony’s gamekeeper had been fatally wounded. Governor Phillip threatened him with a court-martial, and Dawes was reluctantly persuaded to comply with the order. He was also involved in an argument with Phillip over his purchase of flour from a convict, during a time of food shortage.
Return to England
Although he had hoped to stay in the colony, Dawes left on HMS Gorgon in December 1791, with the first group of marines to return to England. He applied to return to the colony as a settler, but nothing came of recommendations that he be appointed as superintendent of schools or as an engineer.
Late life
In 1792 Dawes went to Sierra Leone as governor, but his health would not stand the climate and he returned to England in March 1794. A position, however, was found for him as a teacher of mathematics at Christ's Hospital school. He was in this position in 1799, but in the early months of 1801 he again went to Sierra Leone as governor. A reference on page 287 of the Life and Letters of Zachary Macauley by Viscountess Knutsford suggests that he may have been there for some years, but no dates are available. In June 1799 Dawes gave evidence on the slave trade. He later trained missionaries for the Church Missionary Society and worked for the anti-slavery cause in Antigua, and in December 1826 while still there he addressed a memorial to the secretary of state for the colonies making claims for extra services rendered in New South Wales. His old friend Watkin Tench, now a lieutenant-general, supported his claims which were however unsuccessful. Dawes was then in "circumstances of great pecuniary embarrassment". Towards the end of his life he established with his wife schools for the education of children of slaves, and he died in Antigua in 1836. He married (1) Miss Rutter, who died young, and (2) Miss Gilbert who survived him with a son and a daughter by the first marriage. The son, William Rutter Dawes (1799–1868), had a distinguished career as an astronomer. He was able to help his father to have reasonable comfort in his declining years. Dawes has been described as “outstanding in ability and character” , a man who “with great sweetness of disposition and self command … possesses the merit of unbending principles”. Gillen states that “he was never given proper recognition, nor given financial compensation equal to the value of his work”. It was unfortunate that Dawes became opposed to Phillip because he was just the type of man most needed in the colony. He was a surveyor, an engineer, an astronomer, a botanist. He was the first to make astronomical observations in Australia, he constructed the first battery, and he was the first man to realize that punitive expeditions against the aborigines would only make the position worse. Zachary Macauley spoke of his "undeviating rectitude", and in another place he said of him "Dawes is one of the excellent of the earth. With great sweetness of disposition and self-command he possesses the most unbending principles".
References
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Dawes, William". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
- Phyllis Mander-Jones, 'Dawes, William (1762 - 1836)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, MUP, 1966, pp 297-298.
- Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia: a biographical dictionary of the First Fleet, Sydney, Library of Australian History, 1989, pp.101-2.
External links
- Lt. William Dawes, First Fleeter
- Map of New South Wales, 1792 by William Dawes
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from
Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.
