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Authorised form of nameDawson; Sir; John William (1820 - 1899)
Dates1820 - 1899
Place of birthPictou, Nova Scotia, Canada
Date of birth13 October 1820
Place of deathMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Date of death19 November 1899
Research fieldGeology
ActivityEducation:
MA (Edinburgh)
Career:
Professor of Geology, McGill University, Montreal , and Principal (1855-1893)
Honours:
CMG 1881; Kt 1884
Memberships:
FGS (1854); Royal Society of Canada (first President)
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election05/06/1862
RSActivityLectures:
Bakerian 1870
RelationshipsSon of James Dawson, bookseller, of Nova Scotia, and his wife Mary Rankine; married (1847) Margaret A V Mercer, daughter of T Mercer of Edinburgh; father of George Mercer Dawson (FRS 1891)
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
References:
Susan Sheets-Pyenson, '"Pearls Before Swine": Sir William Dawson's Bakerian Lecture of 1870' in NR 1991 vol 45 pp 177-191, plate
D C Martin, 'Visit by the Assistant Secretary to some North American Scientific Institutions' in NR 1952 vol 9 pp 356-364
R W Home, 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship. Part 2. After 1847' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 47-84
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/5231467
CodeNA6279
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1862/05Dawson, Sir John William: certificate of election to the Royal Society
MM/22/31Memorandum by John William Dawson on referees' reports6 February 1882
MM/22/33Letter from John William Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to Walter White22 February 1882
MM/22/32Letter from John William Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to Walter White7 February 1882
NLB/12/578Copy letter from Sir John William Dawson, Fellow of the Royal Society, 293 University Street, Montreal, Canada17 March 1896
NLB/12/856Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir John William Dawson, Fellow of the Royal Society18 May 1896
NLB/10/252Copy letter from Theodore E James, to Messrs Harrison & Sons1 November 1894
NLB/19/663Copy letter from Theodore E James to Messrs Harrison & Sons20 November 1899
NLB/39/397Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to A Close14 January 1909
RR/7/90Referee's report by William Carruthers, on a paper 'On the pre-carboniferous floras of North-Eastern America, with especial reference to that of the Erian (Devonian) Period' by John William Dawson18 January 1871
RR/8/286Referee's report by William Boyd Dawkins, on a paper 'On the results of recent explorations of erect trees containing animal remains in the coal-formation of Nova Scotia' by John William Dawson20 December 1881
MC/12/324Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to [Walter] White, [Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]24 April 1883
MM/22/30Letter from John William Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to George Gabriel Stokes6 February 1882
MC/12/331Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to W [William] Spottiswoode, President of the Royal Society28 May 1883
NLB/1/498Copy letter from Michael Foster, to Willliam Thomas Blanford, Professor Thomas George Bonney, Dr Geikie, Professor Thomas Henry Huxley, and Professor John Wesley Judd8 July 1887
NLB/1/674Copy letter from Michael Foster, to Sir John Williamson Dawson1 November 1887
RR/8/287Detailed referee's report by William Boyd Dawkins, on a paper 'On the results of recent explorations of erect trees containing animal remains in the coal-formation of Nova Scotia' by John William Dawson20 December 1881
MC/6/234Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, McGill University, Montreal, to W [William] Sharpey, Secretary of the Royal Society4 July 1862
RR/8/285Referee's report by Thomas Henry Huxley, on a paper 'On the results of recent explorations of erect trees containing animal remains in the coal-formation of Nova Scotia' by John William Dawson13 October 1881
MC/6Volume 6 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1859-1863
MC/6/374Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, principal, University of McGill College, Montreal, to the Secretary of the Royal Society, London8 December 1863
MC/9/93Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, 20 Halley Street, to Dr [William] Sharpey, [Secretary of the Royal Society]9 June 1870
MC/9/84Memorandum with reference to Principal Dawson's paper on the pre-carboniferous flora1 June 1870
MC/9/188Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to the Council of the Royal Society6 April 1871
MC/9/277Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to Walter White, [Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]10 November 1871
MC/10/55Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, Principal of McGill University, Montreal, to [Joseph Dalton Hooker], President of the Royal Society26 December 1873
MC/9Volume 9 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1870-June 1873
MC/10/84Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, McGill University Montreal, to Professor [George Gabriel] Stokes, [Secretary of the Royal Society]12 March 1874
MC/10Volume 10 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal SocietyJuly 1873-1876
MC/12/332Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to [Walter] White, [Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]28 May 1883
MC/12Volume 12 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1880-1883
MC/13/3Letter from J W [John William] Dawson, Cairo, to [Thomas Henry] Huxley, [President of the Royal Society]14 January 1884
MC/13Volume 13 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1884
MS/427/275Copy letter from Walter White, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Principal [John William] Dawson, FRS11 May 1883
AP/52/3Unpublished paper, 'The Bakerian Lecture 1870: On the pre-Carboniferous flora of North-Eastern America, and more especially on that of the Devonian period' by J W [John William] Dawson1870
AP/52/3/2Unpublished figures and photographs, pre-Carboniferous flora of North-Eastern America by John William Dawson1870
AP/52/3/1Unpublished manuscript, 'The Bakerian Lecture 1870: On the pre-Carboniferous flora of North-Eastern America, and more especially on that of the Devonian period' by J W [John William] Dawson1870
MM/22/29Letter from John William Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to Walter White30 September 1881
PP/20/1Paper, 'Supplementary report on explorations of erect trees containing animal remains in the coal-formation of Nova Scotia [Canada]' by Jonh William Dawson1892
MC/14Volume 14 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1885-1888
MC/14/189Letter from [John William] Dawson, McGill University, Montreal, to George Gabriel Stokes, President, The Royal Society17 February 1887
MC/14/222Letter from John Williamson Dawson, McGill College, Montreal, to George Gabriel Stokes9 June 1887
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