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William DAWES (c. 1758 - 1836)
William Dawes was born in England. He entered the navy and was
given a commission as second lieutenant, royal marines, and in 1787
requested that he might be appointed to serve with the marines
going to Botany Bay with the first fleet. He went as commanding
officer of the party ordered to embark on the Sirius.
Dawes had been furnished with some instruments by the board of
longitude and in Sydney did astronomical work on the point which
now bears his name (Dawes Point, adjacent to Sydney Cove). He was
also a skilled surveyor, and was employed in laying out streets for
the new town of Sydney and in building a battery.
In December 1789 he led a small expedition which made the first
attempt to cross the Blue Mountains.
When Dawes was ordered to go on a punitive expedition against
the aborigines he obeyed orders but afterwards informed the
governor that he would not go on similar expeditions in future.
This was practically mutiny, but Phillip thought in the interests
of the colony it would be best to take no action. In November 1791,
Lord Grenville suggested that Dawes might be usefully employed as
an engineer. Phillip then told Dawes that he would overlook his
former conduct if he would apologize, however Dawes refused to do
so, as his sentiments were unchanged, and was accordingly sent back
to England with the marines in December 1791.
In August 1794 it was suggested that Dawes should be sent to New
South Wales as a schoolmaster. He had, since his return, to England
been sent to Sierra Leone as governor, but his health would not
stand the climate and he had returned to England in March 1794. A
position was found for him as a teacher of mathematics at Christ's
hospital school and he was in this position in 1799, but in the
early months of 1801 he again went to Sierra Leone as governor.
Dawes' opposition to the slave trade led to his being involved
in a skirmish during which he was wounded in the leg and
incapacitated for some time. In 1813 he went to Antigua where he
worked against the slave trade, 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, who had been in New South Wales
with him, was now a lieutenant-general and supported his claims,
which were however unsuccessful. This left Dawes in
"circumstances of great pecuniary embarrassment."
Towards the end of his life Dawes established, with his wife,
schools for the education of children of slaves, and he died at
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 and he was able to help his
father to have reasonable comfort in his declining years.
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". From
Dictionary of Australian Biography.