William Dawson (college president)

Reverend William Dawson (1704?–1752)[1] was the second president of The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.[2] A graduate of the Queen's College at Oxford University, Dawson ran the College from 1743–1752.[2] He is also the brother of Thomas Dawson, who was the fourth president of William & Mary (1755–1760).[3]

William Dawson
2nd President of the College of William & Mary
In office 1743–1752
Preceded by	James Blair
Succeeded by	William Stith
Personal details
Born	1704
Died	1752
Alma mater	Queen's College, Oxford

Dawson was also an Anglican clergyman, a rector at the Jamestown Parish, a commissary of the Bishop of London, a moral philosophy professor at William and Mary, a poet, a chaplain of the House of Burgesses, and a member of the Governor's Council.[2]

Reverend Dawson and his brother together are the namesakes for Dawson Hall in the Bryan Complex at William & Mary.[4]

Dawson married 1st, Mary Stith, a granddaughter of John Stith and William Randolph.[5][6][7] He was the grandfather of Congressman William Johnston Dawson.[5][6][7]

References

1. Encyclopedia.com — Dawson, William. Retrieved on November 17, 2008.
2. William & Mary — 18th Century Presidents. Retrieved on November 17, 2008.
3. President Thomas Dawson. Retrieved on March 10, 2009.
4. "William & Mary - Bryan Complex". Wm.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-02.
5. Gordon, Armistead C (1914). "The Stith Family". In Tyler, Lyon G. (ed.). William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine. XXII. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet & Shepperson. pp. 44–51, 197–208. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
6. Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. (1915). "Burgesses and Other Prominent Persons". Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. II. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 330–331.
7. Goode, George Brown (1887). "Excursus.-The Stith Family". Virginia Cousins: A Study of the Ancestry and Posterity of John Goode of Whitby. Richmond, Virginia: J. W. Randolph & English. pp. 210–212.

• Amacher, Richard E. (June 21, 2006). "William Dawson". In Flora, Joseph M.; Vogel, Amber (eds.). Southern Writers: A New Biographical Dictionary. Louisiana State University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0807131237. Retrieved March 17, 2017.