William Dawes (marine)
Encyclopedia
William Dawes was an officer of the Royal Marines
, an astronomer, engineer, botanist, surveyor, explorer, abolitionist and colonial administrator. He traveled to New South Wales
with the First Fleet
on board HMS Sirius
.
.
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.
Dawes 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.
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
. Dawes 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. Dawes' skill in computing distances and map making were invaluable in the new colony.
Dawes was also interested in studying the local Eora
people. He developed a close relationship with a fifteen-year-old native girl, Patyegarang (Grey Kangaroo). She stayed in his hut acting as his language teacher, servant, and perhaps lover. During his time in Australia he became an authority on Aboriginal language. Patyegarang is known to have praised his linguistic abilities, referring to him as "Mr. Dawes budyiri karaga" ("Mr. Dawes pronounces well" or "Mr. Dawes good mouth").
He contemplated settling permanently in Australia. He intended to farm part-time, but wanted to have the security of an official position within the colony, as well. In Oct. 1791 he was offered a position in the colony as an engineer. Arthur Phillip made it clear that he would be awarded the position only if he apologized for two incidents that had offended Phillip. The first involved Dawes purchasing flour from a convict during a food shortage. Phillip stipulated that this was illegal, claiming the flour to be part of the man’s rations and, therefore, ineligible for trade. Dawes argued that the flour was the man’s personal property, not rations, and that he had the right to sell it. The second supposed offence occurred in Dec 1790, after a British game-keeper died at the hands of an Aboriginal. The British authorities considered the attack unprovoked and planned to carry out a punitive expedition
against the Aborigines. Dawes felt, for reasons that are unknown, that the game-keeper was to blame for the attack and refused to take part in the expedition, disobeying direct orders from Gov. Phillip. He was finally persuaded to take part by the chaplain, Rev. Johnson. Afterwards, he stated publicly that he regretted being “persuaded to comply with the order.” Phillip was incensed by what he viewed as a further act of insubordinance. Dawes refused to either retract his statement or to apologize for either incident, and was shipped off in December 1791 with the first group of Royal Marines to return to England, sailing aboard the HMS Gorgon
. At the time he told Dr. Maskelyne that he harbored hopes of one day returning to Australia and serving under different leadership. He applied at some point 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.
It was unfortunate that Dawes became opposed to Phillip, because Dawes was just the type of man most needed in the colony. 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".
, whose acquaintance he made in early 1792. Wilberforce was impressed with Dawes, remaking that he was "an avowed friend of religion and order." Likely due to the influence of Wilberforce, Dawes was accepted into the Evangelical Clapham Sect. Just a few months later, in August 1792, he was then chosen to join John Clarkson in Sierra Leone, a colony founded as a home for freed slaves, where Clarkson was serving as governor.
His first term as governor wasn't without problems. He upset many colonists when he insisted, on orders from England, that the colonists abandon the lots they currently occupied and move to new lots allocated to them by Dawes. This was only one of several of Clarkson’s actions that he was forced to countermand.
According to an account by one colonist, Anna Maria Falconbridge, Dawes became frustrated by the colonists' refusal to follow his orders and declared that he would return to England. The colonists responded by shouting "Go! Go! Go!". The colonists blamed him for the decisions made by his employers, one of the Methodists ministers, who were prominent in the colony, referred to Dawes as "Pharaoh" invoking the story of Moses to encourage the people of Sierra Leone to resist his governance. At one point the colonists actually staged a false raid in an effort to obtain guns that Dawes believed they intended to use against members of the colonial government.
Dawes was motivated by a desire to help the people of Sierra Leone, but his religious zeal, his opposition to the local Methodist ministers, and what they considered his overbearing nature alienated him from many of the colonists and even from other colonial officials, like Thomas Clarkson.
His health suffering from both stress and the intolerable climate, he returned to England in March 1794. Within a few months of returning he wed Judith Rutter at Portsea, Hampshire, on 29 May 1794. They had three children, a daughter and two sons, before Judith's death.
In spite of his earlier difficulties with the colonists, Dawes was sent back to serve a second term as governor of Sierra Leone in January 1795, remaining until March 1796. In January 1799, he obtained a position as an instructor of mathematics at Christ's Hospital school
. A position he retained until November 1800. In the early months of 1801, he returned to serve his third and final term as governor of Sierra Leone, remaining there until February 1803. During his final term he was offered and rejected the governorship of the Seychelles.
After returning to England in 1804, he settled in South Lambeth, later moving on to Bledlow, where he trained missionaries for the Christian Missionary Society (1804–1808).
His wife, Judith, had died ca. 1800. William remarried on 25 May 1811, at St. Pancras Old Church, London, to Grace Gilbert. She would prove to be a devoted helpmate in his future work.
William was encouraged by the great parliamentarian and abolitionist, William Wilberforce
, to continue his work against the slave trade in Antigua. The work would be arduous and unpaid, but he agreed to undertake it, and in 1813 he traveled to Antigua with his wife and daughter Judith. In spite of his frequently poor health, his endeavors met with great success. His main duties involved founding and operating schools for the children of slaves. He also worked as a correspondent for the Christian Missionary Society's official paper.
Unfortunately, he had little to show materially for his years of dedicated service to the state and the cause of abolition. By December 1826, his financial situation had become so precarious that he petitioned the secretary of state for the colonies, making claims for extra services rendered in New South Wales on account of his being in "circumstances of great pecuniary embarrassment". His claim was supported by his former comrade Watkin Tench
, now a lieutenant-general, but the petition was ultimately unsuccessful.
William Dawes died in Antigua in 1836. Dawes was described as “outstanding in ability and character.” Gillen states that “he was never given proper recognition, nor given financial compensation equal to the value of his work”.
, was born on 17 Dec. 1797, and christened at Portsea, Hampshire, on 11 Feb 1798. Trained as a clergyman, he became an astronomer of note. He was said to have done all he could to bring comfort to his father and stepmother’s declining years.
The other son, named Macaulay in honor of his friend Zachary Macaulay, died in infancy.
His daughter, named Judith for her mother, married in Antigua and is known to have had at least two sons.
's 2008 novel The Lieutenant. The book is fictional but heavily based upon Dawes' notebooks.
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
, an astronomer, engineer, botanist, surveyor, explorer, abolitionist and colonial administrator. He traveled to New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
with the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
on board HMS Sirius
HMS Sirius (1786)
HMS Sirius was the flagship of the First Fleet, which set out from Portsmouth, England, in 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales, Australia. Sirius was wrecked off the coast of Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean in 1790....
.
Early life
William Dawes was born at Portsmouth, Hampshire, in early 1762, the eldest child of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Sinnatt) Dawes. He was christened there on 17 March 1762. His father was a clerk of works in the Ordnance Office at PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
.
He joined the marines as Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
on 2 September 1779 and was wounded in action against the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
under the Comte de Grasse at the Battle of the Chesapeake
Battle of the Chesapeake
The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American War of Independence that took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781, between a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas...
in 1781.
Dawes volunteered for service with the First Fleet and, being known as a competent astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, was asked to establish an observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
and make astronomical observations on the voyage and in New South Wales.
New South Wales
From March 1788 Dawes was employed in the settlement as an engineerEngineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
, and built his observatory on what is now Dawes Point
Dawes Point, New South Wales
Dawes Point is a locality of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dawes Point is located on the north-eastern edge of the Sydney central business district, at the southern end of Sydney Harbour Bridge, adjacent to The Rocks. It is part of the local government area of...
, under the southern approach to Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...
. In his several roles, Dawes made astronomical observations, constructed batteries
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
on the points at the entrance to Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
, laid out the government farm and first streets and allotments in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Parramatta
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
. Dawes took part in several explorations to the mountains west of Sydney, beyond the Nepean River
Nepean River
The Nepean River is a river in the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia.The headwaters of the Nepean River rise near Robertson, about 100 kilometres south of Sydney and about 15 kilometres from the coast. The river flows north in an unpopulated water catchment area into Nepean Dam, which...
and the Cowpastures
Macarthur, New South Wales
Macarthur is a region in south-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region includes the local government areas of the City of Campbelltown, Camden Council and Wollondilly Shire. It covers an area of 3,067 square kilometres and has a population of close to 240,000 residents...
; the first attempt to cross the Blue Mountains. Dawes' skill in computing distances and map making were invaluable in the new colony.
Dawes was also interested in studying the local Eora
Eora
The Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
people. He developed a close relationship with a fifteen-year-old native girl, Patyegarang (Grey Kangaroo). She stayed in his hut acting as his language teacher, servant, and perhaps lover. During his time in Australia he became an authority on Aboriginal language. Patyegarang is known to have praised his linguistic abilities, referring to him as "Mr. Dawes budyiri karaga" ("Mr. Dawes pronounces well" or "Mr. Dawes good mouth").
He contemplated settling permanently in Australia. He intended to farm part-time, but wanted to have the security of an official position within the colony, as well. In Oct. 1791 he was offered a position in the colony as an engineer. Arthur Phillip made it clear that he would be awarded the position only if he apologized for two incidents that had offended Phillip. The first involved Dawes purchasing flour from a convict during a food shortage. Phillip stipulated that this was illegal, claiming the flour to be part of the man’s rations and, therefore, ineligible for trade. Dawes argued that the flour was the man’s personal property, not rations, and that he had the right to sell it. The second supposed offence occurred in Dec 1790, after a British game-keeper died at the hands of an Aboriginal. The British authorities considered the attack unprovoked and planned to carry out a punitive expedition
Punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons outside the borders of the punishing state. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavior, but may be also be a covered revenge...
against the Aborigines. Dawes felt, for reasons that are unknown, that the game-keeper was to blame for the attack and refused to take part in the expedition, disobeying direct orders from Gov. Phillip. He was finally persuaded to take part by the chaplain, Rev. Johnson. Afterwards, he stated publicly that he regretted being “persuaded to comply with the order.” Phillip was incensed by what he viewed as a further act of insubordinance. Dawes refused to either retract his statement or to apologize for either incident, and was shipped off in December 1791 with the first group of Royal Marines to return to England, sailing aboard the HMS Gorgon
HMS Gorgon (1791)
HMS Gorgon was a 44-gun fifth-rate two-decker ship of the Adventure class of 911 tons, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1785 and completed as a troopship. She was subsequently converted to a storeship...
. At the time he told Dr. Maskelyne that he harbored hopes of one day returning to Australia and serving under different leadership. He applied at some point 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.
It was unfortunate that Dawes became opposed to Phillip, because Dawes was just the type of man most needed in the colony. 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".
Sierra Leone
He was given a letter of introduction by Rev. Johnson to William WilberforceWilliam Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
, whose acquaintance he made in early 1792. Wilberforce was impressed with Dawes, remaking that he was "an avowed friend of religion and order." Likely due to the influence of Wilberforce, Dawes was accepted into the Evangelical Clapham Sect. Just a few months later, in August 1792, he was then chosen to join John Clarkson in Sierra Leone, a colony founded as a home for freed slaves, where Clarkson was serving as governor.
His first term as governor wasn't without problems. He upset many colonists when he insisted, on orders from England, that the colonists abandon the lots they currently occupied and move to new lots allocated to them by Dawes. This was only one of several of Clarkson’s actions that he was forced to countermand.
According to an account by one colonist, Anna Maria Falconbridge, Dawes became frustrated by the colonists' refusal to follow his orders and declared that he would return to England. The colonists responded by shouting "Go! Go! Go!". The colonists blamed him for the decisions made by his employers, one of the Methodists ministers, who were prominent in the colony, referred to Dawes as "Pharaoh" invoking the story of Moses to encourage the people of Sierra Leone to resist his governance. At one point the colonists actually staged a false raid in an effort to obtain guns that Dawes believed they intended to use against members of the colonial government.
Dawes was motivated by a desire to help the people of Sierra Leone, but his religious zeal, his opposition to the local Methodist ministers, and what they considered his overbearing nature alienated him from many of the colonists and even from other colonial officials, like Thomas Clarkson.
His health suffering from both stress and the intolerable climate, he returned to England in March 1794. Within a few months of returning he wed Judith Rutter at Portsea, Hampshire, on 29 May 1794. They had three children, a daughter and two sons, before Judith's death.
In spite of his earlier difficulties with the colonists, Dawes was sent back to serve a second term as governor of Sierra Leone in January 1795, remaining until March 1796. In January 1799, he obtained a position as an instructor of mathematics at Christ's Hospital school
Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...
. A position he retained until November 1800. In the early months of 1801, he returned to serve his third and final term as governor of Sierra Leone, remaining there until February 1803. During his final term he was offered and rejected the governorship of the Seychelles.
Later years
Long an opponent of slavery, in June 1799 he gave evidence before a committee of the House of Lords, who were then considering a bill to regulate the slave trade..After returning to England in 1804, he settled in South Lambeth, later moving on to Bledlow, where he trained missionaries for the Christian Missionary Society (1804–1808).
His wife, Judith, had died ca. 1800. William remarried on 25 May 1811, at St. Pancras Old Church, London, to Grace Gilbert. She would prove to be a devoted helpmate in his future work.
William was encouraged by the great parliamentarian and abolitionist, William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
, to continue his work against the slave trade in Antigua. The work would be arduous and unpaid, but he agreed to undertake it, and in 1813 he traveled to Antigua with his wife and daughter Judith. In spite of his frequently poor health, his endeavors met with great success. His main duties involved founding and operating schools for the children of slaves. He also worked as a correspondent for the Christian Missionary Society's official paper.
Unfortunately, he had little to show materially for his years of dedicated service to the state and the cause of abolition. By December 1826, his financial situation had become so precarious that he petitioned the secretary of state for the colonies, making claims for extra services rendered in New South Wales on account of his being in "circumstances of great pecuniary embarrassment". His claim was supported by his former comrade Watkin Tench
Watkin Tench
Lieutenant-General Watkin Tench was a British Marine officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first settlement in Australia in 1788...
, now a lieutenant-general, but the petition was ultimately unsuccessful.
William Dawes died in Antigua in 1836. Dawes was described as “outstanding in ability and character.” Gillen states that “he was never given proper recognition, nor given financial compensation equal to the value of his work”.
Children
His son, William Rutter DawesWilliam Rutter Dawes
William Rutter Dawes was an English astronomer.Dawes was born in West Sussex, the son of William Dawes, also an astronomer, who travelled to the colony of New South Wales on the First Fleet in 1788....
, was born on 17 Dec. 1797, and christened at Portsea, Hampshire, on 11 Feb 1798. Trained as a clergyman, he became an astronomer of note. He was said to have done all he could to bring comfort to his father and stepmother’s declining years.
The other son, named Macaulay in honor of his friend Zachary Macaulay, died in infancy.
His daughter, named Judith for her mother, married in Antigua and is known to have had at least two sons.
Popular culture
Dawes is the basis for Daniel Rooke, the central figure in Kate GrenvilleKate Grenville
Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best-known authors. She's published nine novels, a collection of short stories, and four books about the writing process....
's 2008 novel The Lieutenant. The book is fictional but heavily based upon Dawes' notebooks.