David Lawson ( 1720 – 1803) was a Scottish immigrant who settled on Prince Edward Island. He was, at various times and circumstances, a farmer, a land agent and a politician. Lawson was born near Muthill, Scotland and became a flax farmer in

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. He was recommended in 1769 to

James William Montgomery Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet Stanhope, FRSE (1721 – 2 April 1803) was a Scottish advocate, judge, country landowner, agriculturalist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1766 to 1775. In 1783 he was a joint founder of th ...

, Scotland's lord advocate, who was the owner of the township of Lot 34 in the new British colony of St. John's Island (renamed Prince Edward Island in 1799). Lawson recruited about 50 indentured servants in Perthshire and embarked with his family on the ''Falmouth'' from

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

on 8 April 1770. The ''Falmouth'' arrived on 8 June 1770 in Stanhope (named after Montgomery's Scottish estate) after a difficult voyage. As a land agent, Lawson found himself in dispute with

, Scotland's lord advocate, who had funded the settlement group. Lawson's activity in politics included elected membership in the Prince Edward Island House of Assembly between 1773 and 1785. In 1788 he was evicted by Montgomery for refusing to handle his landlord duties and later successfully sued during the 1790s for damages. Montgomery eventually forgave Lawson's debt and paid him a stipend so that he could continue to live at his home in Covehead. His name disappears from records after 1803.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
People from Perth and Kinross People from Queens County, Prince Edward Island Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Prince Edward Island Members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island Year of birth uncertain Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Colony of Prince Edward Island people {{PrinceEdwardIsland-politician-stub