David Stewart Dawson (25 November 1849 – 6 August 1932), frequently referred to as Stewart Dawson, was an Australian manufacturing jeweller and property tycoon born in Cairnie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.silver and precious objects – Stewart Dawson & Co
/ref> He served his apprenticeship in

Dufftown Dufftown ( gd, Baile Bhainidh ) is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. While the town is part of the historic Mortlach parish, the town was established and laid out in the early 19th century as part of a planned new town settlement. The town has severa ...

in Banffshire then founded a successful retail watchmaking and jewellery business in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England in 1876 after moving there age 22, with shops in most large cities in Great Britain, aided by the slogan "Who watches the Police?" after winning a tender to supply watches for the Liverpool Police. Advertising in Australian newspapers brought so much business he decided to move there and emigrated in 1886. He founded the business of Stewart Dawson and Co. in Sydney and soon had branches in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and Regent Street in London. After making the company a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

in 1907, Dawson sold the company in 1931 to RHO Hills

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

(now House of Fraser). The resulting company operated until "around 1935".English electroplate silver: marks and hallmarks of British silver plate: Da-Dh
/ref> He dealt extensively in inner-city real-estate, including some of the most significant transactions in Australian history. Anticipating the Great Depression, he converted much of his property (valued around £1,000,000) from ownership to rental. One significant property he owned was half of the

Strand Arcade The Strand Arcade is a heritage-listed Victorian-style retail arcade located at 195-197 Pitt Street in the heart of the Sydney central business district, between Pitt Street Mall and George Street in the City of Sydney local government area ...

(

Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...

end). This peculiar arrangement was to have far-reaching consequences as a result of piecemeal development and inconsistent maintenance. He was noted for his contribution to the

war effort In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...

, and served on many committees. He founded the Ambassadors Restaurant, Pitt Street, in 1923, long one of the most fashionable in Sydney. He had a head office, "The Treasure House" (built 1907) in

Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favouri ...

, London and homes in

Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Potts ...

and Palm Beach, Sydney, a villa in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

and a three-storey country mansion, "Bon Accord" in Springwood in the Blue Mountains, close to

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxing, boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his ...

's home. On his death the Monte Carlo villa went to his widow, Harriet Stewart Dawson (née McNab) (1864–1945) who married Prince Michal Radziwill, "Ordynat" (entailed estate holder) of the Palace and estate of Antonin in Ostrow County, Poland (1870–1955) in 1938.Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia Probate Packet for the Estate of the late Princess Radziwill "Bon Accord" was kept as a guest house by his heirs, managed by

Hugh D. McIntosh Hugh Donald "Huge Deal" McIntosh (10 September 1876 – 2 February 1942) was an Australian theatrical entrepreneur, sporting promoter and newspaper proprietor Early life McIntosh was born on 16 September 1876, to Hugh Fraser McIntosh, a Scottis ...

, but burned down in 1937. The James Pascoe Group is the current owner of Stewart Dawson's stores, which are a luxury jewelry retailer with 15 locations in New Zealand.

James Pascoe Group The James Pascoe Ltd Group of Companies is a privately owned New Zealand retail group with holdings across New Zealand and Australia. JPG owns and operates chains Pascoes the Jewellers, Stewart Dawsons and Goldmark (all jewellers); departmen ...

,Stewart Dawsons
acting as the groups's luxury jeweler in New Zealand. The Stewart Dawson's brand is no longer in used in Australia, however thirteen stores remain across New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, David Stewart 1849 births 1932 deaths Australian businesspeople in retailing Businesspeople from the Colony of New South Wales Australian jewellers 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 19th-century Australian businesspeople 20th-century Australian businesspeople