Captain William Francis Dawson (???? – 29 March 1829) was a prominent road builder in British Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka). An

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

attached to the Royal Engineers, he was given the task of building the Colombo - Kandy Road linking

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

and

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

. The job took its toll on Dawson, who died before it was completed. It would be the first modern highway in the island. In the memory of Captain Dawson, the

Dawson Tower Dawson Tower ( si, ඩෝසන් කුළුණ, Dosan Kuluna), is located on Kadugannawa in the Kadugannawa Pass Kadugannawa Pass is a mountain pass located near Kadugannawa town in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is located alo ...

was erected at

Kadugannawa Kadugannawa is a town in Kandy District in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is located along the A1 road west of Peradeniya. The town is served by Kadugannawa Railway Station and has the Kadugannawa Central ...

in the

Kadugannawa Pass Kadugannawa Pass is a mountain pass located near Kadugannawa town in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is located along the Colombo-Kandy A1 highway. It is a common roadside stop for tourists to enjoy the vistas to the Kegalle valley bel ...

.Dawson Tower
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Notes

References

* 1829 deaths People of British Ceylon British colonial army officers Ceylonese military personnel Royal Engineers officers Sri Lankan people of British descent 1743 births {{SriLanka-bio-stub