William McDonell Dawson (1822 – August 9, 1890) was a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

businessman and political figure, and a Scottish Roman Catholic. He was born in Redhaven,

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1822 and came to

Nepean Township Nepean Township is a former incorporated and now geographic township in Eastern Ontario, Canada, now part of the City of Ottawa. Originally known as Township D, it was established in 1792. In 1800, it became part of Carleton County and was incorpo ...

near

Bytown Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a Grou ...

around 1836. He served as Crown Lands agent at

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and was superintendent of the woods and forests branch in the Crown Lands department from 1852 to 1857. Dawson was founder and present of the North-West Transit Company. In 1858, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper C ...

for

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

; he was defeated there but elected for the County of Ottawa in the 1861 general election. During his first term in office, he travelled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in an attempt to secure financing for a transcontinental railroad. He died at

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1890. His brother Simon James served in the Ontario legislature and the Canadian House of Commons. Another brother Aeneas McDonell Dawson was a priest and author at Ottawa.

External links

*
''The Canadian parliamentary companion : first year'', HJ Morgan (1862)''Les députés de la région des Trois-Rivières'',FJ Audet (1934)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, William Mcdonell 1822 births 1890 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec Scottish Roman Catholics Immigrants to Upper Canada