William Henry Dawson, 1st Viscount Carlow (died 22 August 1779) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

politician and peer. Dawson was the son of

Ephraim Dawson Ephraim Dawson (died 27 August 1746) was an Anglo-Irish politician. Dawson was the son of William Dawson and Elizabeth Jardine. He was a successful banker, and used his wealth to purchase an estate at Portarlington, County Laois. In 1713, he was el ...

of Queen's County and Anne Preston, daughter and heiress of Samuel Preston. Between 1733 and 1760, Dawson was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Portarlington in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

. In 1761 he was elected to represent Queen's County, which he did until 1768. He then sat for Portarlington again between 1769 and 1770. On 29 May 1770 he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

as Baron Dawson of Dawson's Court in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

, and Dawson assumed his seat in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...

. On 24 July 1776 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Carlow, also in the Peerage of Ireland. Between 1750 and his death, Dawson was a

Governor of Queen's County This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Queen's County, Ireland, Queen's County. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II of England, James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of ...

. On 8 December 1737, he married Mary Damer, daughter of Joseph Damer and sister of

Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester (12 March 1718 – 12 January 1798) was a country landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1741 to 1762 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Milton. He was particularly associated w ...

. They had five sons and three daughters. Dawson was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, John Dawson.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlow, William Dawson, 1st Viscount Year of birth unknown 1779 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Irish MPs 1727–1760 Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Lord-Lieutenants of Queen's County Members of the Irish House of Lords Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Portarlington Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Queen's County constituencies Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland