115 



SOME ACCOUNT OF WILLIAM DAWSON, LATE OF LEEDS, 



SURGEON. 



BY O. A. MOORE, ESQ. 



WiLLTAM Dawson, the subject of this Notice, was the son of James Dawson, 

 of Leeds, Mercer, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Ibbetson, Esq., 

 Mayor of Leeds in 1685. His father had a numerous family, many of whom 

 seem to have died in their infancy, and we have no information as to the 

 time of his birth. That it was subsequent to 1714 is probable, since he does 

 not appear in the genealogy given at page 127 of the original edition of 

 Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, although the pedigree of the family is fully 

 given under that of the Brearey's, at page 125 of Whitaker's edition. 

 William was educated for the profession of a Surgeon-Apothecar}^ and pro- 

 bablj^ passed the usual period, which was customary at that time, in walking 

 tlie hospitals in London, previous to his commencing the practice of his 

 profession in his native town. There is in the possession of the writer, a 

 certificate, with the name of William Dawson, in red type and flowery 

 margin, purporting to be printed on the river Thames, in the great frost in 

 the month of January, 1739-40. 



Mr. Dawson commenced practice in his native town, Leeds, soon after this 

 period; and in 1750, we find him in extensive practice there; for, in that 

 year, the parents of Mr Wm. Hey placed the future eminent surgeon with 

 him as one of his apprentices. During sevei'al years previous to this time, 

 Mr. Dawson had applied himself to the study of Natural History, and of 

 Botany in particular. His researches extended, as we shall afterwards see, 

 into various parts of the neighbom-hood of Leeds and Settle, and from the 

 scanty records of his investigations which have come down to us, there is 

 reason to regret that more is not known of his labours in the pursuit of his 

 favourite science. Suffice it to saj', that a large proportion of the rare plants 

 subsequently discovered in those parts, had previously been recorded in his 

 MSS. list. The artificial system of Linnaeus not being then in use in this 

 country, (the first edition of Hudson's Flora Anglica was published in 1762,) 

 Mr. Dawson adopted that of our illustrious countryman, Ray, and in this 

 he instructed his pupil, Mr. Hey, a fact recorded in Pearson's Life of Hey, 

 appendix, page 131, where several other incidental notices of his master may 

 be found. It will be sufficient merely to allude to one of these, in which it 

 is stated, that to the aid aff'orded by his kind master, under circumstances 

 where his life was endangered from an imprudent experiment with a pow- 

 erful opiate remedy, the illustrious Wm. Hey, of Leeds, was indebted for 

 his recovery. 



Mr. Dawson married Mary, daughter of Josiah Dawson, Vicar of Giggles- 

 wick, near Settle ; {vide Wliitaker's History of Craven ;} but it does not appear 

 VOL. v. H 



