374 Obituary Notice of William Dickson, Esq., F.S.A. 



several branches, contributed greatly to the public conveni- 

 ence. 



As a man of business, Mr. Dickson was renowned for 

 diligence, dispatch, and accuracy. Much engaged in the 

 management of large estates, and having many important 

 matters always requiring attention, he never withheld 

 advice or assistance from the poorest, whose cases were 

 often as intricate as others, but he always got them arrang- 

 ed to their satisfaction. Possessing the rare faculty of 

 concentrating his mind, in the midst of many avocations, 

 on one subject at a time, and of following it up till it was 

 settled, he discharged with great ability, the duties of many 

 public offices, along with much private business. On the 

 6th of May, 1875, he attended an Adjourned Sessions of 

 Magistrates at Newcastle. He had then a slight cold, which 

 became a serious illness, and he died at Alnwick on the 

 14th of the same month, in the 76 th year of his age. 



Mr. Dickson was esteemed and respected by all classes of 

 society. On the day of his death the Alnwick Local Board 

 of Health met, and unanimously adopted a resolution, 

 expressive of their deep regret at his death, their apprecia- 

 tion of his long and invaluable public services, their esteem 

 for his public and private worth, and their intention to follow 

 his remains to the place of interment. The other public 

 bodies in Alnwick, including the Chamberlains and Common 

 Council of the Borough, adopted similar resolutions ; and 

 thus, notwithstanding his simple, unambitious character, 

 his funeral was in fact a public one, attended by hundreds 

 of real mourners uninvited. 



At the first Sessions of the Justices of Northumberland 

 after his death, Mr. M. W. Ridley, M.P., the Chairman, in 

 opening business, said, they would not be doing their duty, 

 if they did not express their deep sense of regret at the loss 

 they had sustained in the death of the late Clerk of the 

 Peace, Mr. Dickson. He thought the Bench ought to place 

 on their minutes a resolution recording the great services 

 which Mr. Dickson had rendered to the County ; he moved 

 the following resolution : — " That this Bench do record their 

 deep sense of the long and valuable services rendered to 

 them by the late William Dickson, Esq., as Clerk of the 

 Peace for the County, and of the great loss they have suf- 

 fered by his lamented death ; and they further desire to 

 express their sympathy with his widow and family on the 



