William Dawson

Who was William Dawson?

Reverend William Dawson was the second president of The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. A graduate of the Queen's College at Oxford University, Dawson ran the College from 1743–1752. He is also the brother of Thomas Dawson, who was the fourth president of William & Mary.

Dawson was also an Anglican clergyman, a rector at the Jamestown Parish, a commissary of the Bishop of London, a moral philosophy professor at William and Mary, a poet, a chaplain of the House of Burgesses, and a member of the Governor's Council.

Reverend Dawson is the namesake for Dawson Hall in the Bryan Complex at William & Mary.

Dawson married 1st, Mary Stith, a granddaughter of John Stith and William Randolph. He was the grandfather of Congressman William Johnston Dawson.