[PW] Alec John Dawson (1872-1951)

[Graf, Jeffrey C]

Hello,


The Times

Wednesday, Feb 07, 1951; pg. 8; Issue 51919; col E



Major A. J. Dawson
Author and Traveller

Major A. J. Dawson, author and traveler, died on Saturday at his home 
at Hastings at the age of 79.

The third son of Mr. Edward Dawson, he was born in 1872 and served 
throughout the 1914-1918 war, first as a company commander in a 
Territorial battalion of The Border Regiment and, after he was 
invalided home from France in 1916, as a General Staff officer in 
Intelligence.  He was appointed M.B.E. and awarded the Croix de Guerre. 
  After the armistice he was made Director of Information at Bombay, 
but soon etired through ill health.

Dawson was a keen advocate of National Service and a closer union with 
the Empire.  Between 1905 and 1914 his energies were largely 
concentrated upon the airs of the National Service League and armed 
with a written message from Lord Kitchener, he launched the standard 
recruiting scheme and was responsible for the enlistment of thousands 
of recruits in and around London.  He also joined Mr. Harry Cust as 
first organizing secretary of the Central Committee for National 
Patriotic Organizations under the presidency of Lord Rosebery and Mr. 
Balfour.

A recognized authority upon the Empire and Colonial matters, he also 
wrote a number of volumes displaying much knowledge of countries such 
as Morocco.  His collection of Moroccan stories entitled “African 
Nights Entertainments’ was well received by the critics of the day


Regards,

Jeff Graf
Reference Department
Wells Library
Indiana University - Bloomington



Quoting Karen Lofstrom <klofstrom at gmail.com>:

> I'm proofreading one of his bellicose, hyper-nationalist books for
> Distributed Proofreaders. All I can find out about him are his dates
> of birth and death, and lists of his publications. That is, all I can
> find out about him online. Visits to the main Hawaii State Library are
> problematic; too much walking and climbing required, and I'm crippled
> with arthritis.
>
> Does anyone have access to a bio? Or to a 1951 obituary? Probably in
> the Times or another of the UK newspapers.
>
> He fascinates me because he would have been a neo-con, had he been
> American and lived 100 years later  :)  It's like watching a tiger in
> the wild.
>
> --
> Karen Lofstrom
> _______________________________________________
> Project Wombat
> list at project-wombat.org
> http://www.project-wombat.org/
>