Joshua Dawson (1660–1725) 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 State rel ...

public servant, land developer and politician of the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland (; , ) was a dependent territory of Kingdom of England, England and then of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1542 to the end of 1800. It was ruled by the monarchs of England and then List of British monarchs ...

. He was appointed clerk to the Chief Secretary of Ireland, Matthew Prior, in 1697. In that role he petitioned for the establishment of a Paper & Patent Office. He became the Collector of Dublin in 1703, and held the office of Chief Secretary for Ireland to the Lords Justices from 1710 under Queen Anne. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) 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 the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...

from 1705 to 1714. He developed an area of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1705–1710 which included the setting out and construction of the streets of Dawson Street, Anne Street, Grafton Street and Harry Street. These were named after, respectively, himself, Queen Anne, and Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton (the son of Charles II and cousin of Queen Anne). This development included the construction of the Mansion House in Dawson Street in 1710 which was purchased in 1715 to be the official residence of the Mayor of Dublin – which it has remained for 300 years. Dawson resided in

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

and Dublin. Dawson's ancestral family had owned land and lived in the area where he founded Dawson's Bridge in 1710 (named after the bridge over the

River Moyola The River Moyola or Moyola River (Irish language, Irish: ''Abhainn na Scríne'') stretches for approximately 27 miles from the Sperrin Mountains to Lough Neagh. The Moyola starts a small river (3-5 metres; 10' to 16') for the first few miles of ...

), which was to become present-day Castledawson. In his estate he built Moyola House in 1713.

Personal life

Dawson was born in 1660 at the family seat (which became Castledawson,

), the son of Thomas Dawson, Commissary of the Musters of the Army in Ireland. He married Anne Carr, in January 1695/96 and had six children: Mary, William, Charles, Anne Elizabeth, Eleanor, Arthur, Joseph and Arabella. He died on 3 March 1725. Notable relatives included Henry Richard Dawson, Robert Dawson, Sackville Hamilton, Henry Hamilton (governor) and Henry Hamilton (politician).Lodge, John (1789). Mervyn Archdall, ed. The Peerage of Ireland or A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. vol. V. Dublin: James Moore. p. 178.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Joshua 1660 births 1725 deaths Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wicklow constituencies Irish MPs 1703–1713 People from Castledawson 17th-century Irish businesspeople 18th-century Irish businesspeople Irish businesspeople in real estate Businesspeople from Dublin (city) Businesspeople from County Londonderry Politicians from County Londonderry Politicians from Dublin (city)