Richard Dawson (died c. 1800) was a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

and administrator who served as the second

Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man The lieutenant governor of the Isle of Man ( or ''lhiass-chiannoort vannin'') is the Lord of Mann's official personal representative in the Isle of Man. He has the power to grant royal assent and is styled "His Excellency". No Manx-born perso ...

Career

Dawson served in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

reaching the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in 1772. From 1775, Dawson acted as Lieutenant Governor and deputy to the

Governor of the Isle of Man A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

. Promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 1783, he retired to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1790. He was given the rank of major general in 1793 and

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in 1798, but died two years later. His wife died following a house fire in 1804.The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 95
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References

1800 deaths Lieutenant governors of the Isle of Man Year of birth unknown British Army lieutenant generals Royal Engineers officers {{UK-army-bio-stub