Painter of ships and the sea in oil and watercolour. Born in London, Dawson studied under the noted marine painter Charles Napier Hemy. Contributing to Dawson’s background were the fact that his grandfather had been the painter Henry Dawson, his father was a sea captain and Dawson himself served at sea during World War I and afterwards. After Royal Navy service he began painting full-time, contributing pictures to the RA, leading London and provincial galleries as well as showing overseas. His work is owned by the National Maritime Museum, provincial and foreign galleries. Dawson’s clipper ships are distinctive, and he retains his position as a premier marine painter in the realist tradition regardless of changes in artistic fashion. Lived at Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire.