Harold Dowson

DOWSON, Harold MIEE MIEAust (1861-1945)

The son of Professor John Dawson of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Dawson was born at Wokingham, studied at Wellington College in Berkshire and joined the Bell Telephone Company in 1879. After working for several other companies, he moved to Melbourne in 1889.

He joined the Western Australian Government Railways as its Telephone Inspector in 1893 and was appointed Electrical Engineer of this railway in 1896. As the Officer Commanding No.4 Electric Company, he was the first militia Engineer Officer in Western Australia.

Dowson was a foundation member of the Western Australian Institution of Engineers, and his published papers include “Electrical communication and safety appliances on railways”, PWAIE 4, 1913; and “Searchlights and light projection” PWAIE 10, 1918 pp. 42‐57.

After retiring from the Railways in 1922, he joined Chas. Atkins and Sons in Perth, and was a member of ANZAS in 1926.

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References:
“Report ... Government Railways” V&P WA 1897, 9.
BB 1900, 1905.
CWA 1, p. 971.
DWAE 5, p. 248.