When I began to take an interest in the work of R.K.Dawson, I scoured the web looking for any relevant background information but was disappointed to find that there was hardly anything available on either the man himself or, indeed, his work. As R.K. Dawson was, undoubtedly, an important figure in the field of town and borough development during the 1830s, I felt strongly that he deserved to have his profile raised a notch or two. This web page is the result and I hope the reader will find this to be of some interest.

short biography
Born in 1798, the son of Robert Thomas Dawson (1776 - 1860) & Jane, he was baptised on 22^nd December of that year at the church of St.Mary the Virgin, Dover, Kent. Having entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Dawson obtained his first commission in the Royal Engineers in 1818 but after a long and distinguished career, he eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. First employed under Captain (afterwards General) Colby on the Scots and Irish surveys, he later superintended the preparation of the plans of cities and boroughs issued by government about the time of the introduction of the first Reform Bill of 1832. The resulting maps and surveys are entered under the name of 'Lt.R.K.Dawson,R.E.' in the British Museum Catalogue of Printed Books. He was attached to the Tithe Commutation Commission from its first formation, and was afterwards appointed an assistant-commissioner and head of the survey department of the Commons Enclosure & Copyhold Commission. For his services in this capacity he was made C.B., civil division (February 1836). He first married Anna Maria Nicholl-Carne of Dimlands House, Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan on 17^th April 1833 but is believed to have married twice after. Robert Kearsley Dawson died at Blackheath, London on 28^th March 1861.

The Reform Act of 1832
The first of a series of three, the main purpose of this Act was to permit a fairer representation of the people in the House of Commons. Up until this time, Government had been overwhelmingly controlled by the Crown and a relatively few privileged aristocratic landowners. Much of the land they owned was sparsely populated open countryside whilst the expanding towns like Bradford, Manchester, Sheffield etc. with their growing industry and populations were seriously under-represented. The Reform Act was the first movement towards redressing the balance and one of the main changes was to give voting rights to all house-holders (owners and tenants) whose property was assessed for tax purposes at £10 or more per annum.

The Plans & Surveys

As an integral part of this political change, Dawson was commissioned to conduct surveys and report back to HM Government on any changes to Borough boundaries that might be considered necessary in order to complete the successful introduction of the Reform Act. Dawson produced 277 plans of the Boroughs of England & Wales showing the extent of the Borough in question in the form of the existing parish and Borough boundaries along with his proposals for expansion as the survey team considered necessary. The accompanying surveys followed the same basic format throughout although they varied in the amount of specific detail they contained depending on which area was being discussed at the time. Common considerations were the number of inhabitants and dwellings, amount and use of land, taxes raised from the area, industrial activity (if any) and some idea of how many people were thereafter entitled to vote based on the changes introduced in the Reform Act.  The plans generally follow the same basic format in that most are in B&W, although a few have had colour applied to them, with parish boundaries being outlined in brown, and the proposed borough boundaries alterations (if any) in red, streets are usually shown but only named on a small proportion of the maps. Voting districts (wards) are also sometimes included. A fairly typical example of Dawson's work is the plan of Sheffield and its immediate surrounding area which can be seen by clicking the thumbnail image that appears lower down this page.

Other contributors
Dawson's position as project co-ordinator appears to have afforded him the honour of having his signature included on each piece of work and, as a result, the responsibility for the effort has been generally attributed to him. Having said that, it should be said that he could not possibly have completed such a large scale project alone. While he may well have had a small band of assistants who travelled around the country with him, it is most probable that he also utilised the services of local surveyors,  draughtsmen, engravers etc. The names of these men are now, for the most part, forgotten but these unknowns still deserve a mention for the crucial role they played in the successful completion of the overall project.

Dawson's Impact on the Landscape

Personally, I consider Dawson's work to have had a considerable effect in a geographical and historical context because, in a way, his surveys of 1832 transformed the urban landscape . By re-defining the boundaries, often enveloping the outlying villages that were previously independant, his proposed boundary changes permitted the growing industrial areas like Bradford, Manchester and Sheffield to keep pace by allowing for further expansion into the hitherto untouched countryside, and turning such places into the cities and suburbs that we are more familiar with today. I do sometimes wonder what the green lobby might have had to say about such proposals if they had been around in Dawson's day.

Sheffield - a typical example of Dawson's work. The left and right margins are cut short due to the featured plan being a little wider than my scanner but I'm sure you'll get the idea.

All of the undermentioned plans are available for viewing but I should point out that none are for sale at this time. If anything I've got is of particular interest to you, drop me a line at sfmov@btinternet.com and I'll happily e-mail a copy to you. I shall be adding to this list as availability, finances and the wife permit so call back occasionally to see if I've aquired any new ones. All of these plans are believed to date from 1832 unless otherwise stated.

Ashburton
Ashton-under-Lyne
Bedford
Bridgewater
Gloucester
Launceston
Launceston (with Newport)
Liskeard
Macclesfield
Newport, IoW
Newport, Mon. ~ 1837
Okehampton
Oxford
Plymouth
Salford (with Manchester)
Sheffield
Taunton
Torrington ~ 1837
Totnes
Truro ~ 1837
Warwick
Wells