Arthur Trevor Dawson
Commander Sir Arthur Trevor Dawson, 1st Baronet (1866–1931) of Vickers , known as Sir Trevor Dawson, was an English armaments manufacturer.
1866 May 1st. Dawson was born in Richmond upon Thames.
1879 He became a Royal Navy Cadet in 1879, became a Midshipman in 1881, and was commissioned in 1887.
In 1896 he left the Royal Navy to join the armaments firm Vickers, becoming a director in 1898 and managing director in 1906. He remained in this post until his death.
1931 May 19th. He died suddenly of heart failure at his home in Elstree, Hertfordshire. The Baronetcy passed to his son, Sir Hugh Trevor Dawson.
1931 Obituary [1]
Commander Sir ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, Bart., R.N., played a prominent part in the development of warship construction and marine and land armaments during the twenty years preceding the War. He was also a pioneer in the construction of airships and the inventor of many improvements in artillery, and he was closely associated with the development of chemical industries in Scandinavia.
He was born at Richmond, Surrey, in 1866, and joined the " Britannia " as a Royal Naval cadet in 1879. Two years later he went to sea as a midshipman on the " Northumberland " and served in other ships until 1889, when he returned to this country to qualify in gunnery. He was later selected for special duty as experimental officer at Woolwich Arsenal.
In 1896 he resigned from the Navy in order to take up the position of Superintendent of Ordnance to Messrs. Vickers, Sons and Maxim. Though still a young man, and despite the heavy responsibilities which the inauguration of large armament programmes laid upon him, he was within a year appointed a director of the company, and many of the improvements in artillery for which the firm were responsible were directly attributable to him.
In 1909 he was appointed managing director and in 1912 vice-chairman, and on the amalgamation of the Vickers and Armstrong-Whitworth concerns after the War became a director of the new firm.
During the War he was experimental officer of the Home Office Committee to investigate gas cylinders. He also served on the Committee on leading screws and on the Admiralty Oil Committee in 1914.
He was the author of several works on ordnance. Commander Dawson was knighted in 1909, was created a baronet in 1920, and was the holder of several foreign decorations.
He was elected a Member of the Institution in 1901, and was a Member of Council from 1914 to 1919. He was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
He died suddenly at Elstree, Middlesex, on 19th May 1931.
1931 Obituary [2]
COMMANDER SIR ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, Bart., R.N., died suddenly from a heart seizure at his country home, Edgwarebury House, Elstree, on May 19, 1931, at the age of sixty-five.
Originally a gunnery expert in the Royal Navy, he became Experimental. Gunnery Officer at Woolwich Arsenal, and in February 1896 became Superintendent of Ordnance to Messrs. Vickers, Sons & Maxim, Ltd., as the firm was then known. He afterwards became Managing Director of Vickers, Ltd., and a Director of Vickers-Armstrong, Ltd., and was also Chairman or Director of several of their associated companies. The names of Vickers and Armstrong have always been very prominent wherever naval construction and armaments have been concerned, and it is largely due to the enterprise shown by these firms that the vessels comprising the British Navy, with their armament equipment, have placed the Royal Navy in the very first rank as regards design and efficiency. In all these matters Sir Trevor Dawson took a leading part.
Sir Trevor Dawson's services were in demand for many Government Committees, such as the Home Office Committee on Gas Cylinders, the War Office Committee on the Accounts of the Royal Ordnance Factories, and the Committee on the Investigation of Leading Screws. He also served on the Admiralty Committee on Oil Fuel. He was a Past President of the Junior Institution of Engineers, and was the first holder of that Institution's Gustave Canet Gold Medal. He travelled very widely, and received several foreign decorations, notably the Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit of Spain.
Sir Trevor was very much interested in metallurgy - both ferrous and non-ferrous. He was largely instrumental in acquiring the rights for the manufacture of Duralumin in Great Britain, and in order to develop the successful manufacture of this material, which was in great demand for the construction of airships and aircraft generally, took a leading part in the acquisition of the firm of James Booth & Co., Ltd., of Birmingham, of which he remained a Director until Vickers, Ltd., disposed of their financial interests in that Company a few years ago. He also did much to encourage the development of the high-strength brasses, of the manufacture of which his firm has made a speciality.
Sir Trevor Dawson was knighted in 1909, and received a baronetcy in 1920. He is survived by his wife, one son and two daughters. Sir Trevor was a member of many learned societies and institutes, and had a very distinguished career.
He was elected a member of the Institute of Metals on September 10, 1914. H. B. WEEKS.