William Bower Dawes

William Bower Dawes (c. 1807 – 3 August 1869) was a farmer in the colony of South Australia, and member of the first fully elected House of Assembly.

Dawes was a farmer in the Nairne district, then partner with Samuel Stocks jnr. in the district's first flour mill.[1] He was active in the Mount Barker Agricultural Society, and their president in at least one year.[2]

He was one of the councillors when the District Council of Nairne was proclaimed in 1853.[3] He served as the first Member of the House of Assembly for the seat of Onkaparinga in association with (later Sir) William Milne from March 1857.[4][5] He resigned in November 1857[6] after a series of financial reverses. He took a position as manager of a mine at Kanmantoo,[4] which he filled conscientiously, then tried mining at Karkarilla, near Moonta on Yorke Peninsula. He was later an active trader on the Stock Exchange, though without any spectacular success.[1]

  1. ^ a b "The Late Mr. W. B. Dawes". South Australian Register. 5 August 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 5 April 2015 – via Trove.
  2. ^ "Mount Barker Agricultural Association". The South Australian. 17 April 1849. p. 2. Retrieved 5 April 2015 – via Trove.
  3. ^ "District Council for Nairne". South Australian Register. 2 September 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 5 April 2015 – via Trove.
  4. ^ a b South Australian Names.
  5. ^ "William Bower Dawes". Former members of the Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Advertising". Adelaide Observer. 28 November 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 5 April 2015 – via Trove.