Dawson Street

Dawson Street celebrates the fine profession of surveying. When Frederick Alonzo Carrington laid out the original plan for the fledgling settlement of New Plymouth, he both determined the position and name of Dawson Street.

Being the son of Captain William Carrington, he trained under the distinguished military engineer, surveyor and draughtsman, Robert Dawson of the Corps of Royal Military Surveyors and Draftsmen. This led to his appointment to the Ordnance Survey Department. His skills so impressed that he was chosen to determine the boundaries of the boroughs from Bristol to Manchester under the parliamentary reform of 1832. With this prestigious reputation, he became the chief surveyor of the Plymouth Company and came to Taranaki.  So, when laying out the streets of New Plymouth, he immortalised his great mentor, Robert Dawson, by naming a street after him.

It has been reported elsewhere that the street is named after Colonel Dawson, but that is incorrect. Colonel Robert Kearsley Dawson was in fact the son of Robert. R. K. Dawson became a very distinguished surveyor himself; illustrating again the huge influence his father had as a fine teacher.

Col. R. K. Dawson had another link with Carrington beyond sharing the pedagogic skills of the father. The Colonel became the 'Established Referee of the Government and the Treasury on Colonial Surveys'. His Report on Surveying considered with reference to New Zealand and applicable to the colonies in general, published in 1840, would have influenced Carrington. So in an ironic twist, it could be argued that the street name reflects both of the Dawson's despite the fact that Carrington gives Robert senior the nod for the actual street name.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.