Dawson Carpentry

This little stool passed from my great grandmother, Clara Woolgar née Dawson, to my grandmother Ivy Smith née Woolgar, then to my mother Gwendoline Catherine Braund née Smith and then to me. In fact, it almost certainly belonged to my great great grandmother Mary Ann Dawson née Bowyer, before Clara. It is about nine inches square and nine inches tall. According to the label that my mother stuck on the bottom, it was, “made by Clara Dawson’s brother or uncle – think uncle – as an apprentice piece.” Clara’s brother, William Dawson 1864-1924, was indeed a carpenter and joiner, so it would make sense that this was made by him in the 1880s and given to his mother Mary, who then passed it to Clara.

 

Could it have been Clara’s uncle instead of a brother? Although the Bowyer side of the family would seem more likely, if this were the case, I also needed to consider the Dawson side. Clara’s father, Thomas Dawson, had three brothers, William c.1828-1879, Charles c.1833-1852 and John c.1836-1916. William worked for the Post Office, first as a railway messenger and the as a sub-postmaster; he was also a shoemaker. Charles was an agricultural labourer as a teenager and died at the age of eighteen. John too started work as an agricultural labourer before joining  the army and working as a hospital nurse at an army barracks.

 

What then of Clara’s uncles on her mother’s, Bowyer, side? Mary Archer Bowyer had two brothers, Joseph c.1833-1901 or later and Robert c.1843-1917. Joseph was a shoemaker and latterly a carrier. Robert was consistently an agricultural labourer. It seems then that it was indeed Clara’s brother, William, who made the stool.