DIE HARD DAWSON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 October 1940, Page 7

DIE HARD DAWSON

TRIUMPH OVER DIFFICULTY. He would not give in. ■ His was a hard struggle, but he never gave in. He kept on with magnificent faith in himself, and a glorious spirit of thankfulness for any bit of fortune which was his. He was Henry Dawson, born in Hull in 1811. In childhood he owed everything to a good mother. He was only eight when he had to work in a rope factory, but his bent towards art won him release, and after a period of slavery in a lace factory, he was able to devote himself to art. Fortune smiled on him a little at first, and he . was earning what was then the considerable sum of nearly three pounds a week when he married. But he was soon reduced to £4O a year. His mother —always a tower of strength-died, and he found himself hard put to it to support his wife and two children. But he had courage and determination. He moved to Liverpool, and later to London, accepting adversity whenever it came, and always looking forward to better times. His pictures were badly hung at the Academy. He had long runs of misfortune. He saw good work discarded. But he never became bitter. He went on painting what are now regarded as masterpieces—Charles raising his standard at Nottingham, the Wooden Walls of England. The Pool Below London Bridge, and when —as in June 1850 —he had a lucky day, he wrote in his diary: "God, make me more thankful for these great benefits." Illness weakened him. He saw penury staring him in the face. He felt he could keep on no longer—and then the tide turned. His pictures commanded high prices. His exhibitions were well patronised. He made money hand over fist, His genius was recognised. and when he died in 1878 he was assured of immortality. It is a fine epic of steady triumph over difficulty and disappointment.