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- Textual record
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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1854 - 1895 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
7 cm of textual records
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
George Lawson was born 12 October 1827 at Newport, Scotland, to Alexander Lawson and Margaret McEwan. He was married first to Lucy Stapley (d. 1871) of Edinburgh, with whom he had two daughters. In 1876, five years after Stapley's death, he married Caroline Matilda Knox, née Jordan, in Halifax.
Lawson was initially apprenticed to a solicitor, but was moved to study the natural and physical sciences at the University of Edinburgh. He received his DPhil from the University of Giessen and moved to Canada in 1858 to take up an appointment as professor of chemistry and natural history at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. During his time at Queen's he founded the Botanical Society of Canada (1860).
In 1863 Lawson left Queen's to join the newly reorganized Dalhousie College as professor of chemistry and mineralogy, where he introduced laboratory work and field trips into his classes. He lectured at the Halifax Medical College, helped to organize the Technological Institute of Halifax (1877), and was an avid supporter of the Nova Scotian Institute of Natural Science (later the Nova Scotian Institute of Science). He was a charter member of the Royal Society of Canada, serving as its president in 1887–1888, and was involved in overseas organizations such as London's Royal Horticultural Society. Lawson died of a stroke in 1895.
Custodial history
Records were accessioned by the Dalhousie University Archives in 1972 and 1977. The custodial history is unknown.
Scope and content
Fonds contains off-prints of Lawson's papers (1854-1894), a handwritten catalogue of Lawson's library, handwritten botanical observations (1891), a published program of a course of botany lectures, published testimonials (1874), and an obituary (1895).
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Fonds is arranged into two series:
The offprints series contains the bulk of the records; and The personal archives series contains other material created by Lawson.
Files are arranged chronologically.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script note
English
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
There are no access restrictions on these materials. All materials are open for research.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Materials do not circulate and must be used in the Dalhousie University Archives and Special Collections Reading Room. Materials may be under copyright. Contact departmental staff for guidance on reproduction.
Finding aids
Associated materials
For correspondence between Lawson and Robert Bell, his former student and replacement as professor of chemistry and natural history at Queen's University, see the Robert Bell fonds (MS-2-361).
Alexander G. Russell's notes on Lawson's chemistry lectures can be found in the Russell fonds (MS-2-380).
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Sources
Description comes from the Dalhousie University Archives Catalog. The complete, original description is available there.