Bass-baritone, born in Adelaide, South Australia. He won a solo competition at Ballarat, Victoria, in 1901 and the following year left for London, where he studied for three years. He made his debut at Covent Garden in 1909, and appeared regularly in oratorios, but he was best known for his ballad singing. He was a prolific recording artist, using a variety of pseudonyms, including Will Danby, Hector Grant, and Will Strong. Many of the ballads he sang were written by Dawson himself, under the name J P McColl.