Between the coopering and the mansion-building, and in a working partnership with architect John Henry Hirst of Bristol, he built or expanded many large buildings in Harrogate.

[3][nb 3] The 1851 Census finds him describing himself as a cooper and grocer, living with Isabella and their one-year-old daughter Ann Eliza (born c.1850) at 64 Towns Street, Kirkby Malzeard.

[5] Dawson's second wife, whom he married in Portland Methodist Chapel, Clifton, Bristol on 28 April 1860,[6][nb 5] was Martha Oram (20 May 1837 – 22 May 1913) from Castle Cary.

[10] Historian Malcolm Neesam said of Dawson, "His brilliant business instinct made him a very rich man and it was with a nice sense of humour that he named his Victoria Avenue mansion Vanderbilt Court, after the famous American financier".

He started out in the town as a cooper, running a store in Low Harrogate, and "through a mixture of hard work and obstinacy, he eventually earned enough to speculate as a builder".

[7][16][17] Some of those others are buildings in Parliament Street including Fattorini the Jeweller (1866–1868),[16][18][19] numbers 3–29 Swan Road (1881–1886),[16] and James Street including Ogden's jewellers,[11]: 631, 632 [20] his residence Vanderbilt Court at 5 Victoria Avenue, 2–24 Crescent Road (Grosvenor Buildings), the wings of the Crown Hotel,[13] the block facing Victoria Park and Princes Square, and the block next to the Sulphur Well.

When seen in late afternoon or early evening, with light from the setting sun illuminating its handsome frontage, Prospect Crescent takes on the appearance of a mini Colosseum.

It is, however, a thousand pities that after the First World War, a series of alterations to the ground-floor commercial premises destroyed all save one of the magnificently florid façades created by builder George Dawson and architect J.H.

[24]In spite of his success as a developer, Dawson remained in hands-on control of his building business, including the careers of his apprentices.

[11]: 632  However he possibly mellowed in later years:[2] In Ripon circuit [which included Harrogate], he was well known as an earnest and practical preacher, his discourses ever being full of homely, gospel truth, and experience ...

He was ill and unable to leave his bedroom for more than four months, and died on the morning of 22 February 1889 at his home, Vanderbilt Court, 5 Victoria Avenue.

The cortège processed from the house in Victoria Avenue to the Welseyan Chapel in Oxford Street, where there were sittings enough for the large congregation.

[11]: 631, 632 The cortège then processed across High Harrogate from the chapel to Grove Road Cemetery with Dawson's wife, children, brother, nephews, and nieces as chief mourners, and the townspeople walking behind.

The last part of the funeral service was performed by a minister at the graveside, near to Richard Ellis' family plot, at the southern end of the graveyard.

The coffin "was of polished oak with brass mountings ... covered with choice wreaths &c., and was carried by workmen in the employ of the deceased".

[28] As a property developer of large, expensive houses, Dawson created employment and attracted the rich to the town.

Thus, the Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald said this: "To Alderman Dawson, Harrogate owes much of the prestige it has gained for the character of the noble blocks of buildings which he has been instrumental in erecting".

[14] Between the lines of Richardson's (1892) summary of Dawson's character, is a hint of the tough business attitude of Dawson the working-class self-made man: "In a town noted for its building, no other individual had the courage to develop on the scale he set, to approach the high standards of architectural design and building construction he demanded, or the obstinacy to go against authority and popularity to pursue the course he knew was right".

The minister at his funeral recognised this: "[Dawson was] a man of extraordinary gifts with a palatial mind and great depth of tenderness as a person".