Photograph - Family of John Joseph Dawson, Newtown

L-R: Anthony Glen (known as Casey), Miss Campbell (a family friend), Ethel Maud, Owen Wilfred (at back), Olga Jean (in front), Kenneth Charles, Rebecca Ivy (at back, known as Ivy) and Vernon Edgar (known as Gus).

Two daughters and two sons are not in the photograph - Mary Eliza (known as Molly), Bertha Mena Lucille (known as Mena), Edward (known as Donald, died 1915) and John Thomas (known as Mervyn, died 1914).

The three eldest daughters — Molly, Mena and Ivy — left Perth for Adelaide to pursue nursing. Adelaide became their permanent home; they never returned to live in Western Australia, instead settling down to marry and raise families of their own.

Ethel married William Clarence Donovan, known as Clarrie. After starting their family in Busselton, they moved to Southern Cross, where Clarrie returned to the gold mining industry. Following WWII, they settled in Victoria Park, Perth, though Clarrie’s passion for mining often drew him back to his business at Ennuin (near Westonia) for extended periods.

The family endured several profound heartbreaks. Casey tragically took his own life with strychnine in Kings Park, leaving his relatives devastated. Another son, Donald, died unmarried in Egypt while serving in WWI, succumbing to gastroenteritis. Similarly, Mervyn fell ill with Typhoid Fever while working near Jarrahwood. He was rushed to Busselton Hospital in critical condition and passed away in 1914, with his parents by his side.

Owen established himself in the Vasse area, first starting a market garden in Newtown before opening a general store at the Caves Road and Margaret River Highway junction (later known as Monaghan’s Store). After the death of his first wife, Owen remarried and went on to have several more children.

The Dawson and Burge families were united when two brothers married two sisters. Gus married Margaret Burge, while his brother Ken married her sister, Doris. Gus and Margaret took over the stewardship of 'Kenwyn' in Newtown, Vasse — a property passed down from Gus’s parents, John Joseph and Rebecca Dawson (not related to Elijah Dawson of 'Westbrook'). Gus’s son, Cliff, eventually followed in his father's footsteps, continuing the family’s agricultural legacy. Meanwhile, Kenneth remained on his father's original property, 'Fernbrook', built in 1889, farming the land until his death in 1989.

Olga was the youngest of the eleven children, and she became her father’s constant shadow. They spent much time fishing and camping together. She married Thomas James Fitzgerald, a railway worker.