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.
Peter Dawson (31 January 1882-27 September 1961) was an Australian bass/baritone in the 1920s and 1930s when he was possibly the most popular singer of that era.
He was the subject of a biography, Peter Dawson: The World's Most Popular Baritone written by Peter Burgis and Russell Smith.
His most famous songs included:
"Boots" (with lyrics by Rudyard Kipling) "We Saw the Sea" "On the Road to Mandalay" "The Mountains of Mourne" "Pride of Tipperary" "Waltzing Matilda" "The Kerry Dance" "The Fleet's Not in Port Very Long" "Father O'Flynn" "When the Sergeant-Major's on Parade" "The Floral Dance" "Glorious Devon"
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