Title:
DOWSETT FAMILY OF SOUTHEND
Level: Category
Estate and Family records
Level: Fonds
DOWSETT FAMILY OF SOUTHEND
Admin History:
Thomas Dowsett was the first mayor of Southend in 1892; his son, H.A. Dowsett, was mayor three times in the 1920s and 1930s.

Thomas Dowsett's business was centred at first around a furnishing and general ironmonger's shop in High Street, Southend. He later diversified into housing development and was one of the founders of Milton Hall (Southend) Brick Company Limited (1878) and Southend-on-Sea Estates Company Limited (1906).

H.A. Dowsett continued as managing director of the two companies as well as becoming involved in public life. He was closely concerned with the opening of Southend General Hospital in 1932 and was later elected chairman of the Hospital Fund committee. He also served as a representative for the Borough on the Runwell Mental Hospital Committee in the 1930s.

H.A. Dowsett's son, H. Langdon Dowsett, became a partner in a firm of chartered surveyors in London. He was also involved in the 6th Battalion of the Essex Regiment and in the Second World War attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Battalion, Essex Home Guard. After the war he became chairman of the Southend (West) Conservative Association.