Charles Dawson
| birth_place = Preston, Lancashire, England
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| death_place = Lewes, Sussex, England
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| nationality = British
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| occupation = Solicitor
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| known_for = Piltdown Man hoax
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Charles Dawson (11 July 1864 – 10 August 1916) was a British amateur archaeologist who claimed to have made a number of archaeological and palaeontological discoveries that were later exposed as frauds. These forgeries included the Piltdown Man (''Eoanthropus dawsoni''), a unique set of bones that he claimed to have found in 1912 in Sussex. Many technological methods such as fluorine testing indicate that this discovery was a hoax, and Dawson, the only one with the skill and knowledge to generate this forgery, was a major suspect.The eldest of three sons, Dawson moved with his family from Preston, Lancashire, to Hastings, Sussex, when he was still very young. Charles initially studied as a lawyer following his father and then pursued a hobby of collecting and studying fossils.
He made a number of seemingly important fossil finds. Amongst these were teeth from a previously unknown species of mammal, later named ''Plagiaulax dawsoni'' in his honour; three new species of dinosaur, one later named ''Iguanodon dawsoni''; and a new form of fossil plant, ''Salaginella dawsoni''. The Natural History Museum awarded him the title of 'Honorary Collector.' He was then elected fellow of the Geological Society for his discoveries and a few years later, he joined the Society of Antiquaries of London. Dawson died prematurely from pernicious anaemia in 1916 at Lewes, Sussex. Provided by Wikipedia
![Letter from Charles Dawson to Miss Doyle, claiming that he has read every life of [Gregory the Great?],](/IIIF/000540000/000536485/vtls000536485_001.jp2/full/100,/0/default.jpg)
