My Great Grandmother Mary Ellen Dawber was born in Lancashire, and from a young age, I have wanted to know more about this wonderful lady who was adored by her daughters and grandchildren for her practical commonsense outlook on life. While researching her life, I've come across many other Dawbers from Lancashire and further afield and was curious to explore how they might be related to Mary Ellen and hence to me and my family.

Another reason for opting to undertake a One Name Study for Dawber was to share evidence- based research. Mary Ellen's grandfather, for example, is often shown in others' online trees as dying in his 40's, not long after the death of his first wife. Careful evidence-based research, however, shows that he remarried and lived well into his 70's. 

I'm at a relatively early stage in my research on the wider Dawber name, having directed my focus so far to the Dawbers from Lancashire and I am keen to share and collaborate with others. 

Dowber, Dauber and Dober are the most common variants.

Remembering those who died in the First and Second World Wars

The First World War, also known as The Great War

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) records indicate that 12 men named Dawber died in the First World War.  Ten of the 12 served with English regiments, one with The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and one with the South African Infantry. Of these 12, two were the sons of John Clement Dawber and Veronica Dawber of Pendleton, Manchester, and two were the sons of  Thomas and Barbara Dawber of Leyland.  Family details are not yet known for three of the 12.

Two Dawbers who died in the First World War are buried in the UK, two in Belgium and one in Greece. Four of the 12 are buried in France, and three of the 12 who have no known grave are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. 

Three Daubers died in the First World War, two of whom were from Lincoln. Two are remembered on the Helles Memorial in Turkey, the other is buried in Belgium.

The Second World War

Nine Dawbers died in the Second World War. One was a civilian from Bolton who died in London in 1945,  and two were the sons of  Richard  and Florence Dawber of Tranmere, Birkenhead. 

John Dowber, a Private in the Royal Welch Regiment died aged 21 and is buried in Belgium.

Dawber and its varients are an uncommon surname.  Poor literacy amongst the agricultural working class probably accounts for much of the variance in spelling,  with clergy and others resorting to phonetic spelling when recording births, marriages and deaths. 

The Genealogist website indicates that there were 639 individuals in recorded in the 1861 census with the surname 'Dawber' and 645 in the 1871 census. The largest concentration of individuals with the surname in both censuses was in Lancashire with 479 and 464 respectively. 

Analysis based on The Genealogist website name frequency function indicates that in the 1881 census, there were 719 individuals in England, Wales and the Channel Islands using the surname Dawber and 89 using Dauber. Lancashire in England again had the largest concentration of individuals with the surnames Dawber (77%) and Dauber (46%).  A few families in Canada also used the surnames Dawber and Dauber.

* Less than 1%

In the USA, Dauber seems to have been the more usual spelling. In the table below, I have attempted to show the spread of the Dawber and Dauber surnames across America, as evidenced by US census data from the Ancestry website: