Joan Dawson is from
London, England. She met her husband while attending
Oxford University, and moved with him to
Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1954, where she taught French and ran a library in an independent girls' school. She later moved to
Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she had two sons. Dawson has written a wide variety of articles on the topics of maps and Nova Scotian history. She has published several books, among them ''The Mapmakers' Legacy
in 2007, A History of Nova Scotia in 50 Objects
in 2015, and Nova Scotia's Historic Inland Communities'' in 2022. Dawson is a member of the Lunenburg County Historical Society and the
Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia. She is a fellow of the
Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society. ==Publications==