The 76-year-old took his first auction in 1959 and his career has included presiding over livestock, antiques and general auction sales.
Dawson left school and joined Lewes auctioneers, land and estate agents JR Thornton & Co and worked his way up.
Looking back over his long career, he conducted more than 900 sales. The Sussex saleroom became Lewes Auction Rooms which he ran for many years. In 2001 the firm merged to form Gorringe’s Incorporating Julian Dawson.
The auction firm held a party celebrating Dawson’s career at the Garden Street saleroom last week with 200 people in attendance.
The premises will now close and the freehold to the site, which Dawson bought around 30 years ago, has been put up for sale.
He said: “When I started I was allowed to take auctions quite quickly and I had to learn from my mistakes. I will be retiring after a wonderful career. I will still be visiting my friends in North Street to say hello.”
Gorringe’s will hold all its auctions under one roof from January at its North Street site in Lewes.
Senior partner Philip Taylor previously told ATG: “By bringing together all our sales under one roof, we will be able to offer our customers a more streamlined buying and selling service.”
The image of Julian Dawson was taken by: http://www.carlottaluke.com/
