John Dowson was a Fremantle Councillor 1996-1998, 2005-2011, and Deputy Mayor 2005-2009. He was President of the Fremantle Society 1999-2004, and then again 2016-2022. In 2004 he won the Western Australian Premier’s Prize for Non Fiction with his book Old Fremantle. In 2005 he was Deputy Mayor of the City of Fremantle and a member of council's Heritage and Special Places Committee and of the Town Planning Advisory Committee for the Town of East Fremantle.
Dowson, John 2001, Fremantle: the Immigration Story, Fremantle Society.
Dowson, John 2003, Old Fremantle: Photographs 1850-1950, UWAP.
Dowson, John 2005, Fremantle: The Future is in the Past: Appreciating the Synagogue Site and its Surrounds, privately published booklet, 22 pp. (pdf)
Dowson, John 2006, Old Fremantle Childhood: A Tribute to the Photography and Fatherhood of Arnold Beste - the Fremantle Period 1905-1916, John Dowson.
Dowson, John 2008, Old Albany: Photographs 1850-1950, National Trust WA.
Dowson, John 2011, Fremantle Port, Chart and Map Shop Fremantle.
Dowson, John 2014, Off to War: WWI 1914-1918, TFS Corp, 2014.
Dowson, John 2015, The Western Mail War Souvenir 1915, John Dowson, Aussiana Books, National Trust WA.
Dowson, John 2018, Swan River Postcards, Aussiana Books.
Dowson, John 2013, Heritage Assets of Fremantle: Why So Neglected? FICRA (pdf).
Dowson, John 2017, 'Rare and important: early photography in Fremantle', Fremantle Studies, 9: 1-14.
Dowson, John 2019, 'Vision for Arthur Head', Fremantle Society.
As above. See also Chapter 15, 'A different president', Ron & Dianne Davidson, Fighting for Fremantle, Fremantle Society, 2010.
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