Lawson, John (1708/9–1759), preacher, classical scholar and professor of oratory, was born in Magherafelt, Co. Londonderry, the son of the Rev. Alexander Lawson, curate of Omagh, Co. Tyrone. He was educated at the school of Mr MacMahon in Monaghan, before entering TCD as a sizar in June 1727. Awarded a scholarship in 1729, he graduated BA in 1731 and MA in 1734. He was elected junior (1735) and senior fellow (1743) of TCD, and was appointed college librarian (1743–4). After further studies, he graduated DD (1745) and was appointed Archbishop William King lecturer in divinity (1746).
Possessing considerable powers of oratory, he was a popular lecturer and a noted preacher. He frequently delivered sermons in the chapel of TCD and other churches in Dublin. He also preached in churches in London and Oxford and drew large crowds. A supporter of charity schools, he often used his skill at preaching to champion their cause. In 1750 he was appointed professor of oratory and history and embarked on a series of notable lectures. He regularly coached students in the art of declamation, and was viewed by some as one of the founders of the Anglo-Irish oratorical tradition. He caused some controversy by proclaiming that the Roman orators were inferior to the great Greek orators such as Demosthenes. This was due, he stated, to the limitations of Latin and also the loss of liberty suffered by the citizens of Rome under the emperors. Further controversy followed when he stated that students composing verse or prose should use the vernacular rather than Latin. He was castigated by many Latinists for these remarks. Lawson was forward-looking and lectured on the benefits of new scientific discoveries, but many of his recommendations for improvements in TCD were never implemented. In 1753 he was appointed professor of divinity. After a long illness, he died 9 January 1759 in Dublin. He never married. There is a bust in the Old Library, TCD.
During the course of his career he occasionally published sermons and, in 1758, published his most significant work, Lectures concerning oratory. It was re-printed four times in two years and re-published in facsimile form in 1972 by the Southern Illinois University Press. A selection of his sermons was also published after his death, Occasional sermons written by a late eminent divine (1764); new editions were printed in 1765 and 1776.