WJ Dawkins pioneered the Poll Dorset breed in 1937 when a Corriedale ram was mated with a pure-bred Dorset Horn ewe. The progeny – a “good polled ewe lamb” – was mated with a Newbold Dorset Horn ram in 1940, the progeny being a polled ram lamb – Newbold Poley No. 1 of 1941.
WJ continued to introduce the poll character by crossing Dorset Horns with polled breeds and then mating consistently back to Dorset Horns. Combined with rigorous culling, WJ focused on eliminating all characteristics of the introduced breed except for the poll character – mating Dorset Horn ewes year after year until 96.875% Dorset Horn blood was attained.
WJ with his son-in-law Jack Reddin and two other breeders (Lyall Stuart from Tasmania and Rex Wilson from NSW) founded the Australian Poll Dorset Association in 1954.