Career
After a decade in local government, he sat in the House of Commons from 1922 to 1944. During World War I, he joined the Royal Naval Division as a sub-lieutenant, transferring in 1916 to the (Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve). He served the rest of the war with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve at The Crystal Palace, becoming a temporary Lieutenant Commander.
Rawson remained involved with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve after the war, and in 1925 was made an honorary commander, attached to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve"s Sussex Division.
In 1940 he was made an honorary Captain of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Rawson political career began in 1911, when he was elected to Wandsworth Council. He was a Wandsworth councillor for 11 years, serving as mayor in 1918 to 1919, and was elected to the London County Council (LCC) in 1913.
He stood down from local government on his election to Westminster and held his seat in the Commons at the next five general elections. Such a feat also makes Rawson the record holder for the largest majority for an Member of Parliament, at 62,253.
This record was typical of a wider contest which saw an overwhelming Tory victory.
Rawson told his local Conservative Association in October 1943 that he wanted to be relieved of his Parliamentary duties as soon as possible, and retired from Parliament on 17 January 1944, by resigning his seat through the procedural device of accepting appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead. Rawson married Elizabeth Robson in 1902. He died on 11 January 1946 at Hove, Sussex, aged 69.