 Born in London, Dowsett came into contact with expert scholar Harold Bailey whilst at Peterhouse, Cambridge, who introduced him to Armenian.After further study (including four years on a substantial British scholarship in Paris), Dowsett was appointed as Lecturer in Armenian at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London - the only post in the subject in Britain at the time.In 1965 when the Chair was established at Oxford University, he was the obvious candidate.