Ernest Douglas Dobson (1863 - 1938)

Born 28 Dec 1863 in Lower Wairau, Blenheim, New Zealand

Ancestors

Husband of Emma (Mears) Dobson — married 12 Jun 1889 (to 22 Nov 1918) in New Zealand

Husband of Ethel Maud (Hancock) Dobson — married 1926 in New Zealand

Descendants

Died 5 Dec 1938 at age 74 in Wairau, New Zealand

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Biography

Ernest was born December 28, 1863 and baptised January 4, 1864. He was the son of Alfred Dobson and Lucy Lough. He passed away in 1938. ^[1]

MR. ERNEST D. DOBSON

(by Telegraph.)

(Special to the "Evening Post.")

BLENHEIM, this day. The death occurred at the Wairau Hospital last evening of Mr. Ernest Douglas Dobson, of Blenheim, at the age of 75 years. The late Mr. Dobson, who was one of the oldest licensed surveyors in New Zealand, was a member of a family connected with early survey work in the South Island, being the son of the late Mr. Alfred Dobson, first provincial engineer of Nelson and Marlborough, who was responsible for much of the early survey work in Blenheim, and a cousin of Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson, well known for his pioneer surveying and engineering in Canterbury and on the West Coast. Born in Blenheim in 1863 he was educated here, and in 1879 joined his father on the land plans of the railway from the Grovetown school to Blenheim. In 1880 he was associated with various road works undertaken by the Public Works Department in Marlborough and afterwards he rejoined his father. In 1887 he set up in private practice, being engineer to the Wairau River Board, and was engaged in flood relief works. In 1887 he became a licensed surveyor and in 1897 an associate member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, London. He was a member of the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers. In 1901 he accepted a position as engineer at Masterton and for a time was also town clerk. During this period he extended the sewerage scheme of Masterton and installed the first public septic tank in New Zealand. He was connected with a water supply and land drainage scheme at Eketahuna, being consulting engineer to the council there. In 1903 he left for Westport, where he was appointed general manager of the borough. During his ten years there he was responsible for a sewerage scheme and the improvement of the water supply. In 1919 he left for Samoa and installed a water supply at Apia. Returning to New Zealand in 1921 he undertook survey work for the Public Works Department in the Gisborne district and from there he returned to Blenheim, where he continued his private practice and was also entrusted with the Wairau River works, at a cost of over 50,000 pounds, construction of the Omaka and Marchburn bridges and the Havelock wharf.

Mr. Dobson, who was twice married, leaves a widow, six sons and six daughters.^[2]

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Ernest was born about 1878.

Sources

1. ↑ Entered by Peter Knowles, Feb 3, 2013
2. ↑ Evening Post, Wellington, 6 December, 1938.

• Papers Past, New Zealand [ http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast ]

• Image of birth record courtesy of Marlborough Musem - Malborough Historical Society Inc.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Peter Knowles for starting this profile.

Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Peter and others.

• BDM Birth of son Dudley