Edward Dobson
The Cressy

Original information:
Edward Dobson (1816-1908), a civil engineer, migrated when he was 33 with his two sons, George (1840-1866) and Arthur Dudley (1841-1934).

Edward built a sod cottage at the foot of Richmond Hill on the 50-acre RS152 (later the site of the Marine Hotel). Edward became a provincial engineer and designed and carried out public works. In 1900 he was living in Christchurch.

His son Arthur also became a provincial engineer and later the Christchurch City Engineer.

He worked with his father on the Lyttelton Tunnel, and in 1900 was living in Christchurch. Arthurs Pass is named after him.
George Dobson became a surveying engineer. He was murdered by the Burgess gang in 1866 after being mistaken for a gold courier. Dobson Street is named after one of the family.

Readers' response:
According to the family, Edward Dobson married Mary Ann Lough (1821-1913) on May 7, 1839. They had 10 children − George and Arthur, who travelled with their father on the Cressy, and Mary Ann (1844-1913), Caroline (1845-1932), Edward Henry (1847-1934), Maria Eliza (b. 1848), Robert Dobson (1852-1893), Emily Frances (1857-1943), Herbert Alex (1860-1948) and Collet Barker (1861-1926).

It seems that Mary Ann travelled to Canterbury after Edward with some of the children, and had more children in New Zealand.

According to the family, the Dobsons lived in Sumner on land that Edward took up soon after arriving. The family also had a house in town between High Street, Tuam Street and Manchester Street. As Provincial Engineer, Edward Dobson was responsible for many public works, such as roads, bridges, railways and tunnels. Most notable was the Lyttelton Tunnel.1


1: Clare Bowes, unpublished family history and family tree


POSTED BY: George English : April 29, 2008

I would like to contact Clare Bowes who has contributed notes about Edward Dobson. Although we have an extensive Dobson & Lough network, no one seems to know of her. We have a lot more information about Edward Dobson, his brother Alfred who went to NZ on the Fatima in 1851, with Mary Ann Lough and their next 4 children, and their families.

Kind regards

George English