23 Facts About Edward Dobson

Edward Dobson was Provincial Engineer for Canterbury Province, New Zealand from 1854 to 1868.

Edward Dobson was born in London, probably in 1816 or 1817.

Edward Dobson's parents were John Dobson, a merchant, and Elizabeth Barker.

Collet Dobson Collet was his brother, Clara Collet was his niece, and Sophia Dobson Collet his sister.

Edward Dobson made a sketching tour of the European Continent, his drawings from which were exhibited in the architecture section of the Royal Academy.

Edward Dobson married Mary Ann Lough on 7 May 1839 at Shoreditch, London, and they were to have ten children.

Edward Dobson became an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 1 March 1842, and a full member on 29 March 1881.

Edward Dobson wrote a number of practical books on engineering subjects.

Edward Dobson was one of the original purchasers of land from the Canterbury Association.

Edward Dobson's wife followed on the Fatima and arrived in Lyttelton exactly one year later, on 27 December 1851.

Edward Dobson designed a system of railways for the province, and by the time he retired, the Canterbury Great Southern Railway had reached Lyttelton and advanced as far south as the Selwyn River.

Edward Dobson supervised the construction of the Ferrymead Railway, connecting the wharf in Ferrymead with Christchurch and opening on 1 December 1863.

The chief surveyor, Thomas Cass, commissioned Arthur Edward Dobson in 1864 to find out whether there is a suitable pass from the Waimakariri watershed to the West Coast.

Edward Dobson was commissioned to examine every possible pass to the West Coast from the watersheds of the Waimakariri, Taramakau and Hurunui Rivers.

The provincial government decided that a road was to be built between Christchurch and Hokitika, a distance of 156 miles, and Edward Dobson was put in charge of the project.

Edward Dobson resigned as provincial engineer in 1868 and moved to Australia the following year.

Edward Dobson undertook engineering work for a railway company in Melbourne, and water supply engineering work in Melbourne and Geelong.

In 1878, Edward Dobson went into a formal partnership with his son Arthur, which lasted until 1885.

Edward Dobson had lectured since the 1860s, and his lectures to the Christchurch High School are regarded as "the first attempt to make Physical Science a branch of regular instruction in this colony".

Edward Dobson helped establish the Engineering School of the Canterbury College, which became the University of Canterbury, and lectured until 1892.

Edward Dobson built a cob cottage in Sumner, and another house in central Christchurch in the block described by Tuam, Manchester and High Streets.

Edward Dobson could afford to send his sons to Christ's College, then the best school in Christchurch.

Son George Edward Dobson was murdered by Richard Burgess and the other Maungatapu murderers.