Arthur Dudley Dobson

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Arthur's father Edward Dobson around 1866
Arthur Dobson around 1932
Arthur Dobson 1864
Grave of Arthur Dudley Dobson and other family members

Arthur Dudley Dobson (born September 9, 1841 in Islington , † March 5, 1934 in Christchurch ) was a New Zealand surveyor, engineer and explorer. He is particularly known for the first European crossing of the Arthur's Pass, later named after him, over the Southern Alps .

Early life

Dobson was born in Islington in 1841 to Edward Dobson (1816-1908) and Mary Ann, née Lough. His father was a surveyor and railway engineer, which would influence his later life. He received his education in Nottingham .

When the railway boom in England subsided, his father decided to emigrate to New Zealand. He bought land from the Canterbury Association and reached Lyttelton on December 27, 1850 with the Cressy , one of the First Four Ships . His two eldest sons George (1840–1866) and Arthur accompanied him.

His father found life difficult in the new colony with two children and sent them to live with their uncle, Reverend Charles Dobson, pastor of Buckland , Tasmania . They stayed there for three years. On their return trip they ended up in Nelson , where they stayed with another uncle, Alfred Dobson. He was a surveyor in the Nelson region and soon after became the officially appointed surveyor for the Nelson Province .

His mother had arrived in Lyttelton with Fatima on December 27, 1851, exactly one year after Arthur. She was accompanied by her other children Mary Ann (1844-1913), Caroline (1845-1932), Edward Henry (1847-1934) and Maria Eliza (* 1848). Other siblings were born in New Zealand: Robert (1852-1893), Emily Frances (1857-1943), Herbert Alex (1860-1948) and Collet Barker (1861-1926).

Arthur was tutored by the Reverend G. Cotterill at Lyttelton.

After his father was named provincial engineer for the province of Canterbury in 1854 , the better financial situation allowed the sons to be sent to Christ's College , then the best school in Christchurch. After finishing school he began to learn the trade of surveying from his father.

Working life

An early assignment for father and son was to measure the thickness of the mud in Lyttelton Harbor . Then they explored the main runoff of the Rangiora, which opened up 81 km² of marshland.

Arthur Dobson spent several months surveying North Canterbury, reaching Lake Sumner and the Hurunui Rivers . Since December 1860 he spent two years with the geologist Julius von Haast, who had immigrated from Germany . Haast was appointed provincial geologist in February 1861 and carried out a large part of his geological work with Dobson. Both explored and measured the Kowai River , explored the Southern Alps and their glaciers. They climbed Mount Torlesse , but failed on Aoraki / Mount Cook .

His father directed the construction of the Ferrymead Railway between the wharf at Ferrymead and Christchurch. It was opened on December 1, 1863. It was New Zealand's first public railroad. New Zealand's first telegraph line was built along the railway line and put into operation on July 1, 1862. The New Zealand Post dedicated two stamps to the 100th anniversary.

His father's most important project, however, was overseeing the construction of the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel , which is registered as a category 1 monument with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust . Arthur Dobson made many of the sectional drawings of the structure.

In 1863 Arthur went to survey the largely unexplored West Coast of the South Island for seven months . His field of work extended from the Gray River to Abut Head , inland to the main ridge of the Southern Alps. His brother Edward paved a way over the Harper Pass during this time . Arthur Dobson returned to Christchurch and reported to the chief surveyor, Thomas Cass .

Cass commissioned Arthur Dobson in 1864 to find out whether there was a pass from the Waimakariri watershed to the west coast. George and Arthur Dobson left in March 1864, Edward joined Craigieburn . While George measured possible roads there, Edward and Arthur continued their journey into the highlands. On the basis of tips from the Maori chief Tarapuhi, who lived on the west coast, they found a pass that fell steeply to today's Otira . This route has long been used by the locals as a trade route for pounamu (jade). Arthur prepared a report sketching the unnamed passport and handed it to Cass.

Soon after, the West Coast gold rush occurred . Edward Dobson was to investigate every possible transition from the watersheds of the Waimakariri, Taramakau and Hurunui Rivers to the west coast. He concluded that Arthur's pass was by far the best access to the gold fields. The provincial government decided to build a 251 km road between Christchurch and Hokitika . Edward Dobson became the head of the project. The street opened on March 20, 1866. The pass became known as Arthur's Pass , the village of the same name developed nearby, and later the national park was named after him.

On October 1, 1866, Arthur Dobson was appointed assistant provincial engineer for Nelson Province. He married soon after. In 1867 he explored the districts of Motueka and Karamea and measured a path over the mountain range of Mount Arthur . In April 1869 he became district engineer for the West Coast gold fields, which were in the area of ​​Nelson Province. His official seat was in Westport . In May 1871 he was promoted to provincial engineer and in December of the same year he became chief surveyor. Although still employed by the Nelson Province, in October 1872 the government gave him responsibility for the railway construction in Westport.

He resigned from Nelson in 1875 because of a change of government in the provincial government. He was then appointed by the central government as the district engineer for Nelson. In this role he was also responsible for railway construction. He and James Hector mapped the Westport coal fields.

In 1884 he went to London, met with botanists and geologists, attended concerts and galleries and took flute lessons. When he returned to New Zealand in 1885, the then prevailing economic crisis changed his living conditions. He worked in Victoria, Australia, until 1889 . Then he returned to New Zealand to take over his father's business.

Dobson was an engineer from Christchurch City from 1901 to 1921. He was knighted in 1931.

family

Memorial column at Arthur's Pass
Memorial plaque on Arthur's Pass

Dobson married Eleanor, daughter of Nelson Provincial Council's surveyor Henry Lewis. The wedding took place on November 20, 1866 in Nelson. They had four children.

Julius von Haast became Dobson's brother-in-law on June 25, 1863, and he married his sister Mary at St. Mary's Church in Heathcote Valley . The couple had four sons and one daughter.

Arthur's first son, Arthur George Dobson, was a Selwyn County engineer and died on January 17, 1905 after falling from a car. He was buried two days later in Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch.

His wife died on September 27, 1930 at the age of 83.

His second son, Ernest Henry Dobson, died on October 16, 1931 and was buried the following day in Linwood Cemetery, but in a different part of the cemetery. On his tombstone is the inscription:

"In loving memory of Ernest Henry beloved husband of Elizabeth Mary DOBSON and second son of Sir Arthur Dudley and the late Eleanor DOBSON Died 16 th October 1931 aged 62 years At rest"

Death and remembrance

Arthur Dobson died of cardiac arrest in Christchurch on March 5, 1934. He was buried the following day in Linwood Cemetery on the same grave site as his first son and wife. The following inscription is on his tombstone:

"Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson KB d 5 March 1934 aged 92. Discoverer of Arthur's Pass, 1863. District Engineer, Nelson-Westport goldfield 1878. City Engineer of Christchurch from 1901 to 1921."

Arthur's Pass over the Southern Alps was named after him by his father. At the pass there is a memorial column made of quarry stone with a memorial plaque. The village of the same name and the surrounding national park derive their name from the pass.

Dobson Street in Spreydon is named after him.

literature

Web links

Commons : Arthur Dudley Dobson  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Suzanne Starky : Dobson, Arthur Dudley and Dobson, Edward . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , September 17, 2013, accessed November 25, 2015 .
  2. ^ The first four ships. Christchurch City Libraries, accessed May 7, 2011 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Oliver Arthur Gillespie : Dobson Brothers . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed September 27, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Fatima. Rootsweb, accessed May 7, 2011 .
  5. ^ Edward Dobson. The Press, accessed May 7, 2011 .
  6. ↑ Una Platts: DOBSON, Sir Arthur Dudley 1841-1934. In: Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook. Avon Fine Prints, Christchurch , 1980, p. 80 , accessed May 8, 2011 .
  7. ^ A b Peter B. Maling: Haast, Johann Franz Julius von - Biography. In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . September 1, 2010, accessed May 9, 2011 .
  8. ^ Lyttelton Rail Tunnel. The Heathcote Valley, archived from the original on August 17, 2011 ; Retrieved May 8, 2011 (original website no longer available).
  9. ^ Early Construction by the Provinces. Te Ara, archived from the original on May 15, 2011 ; Retrieved May 8, 2011 .
  10. ↑ John Wilson: Canterbury region - Transport. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, March 2, 2009, accessed May 8, 2011 .
  11. ^ Telegraph Centenary. (No longer available online.) New Zealand Post , archived from the original on September 28, 2011 ; Retrieved May 8, 2011 (original website no longer available).
  12. ^ Lyttelton Rail Tunnel. Historic Place Category 1. In: New Zealand Heritage List / Rārangi Kōrero . Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga , April 21, 1994, accessed September 24, 2019 .
  13. ↑ a b Arthur’s passport 'discovered' . In: New Zealand History . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on June 11, 2011 ; Retrieved on May 7, 2011 (original website no longer available).
  14. ^ Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database. Christchurch City Libraries, accessed May 9, 2011 .
  15. ^ The late Mr. AG Dobson. In: Paperspast, the New Zealand National Library Archive. February 22, 1905, p. 3 , accessed May 9, 2011 .
  16. ^ Grave stone of Arthur Dudley Dobson and family
  17. ^ Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database. Christchurch City Libraries, accessed May 9, 2011 .
  18. ^ Headstone in Block 36A, Plot 180E, Linwood Cemetery
  19. ^ Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database. Christchurch City Libraries, accessed May 3, 2011 .
  20. ^ Dobson, Arthur Dudley (1842-1934). Friends of the Linwood Cemetery, accessed May 9, 2011 .
  21. ↑ Margaret Harper: Christchurch Street Names D to E. (PDF; 826 kB) Christchurch City Libraries, p. 72 , accessed on May 5, 2011 .
personal data
SURNAME Dobson, Arthur Dudley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand surveyor and engineer
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Islington
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 1934
Place of death Christchurch