MR. DOBSON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2525, 5 February 1869, Page 2

MR. DOBSON.

—♦ — When an old colonist, who has been a public servant dies, it is usual to give a summary of his life. The reasons which commend this practi.eapply with equal force to the case of one, who after passing the best years of his Ufa among us, takes Ms final departure from the colony. Such an one is uiu SOn ' who haß leffc Canterbury for Melbourne, after a connection with this colony stretching over a period of nearly twenty years. We believe that many of our readers will be glad to be reminded of the history and acts of a man who has passed so many years of his life among them, busied in the performance of public work of a most important and useful character. Mr Dobson commenced his professional education in the office of Mr P. Hering a London architect, who some forty years ago was well known as the author of one of the premiated designs for the Royal Exchange, then about to be rebuilt. He subsequently studied land-surveying under Mr John Doyley, and was engaged for two years in tithe commutation surveys, under Mr Walter, of Maidenhead, for whom he surveyed portions of the most intricate district of Sussex obtaining the first-class seal for bis maps! He then commenced the study of civil engineering, under Mr Charles Vigaoles, who has been aptly called the father of modem engineering. In 1842 Mr Dobson took the highest honours in the engineering examinations at University College, London. In 1844 he was engaged upon the staff of Mr John Urpath llastrick, the engineer of the London and Bright™ Railway, and was employed by that gentleman for several years on the Brighton and South Coast East Anglian, and Nottingham and Grantham Kailways. At this period he designed, among other works, the viaduct which carries the Nottingham branch of the Great Northern railway across the Valley of the Trent, near Nottingham. On Mr Kastrick's retirement from business he obtained an engagement as assistant to Mr Goddard of Lincoln, the architect to the Great Northern Railway Company, and had the personal superintendence of the erection of the stations upon the Great Northern line from London to Doncaster.

_ About this time the question being raised m England as to the expediency of a system of Government railways for Ireland, Mr Dobson published a statistical account of the Belgian railways, which are built and worked by the Government, and offer many points worthy of consideration by those who advocate that railways should be managed by the Mate. He also wrote a manual of the practice of Measuring Surveyors, and several volumesof Weales' rudimentary treatises. lu l sll^ tm in whicb - these works are held by the profession may be understood by stating that they have been.officially recommended by the Council of the Institute of lintish Architects as text books for those preparing for professional examinations. In 1842 Mr Dobson was elected an Associate of the Institute of Civil Engineers, of which he is a life member, contributing at his election a paper upon iron bridges. Up to the time of his leaving Inland he continued to bean Associate of the Institute of British Architects, and is still n life member of the Oxford Architectural Society. On the completion of the Great Northern Railway, finding it difficult to provide for a numerousf amily, he turned his attention to emigration, became a land purchaser in the Canterbury settlement, and came out to Ly Melton with the first body of colonists at Christmas 1850. i Hiding no professional work on his arrival, he engaged in other pursuits until 1854, when he was appointed Provincial' ftimmeer. Thisofflcehecontinuedtoholduntil 1863, when he resigned the general management of public works in order to give his undivided attention to the Railway tunnel. In 1865 be resumed charge of the Provincial Engineer's office which had, meantime, fallen into confusion. Having arranged the affairs of the office, he recommended that it should be abolished. In the year following the Government acted upon the suggestion and abolished the office. Mr Dobson then took the post of Railway Engineer. In August 1868, the Government having taken over the railway from the contractors, Mr Dobson was gazetted as Resident Engineer, and took office accordingly. In the following November he received a notice thai his services would not be required after the ninth of December, when he ceased to have any part in the management of the railways bince that time, at the request of the Government he has superintended the rebuilding of theOpawa bridge, which has been successfully accomplished without interfering wilh the ordinary traffic. The principal works executed by Mr Dobson during his tenure of office, may be said to include almost all the public works of the province. A bridle path to Akaroa through the bush was one of the first difficulties he overcame. Then the main roads of the province were planned and execute! under his superintendence. The West Coast road passing over two snowy ranges, was his work, and was opened for coach traffic within a year from its commencement. The drainage of the Papanui and Rangiora swamps was due to his skill and energy. The Officer's Point breakwater, built at a very small cost by prison labour, was planned by him to protect vessels ljing at the wharves from the easterly swell. Lastly, the Moorhouse tunnel was constructed under his superintendence as Provincial Engineer, and occupied his exclusive time and attention for the space of nearly four years. Nor would the catalogue of Mr Dobson's work be complete were we to omit all notice of the fact that he furnished during the period of his official career a vast number of able reports upon every possible subject connected with the public works.

. M ' Dobß ?n J" lately appointed, in conjunction with Mr Blackettfof Nehoa,aia Commissioner to report to the Otago iGovemment on the harbours of Oamaru, Moeraki andWaikouaiti.andhas only just returned from the survey. Among other marks of distinction conferred upon him in the colonv we may mention the receipt of a silver medal a he Dunedm Exhibition, for his drawings n nIWr eTunnel - U iB a>so worthy of note that the report written by him on the Otira Gorge attracted attention in Europe, and was made full use of by Dr Hochstetter in the English edition of his work on New Zealand.

A sketch of this kind would be hardly complete if it confined itself to a description of the public life and works of Mr Dobson In his private capacity, as a member of our little society, he has always borne a prominent and most useful part. As one of the governing body of Christ's College, he took a lively interest in the affairs of the College and an active part in organising the recent changes. He assisted the High l-chool by giving a series of lectures, and prepared for the pupils a complete text book on the Bubject of foundations, illustrated by a great number of drawings by his own hand, which he gave to the school At a later period he delivered to the boys an interesting course of lectures on physical geography, for many yearn he has been an active member and supporter of the volunteer force, first with the Heathcote Valley Company, and then with the Engineers. For the use of the latter he prepared an instruction book on field fortifications. Always in his place at parade, month bv month, and year after year, he also attended every week during the winter months to K ive instructions in drawing and modelling to a class of noncommissioned officers, In fact, it may be truly said of him that he was always willing to devote his time and talents to the good of I his fellow-citizens.

Mr Dobson left Lyttelton on Wednesday last for Melbourne, with the hope of findine a more favourable field for the exercise of hi, professional talents than is at present afforded m Canterbury. We hope he will succeed