OBITUARY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 6 December 1938, Page 8

OBITUARY

MR ERNEST DOUGLAS DOBSON WELL-KNOWN ENGINEER The death occurred at the Wairau Hospital last evening of Mr Ernest Douglas Dobson, of Blenheim, at the age of 75 years. Mr Dobson, who wa» 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 a son of the late Alfred Dobson, C.E., the first provincial engineer of Nelson and Marlborough, who was responsible for much of the early survey work in Blenheim, and he was a cousin of Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson, well known for his pioneer surveying and engineering in Canterbury and the West Coa;i (states “The Express”). In 1887 he became an authorised surveyor, a licensed surveyor, and in 189? he became an Associated member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, London. He was a member of the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers in 1914. Mr Dobson also held a licence under the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and Board of Examiners Act, 1900, to practise as a surveyor under the provisions of any Act in force relating to the alienation and disposal of Crown land, and to effect surveys under that Act and under all Acts affecting titles to land. This licence was issued on January 30th, 1902. In 1901 Mr Dobson accepted a position as engineer at Masterton and for a time was also Town Clerk. In 1908 Mr Dobson left for Westport, where he was appointed general manager of the borough. In 1919 Mr Dobson left for Samoa, and installed the 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 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, the construction of the Omaka and Marchburn bridges, and the Havelock wharf. Mr Dobson was twice married and is survived by his wife and six sons and six daughters. His first wife, Emma Mears, who died in the influenza epidemic in 1918, was born at Maitai Valley, Nelson, in 1872, and was a daughter of the late Mr and Mrs John Mears, early settlers of the Marlborough province. Of his first marriage there are six sons and five daughters—Messrs E. G. Dobson and A. L. Dobson (Palmerston North), B. E. Dobson (Wellington), K. R. Dobson (Seddon). H. D. Dobson (Westport), D. R. Dobson (Reefton), Mrs H. Stanborough (Woodville), Mrs S. Borlase (Westport), Mrs W. Page (Cobden, Greymouth), Mrs G. Clayworth (Te Kuha, Westport), and : Mrs W. Bailey (Reefton). A daughter of his second marriage is Miss Gladys ! Dobson, of Blenheim.