Samuel Dobson
Samuel Dobson (1826-1870)
1871 Obituary [1]
MR. SAMUEL DOBSON was the son of a farmer, and was born on the 28th of April, 1826, at Newton Hall, Horsley, in the county of Northumberland, and attended the village school at Ovingham.
He was apprenticed as a colliery viewer to Mr. John Gray, of Garesfield, Durham, for three years ; and at this time, finding himself somewhat deficient in education, he attended a night school at Crawcrook, near Ryton, kept by Mr. Craigie, a celebrated teacher of mathematics. At this school, Messrs. Nicholas Wood, George Elliot, M.P., John Nixon, Robert Anderson, C.E., and other men of note, received a considerable portion of their education.
He afterwards acted for two years as an assistant to the late Mr. T. J. Taylor, of Earsdon, Northumberland.
About the year 1848 he removed to South Wales, on being appointed, through Mr. Taylor’s influence, mineral agent to the Clive (now the Windsor) estate; and subsequently he engaged in business on his own account as a mining engineer, and became mineral agent for many of the principal properties in the district. He had charge of the opening and working of some of the most important and extensive of the steam coal collieries of South Wales, amongst which Messrs. Powell's Duffryn collieries may be especially mentioned.
He was also in extensive practice as a consulting Engineer in all matters relating to mining, and of late years had turned his attention to Civil Engineering matters. He projected the Penarth Harbour Dock and Railway, for which he and Mr. John Hawkshaw, Past-President Inst. C.E., were afterwards the joint Engineers. He was also instrumental in establishing several railways in South Wales, and reported upon experiments made by himself as to the comparative value of Welsh and North Country coals for marine purposes.
Mr. Dobson was elected a Member of the Institution on the 2nd of November, 1856. He was also a Member of the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers, as well as a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He was devotedly attached to the profession, worked very hard, and in private life was a man of engaging manners, very sincere, and one who formed many lasting friendships.
Mr. Dobson's health had been failing for some time, and he died in London, of consumption, on the 26th of July, 1870, in the forty-fifth year of his age.