A. W. Dobbie
| Alexander Williamson Dobbie | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 November 1843 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 18 July 1912 (aged 68) College Park, South Australia |
| Occupation | brassfounder, engineer, inventor, lecturer, mesmerist, businessman and travel writer. |
| Spouse(s) | Esther Catherine Elizabeth nee Wallis (1843–1925) |
| Children | Annie Dobbie (1866–), Sarah Grace Dobbie (1867–1935), Lillian Jane Dobbie (1869–1870) William Wallis Dobbie (1871–1874), Edith May Dobbie (1873–1906), Alexander Herbert Dobbie (1875–1965), Charles Ernest Dobbie (1877–1886), Hector John Dobbie (1879–1906), Emillie Sophia Dobbie (1882–1914), Leonard Campbell Dobbie (1884–), Malcolm Monteith Dobbie (1890–1939) |
| Parent(s) | William Dobbie (1813 –1879),and Sophia Dobbie nee Monteith (c. 1817 –1884) |
Alexander Williamson Dobbie (12 November 1843 – 18 July 1912) was a Scots-born South Australian brassfounder, engineer, inventor, lecturer, mesmerist, businessman and travel writer. He founded A. W. Dobbie & Co. manufacturing company, and the hardware and homewares store Dobbie's, which continued into the 1960s in Adelaide and the 1930s in Perth, Western Australia.
Alexander Williamson Dobbie was born in Glasgow, a son of William Dobbie (1813 – 12 January 1879), jeweller and engraver, and his wife Sophia Monteith Dobbie (c. 1817 – 9 September 1884).
Alex was schooled at James Bath's school in North Adelaide, then at age 14, after a few months as a draper's assistant, was in 1858 apprenticed to machinist and brassfounder G. Schwan, formerly of Berends & Schwan, of Gawler Place, 3 doors from Rundle street, who went out of business in 1860. It is likely that he completed his apprenticeship with, and worked for, another brassfounder, perhaps Richard Hutchinson. At age 19 began working on his own account, in premises on Gawler Place.
Thomas Dobbie and William Dobbie and their families arrived on 5 March 1851 at Port Adelaide on the Three Bells, an iron ship of 640 tons from Glasgow.
The Scots born children of William Dobbie and his wife Sophia Monteith Dobbie née Minto were:
five more children were born in South Australia:
William Dobbie, Sr., was a partner with John Wald in Wald & Dobbie, watchmakers & jewellers of 83 Rundle Street, 1865–1866, then sole trading jeweller of Gawler Place. He died at his home in Charles Street, Norwood on 12 January 1879 and James died at his home in West Street, Unley on 10 December 1879. Advertisements in the name of A. & J. Dobbie continued to appear well into the next decade.
In July 1864 he moved to premises "adjacent to Padman & Co.",Gawler Place.
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