Dobson Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms (2024)

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Dobson Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

• Robert Dobson, English convict from Lancaster, who was transported aboard the "Almorah" on April 1817, settling in New South Wales, Australia 8
• Mr. Joseph Dobson, English convict who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Claudine" on 20th May 1821, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
• Mr. John Dobson, English convict who was convicted in West Riding, Yorkshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Countess of Harcourt" on 29th April 1828, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 10
• Mr. William Dobson, English convict who was convicted in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Egyptian" on 5th April 1839, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 11
• Mr. John Dobson, English convict who was convicted in London, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Equestrian" on 30th June 1845, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 12
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Dobson Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

• Mr. William Dobson, Cornish settler travelling from Launceston aboard the ship "Will O the Wisp" arriving in New Zealand in 1852 13
• Mr. William Dobson, (b. 1836), aged 22, Irish agriculturalist from Wicklow travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Zealandia" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 21st September 1858 13
• Mrs. Kate Dobson, (b. 1838), aged 20, Irish settler from Wicklow travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Zealandia" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 21st September 1858 13
• William Dobson, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Mermaid" in 1860 14
• Benjamin Dobson, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Nimroud" in 1860
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Dobson Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

• Hannah Dobson, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750
• John Dobson, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1750
• Richard Dobson, aged 72, who arrived in Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia in 1774
• Thomas Dobson, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1774
• Ann Dobson, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1774
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dobson Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

• Samuel Dobson, who settled in Harbour Grace Parish in Newfoundland in 1823 15
• Samuel Dobson was recorded in Hants Harbour in 1828
• Thomas Dobson, aged 20, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Eweretta" in 1833
• Miss. Jane Dobson, aged 12 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Ajax" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in July 1847 16
• Mr. William Dobson, aged 19 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec but died on Grosse Isle in 5th July 1847 16
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Dobson Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• Edward Dobson, who settled in Virginia in the year 1638
• Edward Dobson, who arrived in Virginia in 1638 17
• Richard Dobson, who settled in Virginia in the year 1643
• Richard Dobson, who landed in Virginia in 1643 17
• Elizab Dobson, who arrived in Virginia in 1652 17
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dobson Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

• Eliza Dobson, who landed in Virginia in 1700 17
• Andrew Dobson, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 17
• Joan Dobson, who landed in Virginia in 1705 17
• Robert Dobson, who arrived in Virginia in 1705 17
• Deborah Dobson, aged 2, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1745 17
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dobson Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• Thomas Dobson, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1808 17
• Peter Dobson, aged 27, who arrived in Connecticut in 1812 17
• I Dobson, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1813 17
• George Dobson, aged 29, who arrived in Maryland in 1813 17
• James Dobson, who arrived in New York, NY in 1815 17
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

• Sir Christopher Martin Dobson FRS, FMEDSci (1949-2019), British Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology, Master of St. John's College in Cambridge, appointed Knight Bachelor on 8th June 2018, for services to Science and Higher Education 18
• Colin Dobson (1940-2023), English professional footballer from Eston, England who played as an inside-forward (1961-1976)
• Denys Douglas Dobson (1880-1916), English international rugby union forward
• David Cowan Dobson (1894-1980), English-born, leading Scottish portrait artist
• Austin Dobson (1912-1963), English racing driver who drove an Alfa Romeo P3 to 6th place in the first Hungarian Grand Prix in 1936
• Anita Dobson (b. 1949), English stage and television actress and singer, best known as Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders
• Henry Austin Dobson (1840-1921), English poet and essayist
• Rear-Admiral Claude Congreve Dobson VC, DSO (1885-1940), English recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Frank Dobson (1888-1963), English sculptor
• Kevin Patrick Dobson (1943-2020), American film and television actor, best known for his role as Detective Bobby Crocker, in Kojak (1973–1978)
• ... (Another 32 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

HMAS Sydney II

• Mr. Herbert Hartfield Dobson (1918-1941), Australian Able Seaman from Mount Hawthorn, Western Australia, Australia, who sailed into battle aboard HMAS Sydney II and died in the sinking 19

HMS Hood

• Mr. Charles W Dobson (b. 1919), English Able Seaman serving for the Royal Navy from Poole, Dorsetshire, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 20

HMS Repulse

• Mr. Reginald Dobson, British Able Bodied Seaman, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and died in the sinking 21

USS Arizona

• Mr. Clarence J. Dobson, American Gunner's Mate Third Class working aboard the ship "USS Arizona" when she sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941, he survived the sinking 22

• Family Crests: the Heraldic Artist
• Family Crests: Timeline
• Family Crests: Elements
• Family Crests and Genealogy: how they relate
• Anglo-Saxon
• Spelling variations
• Australia
• England
• Ireland
• Hundred
• New South Wales
• Van Diemen's
• First Fleets
• Newfoundland
• Grosse Isle
• Wales

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8. State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Almorah voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1817 with 180 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/almorah/1817
9. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th February 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/claudine
10. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 19th April 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/countess-of-harcourt
11. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 26th January 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/egyptian
12. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th May 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/equestrian
13. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
14. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 5th November 2010). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
15. Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
16. Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 24)
17. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
18. "Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62310, 4 July 2019 | London Gazette, The Gazette, June 2018, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/62310/supplement/B1
19. HMAS Sydney II, Finding Sydney Foundation - Roll of Honour. (Retrieved 2014, April 24) . Retrieved from http://www.findingsydney.com/roll.asp
20. H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm
21. HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html
22. Pearl Harbour: USS Arizona Casualties List Pearl Harbour December 7, 1941. (Retrieved 2018, July 31st). Retrieved from http://pearl-harbor.com/arizona/casualtylist.html