Christopher Selby Austin Dobson (25 August 1916 – 22 December 2005) was an English librarian who was the librarian of the

House of Lords Library The House of Lords Library is the library and information resource of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides Members of the House and their staff with books, Parliamentary material and reference ...

from 1956 to 1977.

Early life and education

Dobson was born in 1916 in

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...

to Alban Tabor Austin Dobson (1885–1962), a civil servant, and Katharine Jean Selby Dobson. His father managed the literary estate of his own father, the poet and essayist

Austin Dobson :''This article describes the English racing driver. For the English poet, see Henry Austin Dobson''. Austin Dobson (19 August 1912 in Lodsworth, Sussex – 13 March 1963 in Cuckfield, Sussex) was a racing driver from England. He was the ...

. Dobson grew up in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

. During the Second World War, he served in

The Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Ref ...

and was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

, rising to the rank of lieutenant.

Career

In 1947, Dobson became assistant to

librarian

Charles Travis Clay Sir Charles Travis Clay (30 July 1885 – 31 January 1978) was an English librarian and antiquarian who was the librarian of the House of Lords Library from 1922 to 1956. Early life and education Clay was born at Rastrick House in Rastrick, near ...

, who had been in the post since 1914. Under Clay's guidance, Dobson compiled an edition of the '' Oxfordshire Protestation Returns 1641–1642'', published in 1955, and organised the legal collections. However, Dobson lacked passion for statistics and historical research, far preferring the literary world. Following Clay's retirement in 1956, Dobson succeeded him and maintained the library largely as his predecessors had, with the library acquiring about 250 titles per year. At this time, there was little impetus for modernisation of library standards. Dobson's main interest was in the acquisition of rare and historical volumes, and grew the library's collection of works from the reigns of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

through

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

. In 1960, he and Earl Spencer edited ''Letters of David Garrick and Georgiana Countess Spencer, 1759–1779.'' He was described in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' as: He retired in 1977 as the need for drastic change became apparent, owing to technology advances and the growing numbers of

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

s who had larger research demands than their hereditary counterparts. He was succeeded by

Roger Morgan Roger Ernest Morgan (born 14 November 1946) is an English former footballer who played as a winger in the Football League for Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur. Career Born in Walthamstow, London, Morgan came through the ranks at Que ...

, who saw the library through a period of modern transformation of increasing digitisation, from 1977 to 1991. In 1964, he became a member of the

Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club is a bibliophilic and publishing society based in the United Kingdom. Origins The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the Duke of Roxburghe (who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 days ...

for bibliophiles. He had a considerable private collection of books and was an enthusiast of Victorian bindings. Dobson was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

1976 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1976 to celebra ...

. In 1941, he married Helen Broughton Turner, and had a son and a daughter. He died in December 2005 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Christopher Selby Austin 1916 births 2005 deaths People from Ealing English librarians People educated at Clifton College Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire