Sir William Lambert Dobson (24 April 1833 – 17 March 1898) was an English-born Australian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, a

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and Chief Justice of Tasmania, (

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Early life

Dobson was born at Carr Hill,

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the elder son of John Dobson, a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

at Gateshead, and his first wife Mary Ann, ''née'' Atkinson (1811–1837). William was full brother to

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and half-brother to

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

and

Henry Dobson Henry Dobson (24 December 1841 – 10 October 1918) was an Australian politician, who served as a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly and later of the Australian Senate. He was the 17th Premier of Tasmania from 17 August 1892 to 14 A ...

. William arrived in

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

(now

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

) with his parents on 16 July 1834. He was educated at Christ College and

The Hutchins School , motto_translation = Character lives after death , city = Hobart , state = Tasmania , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, day & boarding , ...

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

. After leaving school Dobson spent 18 months in the public service, returned to England, and entered at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

. At the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...

examination held in June 1856 Dobson took first place and was admitted to the bar on 6 June 1856.

Career

Dobson returned to Tasmania at the end of 1856 and was admitted to practise as a barrister on 22 January 1857. In 1859 Dobson was appointed crown solicitor. Dobson was elected a member of the

house of assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

for Hobart, was Solicitor-General in 1860 and on 6 February 1861 became

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

in the second William Weston ministry. Dobson continued in this position when the ministry was reconstituted under Thomas Chapman, and remained in office until January 1863. Dobson represented Campbell Town 1864-70. When

James Whyte James Whyte may refer to: *James Whyte (Australian politician) (1820–1882), Scottish-born Australian politician * James Whyte (bishop) (1868–1957), Roman Catholic bishop of Dunedin, 1920–1957 * James A. Whyte (1920–2005), Scottish theologian ...

became premier, Dobson was elected leader of the opposition, on 24 November 1866 became attorney-general again under Sir Richard Dry, holding the same position in the succeeding

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

ministry (after Dry's death) from 4 August 1869 to 5 February 1870. Dobson was then appointed a puisne judge in the

Supreme Court of Tasmania The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the middle level, with both an appellate jurisdiction over lower courts, and de ...

, at just 36 years of age. In 1884 he was acting chief justice, and on 2 February 1885 became chief justice. He held this position until his death on 17 March 1898. Dobson acted as deputy-governor in 1884, 1886–87 and 1892-93.

Legacy

Dobson was chancellor of the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

, president of the leading sporting bodies, vice-president of the

Royal Society of Tasmania The Royal Society of Tasmania (RST) was formed in 1843. It was the first Royal Society outside the United Kingdom, and its mission is the advancement of knowledge. The work of the Royal Society of Tasmania includes: * Promoting Tasmanian historic ...

and the Art Society of Tasmania, and trustee of the Tasmanian museum, art gallery and botanical gardens. On 17 March 1859 Dobson married Fanny Louisa Browne (died 1935), daughter of Rev. William Henry Browne the archdeacon of Launceston, who survived him with a son and three daughters. Dobson was knighted in 1886 by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

on a visit to London and appointed K.C.M.G. in 1897. Dobson was a member of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, and much interested in botany and higher education generally. As a member of parliament he brought in the act which made education compulsory, and he was also responsible for the act abolishing imprisonment for debt. Although not giving the impression of being a brilliant lawyer, he was an exceedingly sound one; it has been stated that during his judicial career he never had a decision reversed by a higher court.

Brothers

One of Dobson's brothers Henry (1841 – 1918) was a premier of Tasmania. Another brother, Frank (1835–95) was a

Solicitor-General of Victoria The Solicitor-General of Victoria, known informally as the Solicitor-General, is the state's Second Law Officer and the deputy of the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General acts alongside the Crown Advocate and Crown Solicitor, and serves as one ...

from 1881 to 1883, while a third brother, Alfred (1848–1908), was Attorney-General in the first

Philip Fysh Sir Philip Oakley Fysh (1 March 1835 – 20 December 1919) was an English-born Australian politician. He arrived in Tasmania in 1859 and became a leading merchant in Hobart. He served two terms as premier of Tasmania (1877–1878, 1887–1892) ...

ministry from 1877 to 1878, leader of the opposition 1883 to 1884, and speaker of the house from July 1885 to 1887.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, William Lambert 1833 births 1898 deaths Chief Justices of Tasmania Judges of the Supreme Court of Tasmania 19th-century Australian judges Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Solicitors-General of Tasmania Attorneys-General of Tasmania Leaders of the Opposition in Tasmania Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Colony of Tasmania judges People educated at The Hutchins School