Arthur Dobbs
Encyclopedia
Early life and career
A native of Ayrshire, Scotland, Dobbs grew up in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland. He was a neighbour and family friend of Jonathan SwiftJonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
despite their political differences. He served briefly in a dragoon regiment in the Irish Army, and afterward managed his family estate. In 1720 he married Ann Osborne Norbury. He became an engineer and Surveyor-General of Ireland, supervising the construction of the Irish Parliament House in Dublin, as well as other Irish public buildings. Dobbs was appointed High Sheriff of Antrim
High Sheriff of Antrim
The High Sheriff of Antrim is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Antrim. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258...
in 1720. In 1727, he was elected for Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Carrickfergus was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons from 1326 to 1800.-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:This constituency was the borough of Carrickfergus in County Antrim. It returned two members to the Parliament of Ireland to 1800.-History:In the Patriot Parliament of 1689...
, a seat he held until 1760.
While a member of the Irish Parliament, he purchased 400,000 acres (1,600 km2) in North Carolina in 1745. He encouraged settlement in the colony, especially by Irishmen. Following the death of North Carolina governor Gabriel Johnston
Gabriel Johnston
Gabriel Johnston was the colonial governor of North Carolina from 1734 to 1752, the longest-serving governor in state history.- External links :*...
, Dobbs was confirmed to succeed him on 25 January 1753. However, he did not arrive to assume his duties until October of the following year.
Apart from his North Carolina interests, Dobbs was heavily involved in attempts to find a Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic
Northern Canada
Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut...
during the 1740s. He actively worked to have the Hudson’s Bay Company’s trade monopoly revoked on the grounds that they showed little or no interest in promoting discovery expeditions relating to the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. Dobbs felt that others might finance exploration if they had some expectation of trade. Revoking the Hudson’s Bay Company’s trade monopoly was his solution for stimulating exploration. From 1741 to 1747, Dobbs managed to stimulate exploration, the result of which convinced most people that such a passage did not exist. A British Parliamentary inquiry in 1749 ended attempts to revoke the Hudson’s Bay Company’s charter. Dobbs' involvement in the Canadian Arctic exploration resulted in a substantial increase in geographical knowledge as well as increased awareness of the economic potential. Dobbs was also an amateur scientist and published several astronomy articles as well as a pamphlet on honeybees.
Governor of North Carolina
While governor of North Carolina, Dobbs sought unsuccessfully to establish a permanent capital, to be called George City, near Tower Hill and the Neuse RiverNeuse River
The Neuse River is a river rising in the Piedmont of North Carolina and emptying into Pamlico Sound below New Bern. Its total length is approximately , making it the longest river entirely contained in North Carolina. The Trent River joins it at New Bern. Its drainage basin, measuring in area,...
. Plans were drawn up for a Palladian governor's mansion similar to Tryon Palace
Tryon Palace
Tryon Palace is a modern reconstruction of the historical colonial royal governors' palace of the Province of North Carolina. It was constructed in the 1950s across the original mansion site located in the city of New Bern, North Carolina. Today it is a State Historic Site. The Palace gardens are...
, which Dobbs' successor, William Tryon
William Tryon
William Tryon was a British soldier and colonial administrator who served as governor of the Province of North Carolina and the Province of New York .-Early life and career:...
, would erect 10 years later in New Bern. Dobbs' governorship was overshadowed by the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
and the start of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. Shortly after his arrival, Dobbs visited the western frontiers of North Carolina, organised the construction of Fort Dobbs
Fort Dobbs
Fort Dobbs is the first of three westerns, directed by Gordon Douglas, which starred Clint Walker. Based on a screenplay by George W. George and Burt Kennedy, with black-and-white photography provided by William H...
, and attempted to raise troops to fight in the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. Dobbs moved to Brunswick Town, North Carolina
Brunswick Town, North Carolina
Brunswick Town is a colonial ghost town located beside the Cape Fear River in Smithville Township, Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. Brunswick Town was the first settlement in the Cape Fear region, a major North Carolina port in the 18th century, and home to three colonial governors...
in 1758 where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1759 and 1760, Governor and Assembly were often at odds. Debt, Indian affairs, public complaints about Lord Granville's agents and about Dobbs' failure to put down riots in Edgecombe County and elsewhere, and Dobbs' frequent vetoes of Assembly bills led to intense tensions. Dobbs even dissolved the Assembly in 1760 and ordered new elections, but this plan backfired; a secret committee drew up outlandish charges against the governor to be sent to the King. Only the succession of King George III, which brought additional powers to Dobbs, saved him from further conflict with the Assembly.
In 1762, Dobbs, then seventy-three, married fifteen year old Justina Davis at St. Philip's Church
St. Philip's Church Ruins
The St. Philip's Church Ruins are the remains of a colonial Anglican church building in Brunswick Town, North Carolina, United States. The church is located beside the Cape Fear River in the Brunswick Town Historic District, along with Fort Anderson, Russelborough and the nearby Orton Plantation....
in Brunswick. A few months later he suffered a stroke and was bound to a wheelchair. In the fall of 1763 he attended a conference of Southern governors and Indian tribes in Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, which resulted in the Treaty of Augusta. In 1764 Dobbs look a leave of absence to return to England, and Tryon arrived as lieutenant-governor to fill his place. Dobbs later decided to retire and return to Ireland, but while packing, suffered a fatal seizure on 28 March 1765, just two weeks before he was to depart. He was buried at St. Philip's. Today no sign of his grave remains.
See also
- Joseph La FranceJoseph La FranceJoseph La France, , was a Metis fur trader in Canada, and an explorer of the inland route from Montreal to Hudson Bay....
- William MoorWilliam MoorWilliam Moor was an English sailor and explorer associated with the Hudson’s Bay Company and the annual supply ships to the bay area.-Life:...
- Christopher MiddletonChristopher Middleton (navigator)Christopher Middleton was an English naval officer and navigator. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 7 April 1737....
Further reading
- Desmond Clarke, Arthur Dobbs, esquire, 1689–1765 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1957)
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- Blackwell P. Robinson, The Five Royal Governors of North Carolina (Raleigh: The Carolina Charter Tercentenniary Commission, 1963), 27-46.
- Patrick C. Morton, "Arthur Dobbs and the Quest for Empire, 1729-1759" (Wake Forest University: Graduate Thesis, 1997)