John Dobson

John Dobson (1787-1865) was the North East's most eminent architect and the first to achieve national renown. In a practice which lasted over 50 years, he designed many fine country houses, churches, public buildings and streets. His work transformed the appearance of many towns in the region with such masterpieces as Newcastle's Eldon Square, Grainger Markets, Central Station, and the now demolished Royal Arcade.

John Dobson was born on 9 December 1787 in High Chirton, North Shields, in the building that is now The Pineapple Inn. He was the son of an affluent market gardener, John Dobson and his wife Margaret, and was educated in Newcastle. As a young child he had an exceptional gift for drawing. Aged 11, he executed designs for a local damask weaver. At the age of 15, he was placed as a pupil with David Stephenson, the leading architect-builder in Newcastle, designer of All Saints Church and the Theatre Royal in Mosley Street. In 1810, aged 23, Dobson completed his studies. He then decided to go to London to study art and became a pupil of John Varley the watercolourist. He was strongly encouraged by friends to stay and work in London, but by 1811 he had returned to Newcastle and was assisting Sir Charles Monck in the designs for Belsay Hall. Monck was a passionate devotee of Grecian art and architecture, and it is thought that it was he who strongly influenced Dobson to adopt that style of architecture in many of his future works.

Dobson married Isabella, (1795-1846) eldest daughter of Alexander Rutherford of Warburton House, Gateshead, she being an excellent painter of miniatures. They had three sons and five daughters. His youngest son, Alexander, inherited his father’s artistic talents, gaining first prize in architecture at University College. Alexander had just returned to Newcastle when he was killed in the great explosion on Gateshead quayside on 4 October 1854.

In 1859, when he was 72, he was elected first President of the newly formed Northern Architectural Association. He retired from active work in 1863 after suffering a stroke, from which he never fully recovered and went to live for a time in Ryton.

John Dobson died on 8 January 1865, aged 77, at his home in 15 New Bridge Street leaving an estate fortune of £16,000. He was buried in Jesmond Old Cemetery where a memorial was erected about 1905.

Obituary              Building News 13 January 1865 page 25-26