Notable South Australians/Alexander Williamson Dobbie
Alexander Williamson Dobbie
IS of Scottish parentage, and was born at Glasgow, Nov. 12, 1843. His father was a skilful engraver and arrived in this colony in 1851 with his family. His mother was a cheerful, energetic, and well-informed woman, and her judicious management had the best effect on the character of her son. Mr. A. W. Dobbie received several years of schooling from Mr. J. Bath, at Port Adelaide, and when fourteen years of age was apprenticed as a brassfounder to Mr. Schwann, of Gawler Place. Before he was nineteen he entered into business on his own account. His taste for the more delicate branches of mechanics led to his undertaking the ordinary work of a machinist, and his liking for ingenious contrivances induced him to cultivate a trade in American inventions. This was greatly expanded by his visit to Philadelphia at the time of the Exhibition in 1876, when he made a tour around the world. As a lad he was fond of electrical experiments, and the knowledge of electro-plating thus acquired was utilised in his business, and thus another extension entered into. His establishment has now grown to considerable dimensions, and affords employment to a large number of workmen. Mr. Dobbie married at the age of twenty-one, and made himself a home, first in the city, and then at College Park. His garden there displays his skill as a florist, whilst his love of the beautiful and the wonderful are to be seen all over the premises. At exhibitions he is always a prize-taker for flowers. Few private houses receive a greater variety of visitors, or afford more interest The garden and green-houses are generally gay with blossoms, electricity pervades the rooms, for there are telephones and microphones everywhere, and outside, on fine evenings his large telescope opens the wonders of the heavens to admiring gazers. Though never a scientific astronomer, Mr. Dobbie, as an observer, has won a good reputation. From descriptions in the English Mechanic he made a splendid reflecting telescope, having a speculum of six and a-half inches diameter, but not content with this, he constructed one still more powerful, and after devoting his spare time to it for upwards of ten years, had the satisfaction of possessing one of the finest instruments in the Southern world, with a speculum of twelve and-a-quarter inches diameter. Electricity had a great attraction for him as a youth, and instead of spending his leisure in the common recreation of lads he investigated the phenomena of this subtle force. It also induced him to study the construction of the telephone when Bell's discovery was published. He had no other guide than drawings in the Scientific American, but used them to such good purpose that he has the honour of being the first to construct a successful telephone in these colonies. He made numerous useful and amusing experiments with microphones of various kinds, and constructed a phonograph, with the conviction that it would never be more than a scientific toy. About 1878 Mr. Dobbie turned his attention to mesmerism in its various forms, and his abundant vitality made him a most successful operator. He has been instrumental in alleviating a large amount of suffering, for he pursued his studies with that specific end in view. Some of his patients have developed considerable clairvoyant powers, and their statements while in the mesmeric trance were marvellous. Mr. Dobbie became a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in his 18th year, and has been an active worker in connection with that denomination up to the present. He has found congenial work among the young, having been Superintendent of a Sabbath-school for upwards of ten years in the city and suburbs. Besides this, he has held various official positions in which his business capacity has enabled him to render valuable service. While on his tour round the world, Mr. Dobbie wrote a series of descriptive letters to the Methodist Journal and on his return these were re-published in a racy and readable volume. His lectures on "Electro-metalling," "The Telephone," "Microphone," "Phonograph," and "Mesmerism" are in great request, and readily given for philanthropic objects or for Young Men's Societies. Mr, Dobbie is an active member of Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, the Chamber of Manufactures, Prince Alfred College, the Stranger's Friend and Charity Organization Society, and others of a religious or denominational character. He enjoys the respect which intelligence, energy, and integrity always command.