Joseph Dobbie

Sir Joseph Dobbie (1862 – 18 May 1943) was a British Liberal Party politician.

Background

He was a son of James Dobbie. He was educated at the Ayr Academy and Edinburgh University^[1]

Career

He was a Liberal in favour of social reform. He gained a parliamentary seat from the Unionists at the Ayr Burghs by-election of 1904;

Ayr Burghs by-election, 1904[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Dobbie	3,221	50.3	+5.6
	Unionist	George Younger	3,177	49.7	-5.6
Turnout				88.4	+2.1
Majority			44	0.6	11.2
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.6

He sat as Liberal MP for Ayr Burghs from 1904 to 1906, but lost the seat back to the Unionist at the January 1906 general election;

General Election January 1906[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Younger	3,766	51.8	+2.1
	Liberal	Joseph Dobbie	3,505	48.2	-2.1
Turnout				90.5	+2.1
Majority			261	3.6	4.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.1

He was a Member of the Departmental Committee on Housing in 1908. He was Chairman of the Royal Scots Recruiting Committee from 1914 to 1916.^[4] He attempted a return to parliament after a 12-year break, without success, when he contested Edinburgh Central at the 1918 general election;

General Election 1918: Edinburgh Central[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Graham	7,159	51.3
	Liberal	Joseph Dobbie	6,795	48.7
Turnout
Majority			364	2.6
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

He did not stand for parliament again.^[6] Dobbie was knighted in the 1920 Birthday Honours for public and local services in Edinburgh.^[7] He was Head of Dalgleish, Dobbie & Co., SSC, Edinburgh. He was a Justice of the Peace in the City of Edinburgh. He was a Legal Member of the Edinburgh Military Tribunal. He was President of the Scottish Vernacular Association.^[8]

Sources

• Who Was Who
• British parliamentary election results 1885–1918, Craig, F. W. S.

References

1. Who Was Who
2. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 by Craig
3. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 by Craig
4. Who Was Who
5. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
6. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S.
7. London Gazette, 31931, 4 June 1920, page 6320.
8. Who Was Who

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Joseph Dobbie
• Who Was Who; http://www.ukwhoswho.com