September 17, 1890

Henry John Dobson (1858-1928) was an Scottish artist. This son of a wool merchant was also the father of artists. The family story is that the wool merchant disinherited Henry John Dobson after he determined to become an artist, and the life he made involved regular financial crises. Henry John married Jeanie Charlotte Hannah Cowan on September 17, 1890 in Dalry.

Stanley Dobson (born 1892) was associated with the arts, while Cowan Dobson (1894-1980) became a well-known society painter. Daughter Louisa (Morpeth) was born in 1896, and the youngest child was Raeburn Dobson (1901-1985) who achieved fame for his art, and was, like Cowan, a painter of society portraits of famous or rich people.

The father struggled for a place in the art world, which turned out to be as a painter of genre pieces, some of which were reproduced on cookie tins.  Here is a nice example of his work: