Dobson, Richard

BORN HULL 1887. SON OF MARY JANE (FISHER) DOBSON ABOVE. EX NER WORKER. 1918 VOTERS.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE RICHARD DOBSON 38281. Born in July 1887, Richard’s early life is something of a mystery as I can’t pin down his parents. The 1901 and 1911 Census both have him residing with his stepmother, a Mary Jane Fisher, suggesting both parents had died and that he was an only child. A tough start in those days. A Railway Clerk by trade, he married Kate Lillian Rial in late 1915, just days before he signed up at Hull City Hall to join the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. He arrived in France mid-July 1917 as the battalion rebuilt following its mauling at Oppy Wood, so he will have served throughout the rest of the Battle of Arras and will have stood up to the full force of the German Spring Offensive in March/April 1918. Richard Dobson was fatally wounded during the fighting at La Becque on 28th June 1918 and is buried in Cinq Rues British Cemetery, Hazebrouck; he was 30 years old.