George Edward Dobson
George Edward Dobson FRS FLS FZS (4 September 1848 at Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland – 26 November 1895) was an Irish zoologist, photographer and army surgeon. He took a special interest in bats, describing many new species, and some species have been named after him.
Also recorded as Dobson · G. E. Dobson
George Edward Dobson
Public domain
- Name
- George Edward Dobson
- Born
- 4 September 1848
- Birthplace
- Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland
- Died
- 26 November 1895
- Field
- zoology
- Nationality
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Occupation
- zoologist · photographer · surgeon · entomologist · curator · scientific collector · medical officer · physician
- Education
- Trinity College and Dublin
- Honours
- Fellow of the Zoological Society of London · Fellow of the Linnean Society of London · Fellow of the Royal Society
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
George Edward Dobson FRS FLS FZS (4 September 1848 at Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland – 26 November 1895) was an Irish zoologist, photographer and army surgeon. He took a special interest in bats, describing many new species, and some species have been named after him.
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Note VALÉORINE
George Edward Dobson (1848–1895) was a curator, entomologist and medical officer, among other activities, of British nationality. The curator was born in County Longford and died in West Malling.
George Edward Dobson was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. The curator was a member of Linnean Society of London, Royal Society and Royal Society of London, among others. Activity centred on zoology.
Languages used include English. Honours include Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, Fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of the Zoological Society of London.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q1507301 · wikipedia · George Edward Dobson
In this article
Biography
Biography
George Edward Dobson studied at Trinity College, Dublin. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is zoology. Distinctions recorded are Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and Fellow of the Royal Society.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — George Edward Dobson • Born — 4 September 1848 • Birthplace — Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland • Died — 26 November 1895 • Field — zoology
Biography
Biography
Dobson was the eldest son of Parke Dobson and was educated at the Royal School Enniskillen and then at Trinity College, Dublin. He gained the degrees of Bachelor of Arts in 1866, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Master of Surgery in 1867 and Master of Arts in 1875. He became an army surgeon after 1867 serving in India and rose to the position of surgeon major. In 1868 he visited the Andaman Islands, collecting zoological specimens for the Indian Museum along with Wood-Mason, and in May 1872 he made ethnological and photographic studies of the Andamanese peoples. Around 1878, he became curator of the Royal Victoria Museum at Netley.
Achievements
Achievements
Dobson was an expert on small mammals, especially bats (Chiroptera) and Insectivora. He was a member of several scientific societies, the Royal Society (elected 1883), the Linnean Society of London and the Zoological Society of London. He was a corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and of the Biological Society of Washington.
Works
Works
• Catalogue of the Chiroptera in Collection of British Museum (1878) • Monograph of the Asiatic Chiroptera (1876) • A Monograph of the Insectivora, systematic and anatomical (three parts, John Van Voorst, Londres, 1882-1890. In addition Dobson also contributed to the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica where he wrote the accounts about the vampyre bats, the moles and the shrews.
Identity
Identity
Dobson, and A. George Edward Dobson is recorded as having received Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and Fellow of the Royal Society.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1848
George Edward Dobson born at County Longford.
1895
George Edward Dobson died at West Malling.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
County Longford.
Birth place
West Malling.
Death place
Literature
Literature
Literature
Dobson, George Edward (1848–1895), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2018
Dobson, George Edward, Dictionary of Irish Biography, 2009
Dobson, George Edward (1848–95), The Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Scientists, 2004
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Proceedings of the Royal Society. Volume 59. p 15. Royal Society. 1896
- 2.Obituary. British Medical Journal. 2. 1822. 1392. 30 November 1895. 10.1136/bmj.2.6048.1392.
- 3.Ormsby, Lambert Hepenstal. Medical history of the Meath Hospital and County Dublin Infirmary. Fannin and Co. 360. 1888.
- 4.Cambridge University Press. Dictionary of Irish Biography. 2009.
- 5.Ball, V. Notes on the collection of birds made in the Andaman Islands by Asst. Surgeon G. E. Dobson during the months April and May, 1868. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal. 41. 2. 273–290. 1872.
- 6.Dobson, G. E. On the Andamans and Andamanese. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 4. 457–467. 1875. 0959-5295.
- 7.Hugh Chisholm: The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information (1910-1922) p. VIII
- 8.New York Times Obituary: George Edward Dobson dead. 26 November 1895
- 9.Dobson, George Edward.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q1507301: George Edward DobsonWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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