Dobson

Dobson is a small town on the banks of the Grey River in the South Island of New Zealand. It is 10 kilometres east from the river's mouth at Greymouth. The settlement of Taylorville is across the river from Dobson, but no bridge directly connects the two. State Highway 7 passes through Dobson. The population of Dobson and its surrounds, including Taylorville, was 672 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 72 from 2001. The town is named for the surveyor George Dobson, who was murdered at this site in 1866. He was killed in a bungled robbery by a gang who had mistaken him for a gold buyer carrying gold from the nearby Arnold goldfield. A monument now stands where George Dobson was murdered. Dobson was the site of one of the West Coast's many...