William Dobbie

Who was William Dobbie?

William Dobbie CBE was a British Labour politician.

Dobbie was born in Maybole, Ayrshire. When he was just two-years-old, his parents, Francis Dobbie and Agnes McCreath, died there leaving two young sons, William and his brother James aged six. James remained in Maybole with his maternal grandparents while William was raised in Glasgow by his aunt.

Dobbie became a railway employee and moved to York and became a councillor in 1911. He served in the British Army and was wounded in World War I. After the war he became an alderman of York and in 1923 was elected Lord Mayor of York, the first Labour mayor of the city. He was President of the National Union of Railwaymen from 1925–1927 and 1931-1933.

Dobbie stood for Parliament without success for Clitheroe in 1929 and was elected Member of Parliament for Rotherham in a by-election in 1933. He served a second term as Lord Mayor in 1947 and in the same year was made a CBE, remaining a Member of Parliament until his death.