In preparing this story, we would like to acknowledge the following:

From Scotland to a life on the sea

James’ father was married three times and widowed twice. James was four when his father died and his two half-brothers from the first marriage were a generation older. It seems James was brought up solely by his stepmother, Sarah nee Carleton (third wife), and went to sea as a teenager, a common option in Glasgow. He eventually became a marine fireman.

For nearly 30 years, his home was the sea, and at some stage (perhaps around 1891) he was serving on ships on the Australian, New Zealand and other Pacific routes. This is probably where he made his connections in New Zealand and Australia.

Records indicate that he may have deserted from the ship Loch Sloy in Victoria in 1891 and that he was working as a seaman in 1901 on the ship Orizaba. And he had a home base in Sydney. In the 1901 census, he was living at 27 Darling Street, Balmain only a stone’s throw from the harbour. His next-door neighbour was Kate Qualeigh who later became the wife of the man James was to nominate as his next of kin when he enlisted – Mr Arthur Horsefield.

Arthur Horsefield was born in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay in New Zealand in 1878. He arrived in Sydney in 1904 and married Kate Qualeigh in 1905. Arthur ‘s occupation was ‘fireman’ when his son married in 1935 but electoral records regularly show him as a barman. We cannot find him in ‘New South Wales, Register for Seaman’ but maybe Arthur and James met on a ship. It is also possible that Arthur and James met when Arthur was courting James’ neighbour Kate Qualeigh (also recorded as Catherine, Katherine and, in her obituary, Kitty). Like Arthur, Kate could trace her family back to Hawkes Bay in New Zealand.

It is also possible that James came across the Horsefield family in New Zealand as he did stop off in Napier when working as a fireman. He also stopped in Christchurch and Wellington so he may have been in contact with his half-brother, William Dobbie, there after 1905. There is some evidence, therefore, that James had well-established connections with the Horsefield and Quaileigh families who may also have had Scottish backgrounds.

For some years, we thought James’ next of kin may have been just a casual acquaintance - a barman at a waterside hotel. So, it is comforting to now know that James seems to have had very long-standing friends in New Zealand and Australia, possibly including his half-brother, William.

In July 1915, James enlisted in the AIF and began training at the Liverpool training camp. He was allocated to the newly formed 30th Battalion, part of the 8th Brigade. Most of its recruits hailed from the Newcastle region and other parts of country New South Wales.

Having survived the camp, the 30th Battalion were well trained, disciplined, able to effectively use rifle and bayonet, and to run with packs or heavy ammunition boxes. By the beginning of November 1915, they were ready to go overseas – quite an adventure for some of the boys from country Australia. Perhaps less so for our more experienced 43-year-old seafarer, Private James Dobbie.

There was the troop train to Central, marching to a review in the Domain, perhaps staying at the Sydney Showgrounds overnight, and then on to the troopship Beltana the next day. While marching to the ship, the crowd showered them with chocolates and cigarettes. Photos of the time show massed crowds dominated by Union Jack flags. With a huge gathering on the wharf to call and sing the farewell songs, ribbons became entangled, streamers tugging, and military bands playing. Launches always followed the troopships down the harbour and out through the heads with packed ferries joining them, ships horns sounding, and the deep horn of the Beltana responding and reminding the small ships to stay clear. For the recruits, this was a last visual connection to family and Australian shores.

Via Colombo, the troops arrived in Egypt about twenty-eight days after leaving Sydney, first at Port Taufiq in the town of Suez, then entrained again north into the Arabian Peninsula to Tel-el-Kebir, east of Cairo. They then spent six months completing desert and other advanced training, guarding important sites and, during time off, sight-seeing. Perhaps James had been there before on one of his many sea voyages.

In June 1916, it was time for the 30th Battalion to leave Egypt and to join the British Expeditionary Force in France. The Battalion's first major battle was at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. It was tasked with providing carrying parties for supplies and ammunition but was soon drawn into the vicious fighting.

This summary of the Battle of Fromelles has kindly been supplied from Geoffrey Benn's Fromelles: 100 Years of Myths and Lies, published 18 August 2021 with additional notes from C.E.W. Bean, The Australian Imperial Force in France, 1916: the official history of Australia in the war of 1914–1918 vol. 3, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1941, chapter 12 and chapter 13 and extracts from Soldiers Stories on this website:

James Dobbie was one of many missing from the 30th Battalion.

A court of enquiry was held in the field on 23 July 1917 and pronounced James Dobbie’s fate as 'killed in action, 20 July 1916'. This was likely based at least in part on the evidence provided by two fellow 30th Battalion soldiers. The informants, perhaps good mates, were John Hanley who was a 32-year-old from Kurri Kurri, New South Wales and Fred Scholes who came from Warrington in England aged 27. Both survived the war and gave the evidence below.

As James gave no clue to parents or relatives when he signed up, this search commenced as a brick wall. Since he gave a friend as his next of kin, it suggests that not only did he not have near relatives in Australia but that his parents were dead. This proved to be true as he had lost both by age 4.

James was eventually found only by researchers diligently following up every James Dobbie from Glasgow (census, marriages, deaths, etc.) to find out where they were during and after the war. Their perseverance paid off.

James was born 4 September 1872 in Glasgow. This would make him almost 43 when he signed up but he gave his age as 40.

a) The Glasgow family: James Dobbie senior.

James Dobbie senior came from a prosperous family of joiners/undertakers:

On James Snr’s death, this left 4-year-old James Jnr with his new stepmother who appears to have provided a home for him. But what of the first family? By the time James Snr died, his first son William was 25 and married and Malcolm was 23. The two brothers appeared to be running the family business soon after their father’s death. Although the brothers were established elsewhere, it seems that they did keep contact with Sarah and James.

James Jnr and Sarah perhaps had a less prosperous life and at some stage James went to sea. He gave his occupation as a marine fireman when he enlisted in the AIF.

b) The older brothers – looking for DNA

William certainly travelled to New Zealand and was there in 1905 and at the time of his death in 1922. We do not know with any certainty whether his New Zealand residency was consistent or if it was intermittent during those years.

It is his brother Malcolm’s line however, that has provided New Zealand DNA connections. Malcolm and his family travelled to America and returned. One of his descendants, Neil F Dobbie, born in Glasgow in 1902, migrated in 1925 to New Zealand where he married and raised a family.

Neil’s line provided one Y DNA (male line) match in New Zealand, but our efforts to find someone from James’ mothers’ line is a dead end so far. His mother Catherine Carlin (or Carroll) was the daughter of William Carlin/Carroll and Irish born Sarah Harrigan. Her parents were William Harrigan and Catherine Hegarty/Heggerty, both born in Ireland but lived in Scotland.

c) DNA search across three countries

In summary, we may find DNA connections in:

Following the maternal line, Sarah’s parents were: William HARRIGAN and Catherine HEGARTY /HEGGERTY - both born in Ireland but lived in Scotland.