Brian Dobson (13 September 1931 – 19 July 2012) was an English

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, teacher and scholar. His specialisms were

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

and the

Roman Army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

. He studied under Eric Birley and is a member of the so-called 'Durham School' of archaeology. He was a Reader

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

Personal life

Dobson was born in Hartlepool in 1931 to a Plymouth Brethren family, attended school in Stockton before attending the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

in 1949 to read Modern History as a member of Hatfield College. He fell under the influence of Eric Birley, who supervised his PhD on the role of primipilares in the Roman Army. He was married for over 50 years and had five children.

Education and work

From 1955 to 1957 he did his National Service in the army, learning Russian at Bodmin and Crail and serving in the Intelligence Corps. In 1957-59 he worked at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

as research fellow, there meeting and becoming influenced by the adult education tutor Graham Webster. In 1960 Dobson began working as a lecturer in archaeology in the Department of Extra Mural Studies, teaching in the adult education department - a post in which he remained until retirement in 1990. In this capacity Dobson organized a series of tours of Hadrian's Wall sites every four years in the 1960s. During these he introduced his students (and others) to many little-known (to the amateur) sites on the wall. He worked closely with

David Breeze David John Breeze, OBE, FSA, FRSE, HonFSAScot, Hon MIFA (born 25 July 1944) is a British archaeologist, teacher and scholar of Hadrian's Wall, the Antonine Wall and the Roman army. He studied under Eric Birley and is a member of the so-call ...

(chief inspector of ancient monuments for historic Scotland and visiting professor at Durham University since 1994) on their joint studies in aspects of Hadrian's Wall and produced one of the most influential texts on the subject, still in print today. He undertook a series of excavations in

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was k ...

in the 1960s and 1970s, and provided an eyewitness account of the discovery of the Corbridge Hoard. Dobson served as president of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle and of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland. He was also a member of several local trusts, including those of Chesters, Corbridge and

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...

museums. What gave him particular pleasure was his membership of the

Vindolanda Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort ('' castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near th ...

Trust from 1996 to 2011.

Hadrianic Society

In 1971, he founded the Hadrianic Society in order to promote the study of Hadrian's Wall and its environs. He remained the patron of the society from its conception until his death in 2012. To mark his 70th birthday, in 2002, the society presented him with a collation of papers from current and former students and colleagues. In 2017 the society published a Gedenkschrift in celebration of Dobson's career.

Publications

*Birley, E., Dobson, B. and Jarret, M.G. (Eds.) 1994. ''Proceedings of the eighth International Congress of Limesforschung'' Cardiff: University of Wales Press *Breeze, D. and Dobson, B. 1993. ''Roman Officers and Frontiers''. Stuttgart : Franz Steiner Verlag *Breeze, D. and Dobson, B. 2000. ''Hadrian's Wall''

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

*Dobson, B. 1957. ''Die Rangordnung des römischen Heeres''. Köln: Böhlau *Dobson, B. and Maxfield, V. 1995. ''Inscriptions of Roman Britain''. London: London Association of Classical Teachers

References

External links