Sydney George Dobson (20 September 1883 – 8 April 1969) was a Canadian banker who served from 1946 to 1949 as president and 1949 to 1954 as the first chairman of the
Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...
.
Career
Dobson joined the Merchants Bank of Halifax as a junior in his hometown in 1900, they year before the bank changed its name to the Royal Bank of Canada.
He received his first managerial role at his home branch in Sydney, and then was appointed assistant manager at the branch in Montreal, manager of the Vancouver branch, and acting supervisor in Winnipeg. In 1919 he joined the head office in Montreal as general inspector, then in 1922 was appointed assistant general manager. In 1934 he became the bank's general manager.
After the unexpected death of president
Morris Watson Wilson in May 1946, on 4 June of that year Dobson agreed to assume the presidency. He remained in the office until October 1949, when he stepped down and became the bank's first chairman of the board. Dobson retired as chairman in November 1954.
Personal life
On 12 June 1913 in
Truro, Nova Scotia
Truro (Scottish Gaelic: ''Trùru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River (Nova Scotia), Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth ...
, Dobson married Beatrice Winifred Chambers (1883–1955). They had two children, Virginia (1922–2004) and John William (1928–2013). In 1960, John founded Formula Growth Limited, an investment advisory based in Montreal, which remains in operation today.
[Craig Toomey, "He knew when to buy – and sell," ''Globe and Mail'', (23 August 2013), S7.] Sydney Dobson died in Montreal on 8 April 1969.
References
1883 births
1969 deaths
Canadian bankers
Canadian bank presidents
People from Sydney, Nova Scotia
Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada people
Royal Bank of Canada presidents
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