DODSON, GEORGE (1821-1905) was born at Malmesbury, Wiltshire. As a youth he went to Nova Scotia but, disliking the cold, he returned to England, and in 1842 landed in Nelson from the Fifeshire. He joined the New Zealand Company's survey staff under Budge, and after working in the Nelson district went in 1844 with F. Tuckett to explore Otago. The operations of the New Zealand Company being suspended, Dodson remained at Otakou in charge of the survey material. He returned to farm in Nelson, and in 1854 bought land in the Spring Creek district of Marlborough. As chairman of the Spring Creek river board for 25 years and a member of the Marlborough Provincial Council (in which he sat for Tuamarina, 1869-74), he exerted every effort to cope with the flooding of the rivers. He first had a dairy farm and then went in for agriculture, keeping abreast of the times with the latest machinery. He was one of the foremost advocates of separation from Nelson. Dodson was also on the Nelson land board for six years.

Cycl. N.Z., v (p).

Reference: Volume 1, page 123

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