DOBSON, WILLIAM (1610-1646), English portrait and historical painter, was born in London. Excellent examples of Dobson's portraits are to be seen at Blenheim, Chatsworth, and other country seats throughout England, and there are several examples at Hampton Court and in the National Portrait Gallery, London, including a very fine portrait of Endymion Porter. The head in the "Decollation of St. John the Baptist" at Wilton is said to be a portrait of Prince Rupert.
See Collins Baker Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters (1912).
the name given to large flies of the genus Corydalis, allied to the alder-flies (q.v.), and inhabiting North and South America and northern India. The males are remarkable for their large jaws. Scientifically, dobson-flies are placed in the family Sialidae, order Neuroptera (q.v.). The larvae are aquatic.