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His vocal ministry was frequent, well considered, anchored in considerable knowledge and experience but never remote or over-weighted. His occasional lectures or introductions to discussions at the Meeting or on its behalf were authoritative. Like so many who have worked overseas, he had quite clearly left part of his heart in his field of service, Lebanon, but he kept his concern for the Middle East a little muted, partly to avoid rousing any partisan feelings, partly because he was the Meeting's representative on the Friends Service Council, and liked to set forth the claims of all aspects of the work in after-Meeting reports. His own personal activities were not spread out in the shop-window, and it came as a surprise to many of his recent friends to discover how much he had done and was still doing. For example, it was only when Quaker action about capital punishment was being discussed that some learned that he had been in prison as a C.O. during the First World War - because he spoke of the terrible tension in a prison on the day of a hanging. It was not surprising to discover that, on retirement, he went to evening classes in Hebrew and Greek to help to better understanding of the Bible, and it was also quite in keeping that he should devote much time to the study of Arabic even after he was back in England. From his young days his enthusiasm for learning, led him to soak himself in knowledge and culture. Music - singing and playing - was a life-long interest; and he took an external Honours degree in languages in 1914. Then came the 1914 war, and imprisonment as a conscientious objector, after which he married May Gwendoline Cattell, who shared all the loving and conscientious affirmations of his life. A short spell of teaching at Leighton Park was followed by 28 years at Friends School, Great Ayton, and it was at Ayton that they both joined Friends. Herbert's somewhat 'advanced' political outlook caused him at first to be looked on askance by 'weightier' Friends there, who later came to appreciate him. During those years the Dobbings ran Young Friends' camps, camps for Durham miners, and International Schools in Europe. At the end of the Second World War Herbert was released from Ayton for a long visit to Friends Relief Service workers and isolated Friends in Germany, and then, in 1948, he was appointed Principal of Brummana High School in the Lebanon. Of his work there, too, Friends at Blackheath can only sneak from hearsay; we know that valuable additions were made to the buildings of the School in his time, and we know that he and Gwen became much loved by many Arab friends. After the main nine-year period there, they went back to the Lebanon from 1963 to 1966, spending one year at Brummana and then two in Beirut, where Herbert lectured at the American Community School. We are very glad that he and Gwen had the happiness of looking forward to a return visit to the Middle East this year, and that he knew that his book Cause for Concern: A Quaker's s Viewpoint on Palestine would soon be published in Beirut. On return to England in 1966 Herbert soon found plentiful openings for a rich retirement. For two years he was Assistant Secretary to the Oversees Appointments Bureau; he was Chairman of FSC's Lebanon and Jordan Committee, and a member of many groups such as the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding. His involvement in Blackheath Meeting included the welcome activities of choir-master and performer in the enthusiastic musical croup. Only a biography could tell of all his interests; for those of us who knew him in his last years it is many-sided pastoral care for Blackheath Meeting, against a background of concern for Lebanon, which evokes our gratitude. Return to Staff - Page
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AYTON
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVES |
On
the Sunday before Herbert Dobbing's sudden death, on, February 5, 1970,
a very young Friend, coming in to Meeting at Blackheath, ran across the
room and sat beside him with very evident pleasure. It was a delightful
witness to his affection for the children, for whom he and Gwen had so
recently arranged a musical evening at their home. During the Meeting
for Worship Herbert Dobbing and one or two others offered ministry, and
at the. end Herbert said: “I think that was well left", and went
on to explain, for the sake of newcomers, the significance of that
Quaker phrase. That was typical of him; his ministry, as well as his
actions, always showed consciousness of the needs of the visitor and the
seeker as well as of the more seasoned Friend. He was not only an
approachable Elder - he did the approaching.