Background
Clarence Dobell was born in Cheltenham. He was the son of John Dobell, a wine merchant, and Julietta Thompson, a daughter of Samuel Thompson (1766-1837).
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Clarence Dobell
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The family lived in Charlton Kings, where they were friends of the writer Dinah Craik. Dobell illustrated Craik"s 1860 collection Our Year. As a student at the Academy schools, Clarence Dobell introduced his future brother-in-law Briton Riviere to pre-Raphaelite painters.
He was a contributor to Good Words from its inception in 1860, and an occasional contributor to Once A Week.
A son, Walter Duffield Dobell, was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford.
Membership
Clarence accompanied her on the visit to Tewkesbury Abbey which apparently inspired her to write John Halifax, Gentleman. According to family tradition, several of the novel"s characters were based upon members of his family.
