An appeal has gone out to trace the descendants of the famous Dobson family to reunite them with artefacts which were unearthed during a building clearance.
Among the historical items found included a portrait of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Palin Dobson who was part of the longstanding Dobson family, the founders of manufacturing firm Dobson and Barlow.
Lieut. Col. Dobson, who lived from 1878 to 1936, was also the son of Benjamin Alfred Dobson, who served as the Mayor of Bolton from 1894 to 1898.
He was also the chairman of the Bolton and District branch of the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) from 1921 to 1933, an advisory body in the manufacturing industry.
Now, historical items relating to Lieut. Col. Dobson's work at the EEF have been found, including ledgers containing documents and minutes, as well as a framed portrait of him.
Mark Hollewell is the director of Building Management Solutions, and was responsible for clearing out the EEF offices in Warrington around seven years ago.
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He said: "We used to work for the Engineering Employers Federation in Warrington for years. When they closed, they asked us to clear it.
"While clearing things out we found minutes of meetings, we started throwing them out but it was a bit of history and I thought we can't throw these away, so I saved them.
"They are all circa early-20th century and 19th century. I couldn't throw them away and had them in storage.
"But the company we are with is now closing the building down and we need to clear space."
He added: "I asked Beverley Hogan, our receptionist, if we could do something with it as I thought one of their relatives might still exist.
"Bev produced a family tree and it looks like the guy has great-grandchildren who would now probably be in their 60s or 70s.
"It would be good to reconnect the picture with his family.
"The EEF were quite involved with the Government, boards alongside the Government would advise them. It was quite a big organisation back in the day, they had their own colleges."
Mark added: "The way industry has gone, there is no call for organisations like those anymore.
"It is a part of history and it would be lovely to reconnect them.
"The minutes, because even the handwriting is amazing, you don't see anything like that anymore. It is calligraphy, a style of writing, it's absolutely beautiful."
Anyone who believes they may know who Lieut. Col. Dobson's family are can contact Mark on: info@bmsols.co.uk.
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