Alex
and Bella Dobbs
By Warren Nunn, their grandson
This site contains photographs and memories about the
Dobbs family of Boolburra, Central Queensland. Boolburra
is the central point of a once-thriving farming community
on the banks of the Dawson River about 100km (60 miles)
west of Rockhampton, Queensland. In the 1870s when the
town plan was laid out and the school opened, those who
lived in the community saw a prosperous future. But the
harsher elements of nature and other forces were to play
a significant role for which those early settlers did not
account. The central characters are Alex and Bella Dobbs,
their four children and families as well as various
other family members and neighbours with whom the
Dobbs’ formed lifelong friendships. Many people have
contributed to the compilation of this information
including the four Dobbs children; Mavis Bauer/Strathie,
Ray Dobbs , June Nunn and Jim Dobbs as well as their
first cousin, Rob Silver.
The story really starts with a bit of a riddle: who is John
Coker? Well, John Coker is Alex Dobbs,
or Pop, as both family and friends alike fondly knew him.
His story starts when twin boys were born to Harry Coker
and Emily Ellen Sophia Aldridge in Mt Morgan on 30 June
1901. Harry and Emma, as they were known, already had a
12-month-old son, Walter Frederick.
In the trauma of giving birth to the twins (John Alexis
and Edward Henry), Emma became dangerously ill as did
baby Edward. Emma’s older sister, Elizabeth Dobbs
(nee Aldridge) took care of John Alexis while Emma was in
hospital for several months. Both twins battled to
survive those early weeks of life but Edward died at six
months. Emma survived the complications of the birth
including blood poisoning. The sisters and their husbands
then decided that Elizabeth and Charles would adopt baby
Alex as he had so bonded with his aunt.
Four years earlier, Elizabeth had a daughter, Elizabeth
Helen known as Nellie , in a difficult birth that left
her unable or unwilling (which of the two is unclear) to
have other children. So Charles and Elizabeth Dobbs
adopted John Alexis Coker and his birth was registered as
John Alexis Dobbs Coker. It’s a name he carried
until 1944 when he changed it by deed poll to John Alexis
Dobbs. So, young Alex’s mother became his aunt; and
his aunt became his mother which is really confusing. But
the Dobbs and Coker families of course have remained
close over the years.
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Bella with Mavis as a baby
Alex and Bella Dobbs
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