George Dobson (26 June 1840 – 28 May 1866) was a New Zealand surveyor and engineer who was murdered in the Brunner Gorge on the West Coast by the Burgess Gang after being mistaken for a local gold buyer.

[1] George and his younger brother Arthur accompanied him on the voyage but were later joined by their mother when she arrived on the Fatima, which had landed in Lyttelton exactly one year after them, on 27 December 1851 who also bought their four other siblings.

[2][3] His father found that life in the new colony with two young sons was challenging, and they were sent to their uncle, Reverend Charles Dobson, the vicar of Buckland in Tasmania, where they stayed for three years.

George accepted work out of Greymouth where he was employed to maintain and construct roads along the Grey River and fulfilled the role of resident engineer.

After robbing him of a few pounds the gang members beat him with the butt of a gun in the head before strangling him, leaving his body half buried two hundred yards from the track.