Twenty-four letters (‘flimsies’) from senior officers confirming details of Dobbie’s service and character, relating to the following appointments:

(1) College volunteer on HMS PYRAMUS (1810) from 17 June 1826 to 4 July 1826, signed by Captain Robert Gambier at Plymouth.
(2) Volunteer (?) and then midshipman on the PYRAMUS from 5 July 1826 to 15 September 1828, signed by Captain George R. Sartorius at Plymouth.
(3) College midshipman on HMS RANGER (1820) from 15 October 1828 to 23 April 1829, signed by Captain William Walpole at La Guayra.
(4) College midshipman on HMS BARHAM (1811) from 24 April 1829 to 17 July 1829, signed by Captain Sir John Louis Bt. at Curacao.
(5) College midshipman on HMS DRUID (1825) from 18 July 1829 to 10 September 1829, signed by Captain William Sandom at Spithead.
(6) College midshipman on the sloop HMS RAPID (1829) from 11 September 1829 to 12 October 1829, signed by Commander Charles H. Swinburne at Portsmouth.
(7) College midshipman on HMS WINCHESTER (1822) from 18 October 1829 to 3 December 1830, signed by Captain Charles J. Austen.
(8) College midshipman on the WINCHESTER from 4 December 1830 to 31 January 1831, signed by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Griffith Colpoys at Barbados.
(9) Mate on the WINCHESTER from 31 January to 21 March 1831, signed by Colpoys at Port Royal.
(10) Mate on the schooner HMS SPEEDWELL (purchased 1815) from 22 March 1831 to 18 February 1832, signed by Lieutenant-Commander William Warren at Port Royal.
(11) Mate on HMS GANNET (1814) from 19 February 1832 to 28 July 1832, signed by Captain Mark H. Sweny at Port Royal.
(12) College midshipman on HMS REVENGE (1805) from 15 to 24 November 1832, signed by Captain Donald H. Mackay off the island of Gorec on the coast of Holland.
(13) Mate on the sloop HMS LARNE ex LIGHTNING (1829) from 25 November 1832 to 30 October 1833, signed by Commander William Sidney Smith at Port Royal.
(14) Mate on the schooner HMS PICKLE (1827) from 31 October 1833 to 29 April 1834, signed by Lieutenant-Commander Christopher Bagot at Bermuda.
(15) Mate on the PICKLE from 3 May to 22 November 1834, signed by Lieutenant-Commander Archibald G. Bulman at Bermuda.
(16) Extra mate and then college mate on HMS MAGICIENNE (1831) from 22 April 1835 to January 1838, signed by Captain George W.S. Mildmay in Cadiz Bay.
(17) Additional lieutenant on HMS DONEGAL (captured 1798) from 27 December 1837 to 21 March 1838, signed by Captain John Drake in the Tagus.
(18) Lieutenant on HMS EXCELLENT ex BOYNE (1810) from 22 March 1838 to 22 April 1839, signed by Captain Thomas Hastings at Portsmouth.
(19) Lieutenant on HMS BELLEISLE (1819) from 23 April 1839 to 17 July 1840, signed by Captain J. Toup Nicholas in Vouela Bay.
(20) Lieutenant on HMS GANGES (1821) from 18 July 1840 to 18 April 1842, signed by Captain Barrington Reynolds at Sheerness.
(21) Certified copy of the above.
(22) Lieutenant on HMS EXCELLENT ex BOYNE (1810) from 10 October 1842 to 18 March 1843 (and has completed all the written parts of the course of gunnery), signed by Commander Arthur Lowe at Portsmouth.
(23) Lieutenant on the sloop HMS ROSE (1821) from 19 March 1843 to 26 January 1845, signed by Commander Henry R. Sturt at Barbados.
(24) Lieutenant on the ROSE from 27 January 1845 to 21 November 1846, signed by Commander Richard W. Pelly at Sheerness.

Note: One estray (empty) envelope with the inscription 'Letters about the Ar[c]tic Expedition 1850' was the original housing for the above ‘flimsies’ and does not actually contain any letters regarding the Arctic expedition or anything in addition to the letters noted above. The presence of an envelope in the collection with this caption may have arisen due to one of the Dobbie family having collected general manuscripts and relics relating to naval history (see related record series reflecting this at Ref: DBB/4).