The Dobbies were one of the two major clock-making families in Falkirk (the other being the Russells). William Dobbie,(senior) was born in 1720. He is thought to have begun clockmaking in Falkirk around 1750, when he took over an existing business which had been established in 1739, perhaps by James Hendrie. William's son, George, born in 1765, was an apprentice to his father and carried on the business on William's death in 1783.