Captain William Hobson (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the first governor of New Zealand from 1841 to 1842. He was a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi which he, as Crown representative, and several Maori chiefs signed on 6 February 1840. On 3 May 1840, he proclaimed British sovereignty over New Zealand. He also selected the site for a new capital, which he named Auckland. In May 1841, New Zealand was constituted as a separate Crown colony with Hobson promoted to governor and commander-in-chief. In his final months, Hobson was dogged by poor health which left him detached from political affairs. He died in office in September 1842.

Early life and naval career

William Hobson was born in Waterford, Kingdom of Ireland, the son of Samuel Hobson, a barrister, and Martha Jones. and attended a private school.

He enrolled in the Royal Navy as a Volunteer 2nd Class, at Deptford, on 25 August 1803, assigned to HMS Virginie under the command of Captain Sir John Beresford, and was later involved in the suppression of piracy in the Caribbean. He advanced to midshipman in 1806 and seven years later was commissioned first lieutenant on 11 November 1813.

Continuing on to suppress the pirate swarm interrupting trade in Caribbean waters, Rowley assigned two schooners to hunt them. Volunteering, Lieutenant Hobson was given command of , formerly La Gata captured by HMS Grecian on 20 March 1823,

Whilst watering in the Colorados Archipelago on 28 March 1823, HM Schooners Lion, Union and boats of HMS Tamar caught sight of a large schooner, of about 80 tons (bm), and immediately took chase. On nearing, the pirates set their schooner alight and ran it aground. Some 160 pirates escaped to the beach. The schooner was found to have three heavy guns and a cargo recently plundered from a French ship. After rescuing the cargo, pirate schooner 104, as marked on mast and sail, was destroyed.

The next day, 29 March, a pirate sloop was seen close to shore in Baja Bay. Lion and Union immediately manned their boats, and together with two launches from HMS Tamar or HMS HMS Hyperion, went after it. On approaching the sloop, the Royal Navy was drawn into a heavy four-and-a-half-hour firefight. The pirates, believed to number some 160 from104 and La Gata, suffering two dead and several wounded, then retired into the woods. A schooner, 80 tons (bm), mounted with one gun, found moored with three cables up a narrow creek, was seized and burnt.

Lieutenant Thomas Marriott, commanding HMS Union, died of yellow fever on 17 September 1823. Captain John George Graham of HMS Icarus and Hobson erected his memorial tablet at St Peter's Anglican Church, Port Royal, Jamaica. his capture of pirate vessels also earning him the nickname "Lion Hobson".

Tasked with abolition of the slave-trade, Hobson and crew of HMS Ferret captured the Spanish schooner Fingal on 3 February 1826. It had run aground near Salt Key, Cuba, in the preceding day or two, having a cargo of 58 African slaves. Hobson brought the schooner in to Havannah, Cuba, on 15 February 1826. Fingal, its owner-master and crew, had sailed from Havannah for Africa on 1 February 1825, and claimed that 17 days after their departure from Africa for Havannah on 1 January 1826, they fell in with a French brig which pressed them to take 61 slaves on board. The owner-master and his crew's accounts having been found to be improbable, the Mixed Commission Court condemned the vessel, to sale by auction, and ordered emancipation of the slaves. From 17 October 1827, respective proportions of the bounty on the pirates and moiety of hull were made available to Hobson, officers and company of HMS Ferret who were present at the capture of Fingal.

Hobson was assigned command (acting) of HMS Scylla, based in Jamaica, on 14 March 1826; the sloop having suffered severe losses though yellow fever. At some point the Spanish 22-gun letter of marque ship Fama encountered and fired into Scylla, killing one of the men. In return Scylla fired a single broadside at Fama, silencing and almost sinking her.

Through frequent visits to Nassau, The Bahamas, he met and married Eliza Ann Elliott, only daughter of Robert Wear Elliott (1784–1830) and Eliza McPherson (–1832), at Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas, on or about 17 December 1827. They were to have four daughters and a son.

In December 1834 he obtained a commission from the First Lord of the Admiralty – George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland – to the East Indies on .

New Zealand

thumb|1839 document appointing Hobson as [[lieutenant-governor of New Zealand.]]

In 1837, Bourke sent Hobson, aboard HMS Rattlesnake, to New Zealand' having received news from Busby, the British Resident at the Bay of Islands, of the outbreak of an inter-tribal Maori war. He arrived on 26 May, and two months later, with his task completed, he returned to Sydney and submitted a report that advocated negotiating with Maori for the creating a series of factory enclaves around New Zealand under British sovereignty, similar to that involving the Hudson's Bay Company in North America. Hobson was then sent to India and thence returned to England shortly afterwards to be put on half-pay.

Consul and lieutenant-governor

By 1838, the need for adequate law and order in New Zealand had become urgent. On 13 August 1839, the government in London appointed Hobson as consul in New Zealand. It also extended the boundaries of New South Wales to include New Zealand and appointed Hobson as lieutenant-governor on 30 July 1839, under the new governor in Sydney, George Gipps. Hobson was then dispatched to New Zealand with instructions to treat with Maori for the cession of the islands. He reached first, Sydney in December 1839, and thence left for the Bay of Islands abourd , arriving on 29 January 1840.

alt=|thumb|Grave of Captain William Hobson

Governor

In November 1840, the Queen signed a royal charter for New Zealand to become a Crown Colony separate from New South Wales. Hobson was sworn in by the Chief Justice as Governor of New Zealand on 3 May 1841.

Death

Hobson suffered a second stroke. Prior to being relieved of office, the Auckland Times reported his death 10 September 1842, which is confirmed on his tombstone. Following his funeral, he was buried in the Symonds Street cemetery, Auckland, on Tuesday, 13 September. A great number of Māori attended his funeral. Uhunga (expressions of grief) were performed as if for one of their own great chiefs. Copies of Ko te Karere o Nui Tireni directed Māori mourners to follow the funeral precession to the burial in the Symonds Street cemetery. Almost every Māori man carried a musket which they fired off once the military salute had been fired. Most of the Māori women had their hair ornamented with wreaths of flowering supplejack.

Legacy

Several places in New Zealand are named after Hobson including:

  • Hobsonville, Hobson initially considered this to be a potential site for the Government of New Zealand, but after advice from the Surveyor-General of New Zealand, Felton Matthew this idea was rejected. The area was later named after him.
  • Hobson Bay
  • Mount Hobson, Auckland
  • Hobson Hill, a small hill located Northeast of Waitangi, Northland.
  • Hobson Street

Publications

References

Further reading

  • Hobson, W. Papers, 1833–1846. MS Papers 46. WTU
  • UK Parliament. Correspondence and other papers relating to New Zealand, 1835–1845. In Irish University Press series of British parliamentary papers. Colonies: New Zealand. Vols 3 & 4. Shannon, 1970
  • E. J. Tapp, 'Hobson, William (1793–1842)', Australian Dictionary of Biography