Henry Hobhouse, (12 April 1776 – 13 April 1854) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

archivist and civil servant.

Family background and education

Hobhouse was born on 12 April 1776 at

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

, near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He was the only son of Henry Hobhouse (who died 2 April 1792) of

Hadspen House Hadspen House of Hadspen, Somerset, England is built of Cary stone, mined from Hadspen Quarry. The stone is a soft limestone known for its deep burnt-orange colour. It is an inferior oolite of the Garantiana Beds and dates to the Middle Jurassi ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, and his wife Sarah, daughter of the Rev.

Richard Jenkyns Richard Jenkyns (1782 – 16 March 1854) was a British academic administrator at the University of Oxford and Dean at Wells Cathedral. Life Jenkyns was born at Evercreech in Somerset, where he was baptised on 21 December 1782. He was the eldest ...

residentiary canon A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek language, Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an canon law, ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a ...

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

. He went to

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

in 1791; matriculated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, on 10 April 1793; and graduated BA in 1797, and MA in 1799.

Career

Hobhouse was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

on 23 January 1801. He was solicitor to

HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

from 1806 to 1812, and then became solicitor to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

. He was appointed permanent under-secretary of state for the Home Office on 28 June 1817, and held that office until July 1827, when he retired on a pension of £1,000 a year. He was also keeper of the state papers from 23 May 1826 until his death in 1854. He was created DCL on 27 June 1827. On 28 June 1828 he was gazetted a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. He was one of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, and chairman of the Somerset quarter sessions. He resigned the chairmanship in 1845. He rendered valuable service to the Home Secretary,

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

, in the formation of the

Record Commission The Record Commissions were a series of six Royal Commissions of Great Britain and (from 1801) the United Kingdom which sat between 1800 and 1837 to inquire into the custody and public accessibility of the state archives. The Commissioners' work ...

; and he became Commissioner on 10 June 1852. Between 1830 and 1852 the Commission published '' State Papers of Henry VIII'' in eleven

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

volumes: Hobhouse superintended the editing, and took great pains to produce an accurate text. Under his direction a permanent system of arrangement of the state papers was laid down, based on a plan existing in the offices of the secretaries of state. Hobhouse died at

on 13 April 1854.

Personal life

Hobhouse married Harriett, sixth daughter of John Turton of Sugnall Hall, Staffordshire, on 7 April 1806. She died at

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

on 7 May 1858 aged 73, having had eight children. Their sons included Arthur Hobhouse (1819–1904), lord of appeal,

Edmund Hobhouse Edmund Hobhouse (17 April 1817 – 20 April 1904) was the English-born bishop of Nelson, New Zealand, and an antiquary. Biography Edmund Hobhouse, born in London on 17 April 1817, was elder brother of Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse, and was ...

(1817–1904), bishop and antiquary, and

Reginald Hobhouse The Ven. Reginald Hobhouse, MA (18 March 1818 – 27 January 1895), was an Anglican priest: the Archdeacon of Bodmin from 1878 to 1892. Early life He was born on 18 March 1818 as the third son of Henry Hobhouse, under-secretary of state ...

(1818–1895), first

Archdeacon of Bodmin The Archdeacon of Bodmin is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Truro. The role was established by Order in Council on 21 May 1878, two years after the diocese itself was created, by splitting the Archdeaconry of Cor ...

. Hadspen House was finally sold by the Hobhouse family in 2014."South African owner to transform Hadspen House in Somerset into hotel." The Caterer, 13 April 2018.
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References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobhouse, Henry 1776 births 1854 deaths People from South Somerset (district) People educated at Eton College Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom English archivists Henry