William Hobson
Captain William Hobson (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was an Irish officer in the British Royal Navy, who served as the first Governor of New Zealand.[1] He was a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.[2]
For the professional wrestler, see Powerhouse Hobbs.
William Hobson
Office established
George Gipps (Governor of New South Wales)
Office established
Office abolished
10 September 1842 (aged 49)
Auckland, New Zealand
Eliza Elliott
5
United Kingdom
1803–1842
Hobson was dispatched from London in July 1839, with instructions to take the constitutional steps needed to establish a British colony in New Zealand.[3] He was sworn in as Lieutenant-Governor in Sydney (under George Gipps) and arrived in New Zealand on 29 January 1840.
On 5 February 1840, Hobson met with Māori chiefs at Waitangi, and the following morning they signed a treaty by which the chiefs purportedly voluntarily transferred sovereignty to the British Crown in return for guarantees respecting their lands and possessions and their rights as British subjects. Three months later, Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty over the islands of 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[edit]
William Hobson was born in Waterford, Ireland, the son of Samuel Hobson, a barrister and Martha Jones.[1] He grew up in an Anglo-Irish Anglican family.[4] He attended a (barely) private school, but despite this disadvantage he joined the Royal Navy on 25 August 1803 as a second-class volunteer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars and was later involved in the suppression of piracy in the Caribbean. He became a midshipman in 1806 and some seven years later was a first lieutenant.
In September 1822 merchants at Nassau equipped two sloops to cruise against pirates, with HMS Tyne proving officers and seamen to man the sloops. One sloop, with 23 men under the command of a midshipman, encountered a pirate schooner and felucca. The British repulsed the schooner and captured the felucca. Those of the felucca's crew who were not killed jumped overboard and were drowned. British casualties amounted to two men killed and seven, including the midshipman, wounded.[5] The second sloop had a worse fortune. The sloop Whim was under the command of Lieutenant William Hobson and two midshipmen from Tyne when on 29 September a pirate schooner captured her at Guanaha. The pirates held the British captive for several days, treating their prisoners badly, but all the British survived.[6]
Between March 1823 and May 1824 Hobson commanded the schooner HMS Lion, in which he captured several pirate vessels, earning himself the nickname "Lion Hobson".[7] He was promoted to commander on 18 March 1824 and commanded HMS Scylla between 1826 and 1828. 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 HMS Rattlesnake.
Australia[edit]
In 1836, he was ordered to Australia, arriving at Hobart on 5 August 1836, and at Sydney 18 days later. On 18 September 1836, HMS Rattlesnake left for Port Phillip District (later Melbourne) conveying Captain William Lonsdale and other officials to the new colony. During the next three months, Hobson and his officers thoroughly surveyed Port Phillip, the northern portion of which, by direction of Governor Sir Richard Bourke, was named Hobsons Bay, after him. (Thus the local government area of the City of Hobsons Bay is indirectly named after him.)
His ship was involved in the founding of the port of Williamstown. He was offered the position of Superintendent of the Bombay Marine at a salary of £2000 a year, but he had taken a liking to Australia and was a candidate for the governorship of Port Phillip, although the salary was not expected to be more than £800 a year.
Several places in New Zealand are named after Hobson including:[17]