John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire

Blickling Hall

Hobart was the son of Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet of Blickling and his wife Elizabeth Maynard, and he inherited his father's title when the latter was killed in a duel in 1698. He was admitted at Clare College, Cambridge in 1710.[1] He married firstly Judith Britiffe (half-sister of Elizabeth, wife of William Morden) in 1717 and secondly Elizabeth Bristow in 1728.[2]

Hobart was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for St Ives at the 1715 general election. He became Vice Admiral of Norfolk in 1719, holding the post until his death. In 1721 he became Lord of Trade. He was elected MP for St Ives in a contest in 1722. At the 1727 general election he was returned as MP for Bere Alston and for Norfolk. He chose to sit for Norfolk but vacated his seat in 1728 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Hobart of Blickling[3] at the coronation of King George II. His sister, the Countess of Suffolk, was a longtime mistress of the King. In 1727, he became Treasurer of the Chamber (until 1744) and assay master of the stannaries (until 1738). He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk in 1739, captain of the Gentleman Pensioners in 1744 and Privy Councillor in 1745. In 1746 he was created Earl of Buckinghamshire.[4]

Hobart died aged 62 on 22 September 1756. He was succeeded by his sons John by his first marriage and then George by his second marriage.

• Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hobart, John (1694?-1756)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Burke's Peerage & Gentry