Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet
Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet (1657–1698) was an English Whig politician and baronet.
Family
Henry Hobart was the eldest son to Sir John Hobart, 3rd Baronet and his first wife Mary Hampden, daughter to John Hampden.[1] He was knighted at Blickling by King Charles II of England in 1671 and succeeded his father as baronet in 1683.[2]
Hobart was educated at St John's College, Cambridge.[3]
On 9 July 1684, he married Elizabeth Maynard, eldest daughter to Sir Joseph Maynard, and had by her a son and three daughters.[1] His eldest daughter Henrietta was a mistress of King George II of Great Britain.[4] The second daughter Catherine married Lieutenant-General Charles Churchill.[5] Lady Hobart died in 1701.[2]
Hobart was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son John, later raised to the peerage as Earl of Buckinghamshire.[6]
Career
Henry Hobart was Gentleman of the Horse to King William III of England and fought under him in the Battle of the Boyne,[7] and a year later was appointed Vice-Admiral of Norfolk.[8]
Hobart was a Member of parliament for King's Lynn in the English House of Commons between 1681 and 1685. He represented Thetford from January to February 1689 and subsequently Norfolk until 1690. In 1694, he was elected for Bere Alston, a seat he held until the following year, when he was returned again for Norfolk until the July–August 1698 election, which he fought and lost.
Death
On 20 August, after the 1698 election, Hobart fought a duel with Oliver Le Neve on Cawston Heath, and was mortally wounded. Le Neve of Witchingham Hall, Great Witchingham, fought left-handed and was wounded in the arm by Hobart who had a reputation as a good swordsman. However, Le Neve struck back and injured his opponent so badly that he died next day at Blickling. As there were no seconds or witnesses, the duel was illegal. Le Neve fled to Holland but returned to England two years later, when he was tried and acquitted.[9][10] Hobart was buried in the Blickling family vault.
A plinth with urn, called the Duel Stone, which commemorates the duel, stands in a National Trust plot on Norwich Road in Cawston.
References
- Burke, John (1832). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. vol. I (4th ed.). London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. pp. 173–174.
- "ThePeerage - Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Bt". Retrieved 31 December 2006.
- "Hobart, Henry, Sir, Knt (HBRT674H)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). . Dictionary of National Biography. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 22.
- Burke's Peerage 1949, p. 291.
- Debrett, John (1828). Debrett's Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. vol. I (17th ed.). London: G. Woodfall. p. 166.
- Collins, Arthur (1812). Sir Egerton Brydges (ed.). Collin's Peerage of England. vol. IV. London: T. Bensley. pp. 367–369.
- Marsden, R. G. (1908). The English Historical Review. vol. XXIII. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 743.
- Nicolson, Adam (2012); Gentry: Six Hundred Years of a Peculiarly English Class, Part III: The Great Century 1610-1710, "Honour: The le Neves, Great Witchingham, Norfolk", HarperCollins. ISBN 0007335504
- Rye, Francis, Rye, Amy; Calendar of Correspondence and Documents Relating to the Family of Oliver Le Neve, of Witchingham, Norfolk, 1675-1743, Norwich, A. H. Goose, (1895). Reprint Rarebooksclub.com (2012). ISBN 1130313972
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Turner Sir Simon Taylor |
Member of Parliament for King's Lynn 1681–1685 With: Sir Simon Taylor |
Succeeded by Sir John Turner Sir Simon Taylor |
| Preceded by William de Grey Henry Heveningham |
Member of Parliament for Thetford Jan–Feb 1689 With: William Harbord |
Succeeded by William Harbord Sir Francis Guybon |
| Preceded by Sir Thomas Hare, Bt Sir Jacob Astley |
Member of Parliament for Norfolk 1689–1690 With: Sir William Cook |
Succeeded by Sir Jacob Astley Sir William Cook |
| Preceded by John Smith John Swinfen |
Member of Parliament for Bere Alston 1694–1695 With: John Smith 1694–1695 John Elwill 1695 |
Succeeded by John Elwill Sir Rowland Gwynne |
| Preceded by Sir Jacob Astley Sir William Cook |
Member of Parliament for Norfolk 1695–1698 With: Sir Jacob Astley |
Succeeded by Sir Jacob Astley Sir William Cook |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Vacant Title last held by The Earl of Yarmouth |
Vice-Admiral of Norfolk 1691–1698 |
Succeeded by Lord Paston |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by John Hobart |
Baronet (of Intwood) 1683–1698 |
Succeeded by John Hobart |