Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse
Encyclopedia
Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse KCSI
, PC, QC
(10 November 1819 – 6 December 1904), was an English judge.
, Hobhouse was fourth and youngest son Henry Hobhouse, permanent under-secretary of state in the Home Office
, by his wife Harriet, sixth daughter of John Turton of Sugnall Hall, Stafford. Edmund Hobhouse
, Bishop of Nelson, and Reginald Hobhouse (1818–95), archdeacon of Bodmin, were elder brothers. Passing at eleven from a private school to Eton
, he remained there seven years (1830–7). In 1837 he went to Balliol College, Oxford
, graduated B.A.
in 1840 with a first class in classics, and proceeded M.A. in 1844. Entering at Lincoln's Inn
on 22 April 1841, he was called to the bar on 6 May 1845, and soon acquired a large chancery
and conveyancing
practice.
and a bencher of his inn, serving the office of treasurer in 1880–1 and practised in the Rolls Court (the civil division of the Court of Appeal
). A severe illness in 1866 led him to retire from practice and accept the appointment of charity commissioner
. Hobhouse threw himself into the work with energy. He was not only active in administration but advocated a reform of the law governing charitable endowments. The Endowed Schools Act, 1869
, was a first step in that direction, and under that act Lord Lyttelton
, Hobhouse, and Canon H. G. Robinson were appointed commissioners with large powers of reorganising endowed schools. Much was accomplished in regard to endowed schools, but the efforts of Hobhouse and his fellow commissioners received a check in 1871, when the House of Lords
rejected their scheme for remodelling the Emanuel Hospital
, Westminster. There followed a controversy which was distasteful to Hobhouse, and with little regret he retired in 1872 in order to succeed Sir James Fitzjames Stephen
as law member of the council of the Governor-General of India
. Hobhouse had meanwhile served on the royal commission on the operation of the Land Transfer Act in 1869.
. That suggestion he approved. Whitley Stokes, secretary in the legislative department, was mainly responsible for the measures passed during Hobhouse's term of office, with the important exception of the Specific Relief Act, 1877, in which Hobhouse as an equity lawyer took an especial interest, and a revision of the law relating to the transfer of property, which became a statute after he left India. Of strong liberal sentiment, Hobhouse had small sympathy with the general policy of the government of India during the opening of Lord Lytton's
viceroyalty. The attitude to Afghanistan
was especially repugnant. He served from 1875 to 1877 as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta
. On the conclusion of his term of office in 1877 he was made a K.C.S.I.
, and returning to England soon engaged in party politics as a thoroughgoing opponent of the Afghan policy of the conservative government.
unsuccessfully contested Westminster
in the liberal interest against Sir Charles Russell, and W. H. Smith. Hobhouse was at the bottom of the poll.
and in 1881 he succeeded Sir Joseph Napier on the judicial committee of the privy council. There without salary he did useful judicial work for twenty years. He delivered the decision of the committee in 200 appeals, of which 120 were from India. Several cases were of grave moment. In Merriman v. Williams (7 Appeal Cases 484), an action between the bishop
and dean of Grahamstown
, Hobhouse set forth fully the history of the relationship of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa with the Church of England
, and decided that the South African Church is independent of it. In the consolidated appeals in 1887 by several Canadian banks (12 Appeal Cases, 575) against the decisions of the court of queen's bench for Quebec
, which involved the respective limits of the power of the dominion and provincial legislatures to regulate banks, Hobhouse's judgment upheld the right of the province to tax banks and insurance companies constituted by Act of the dominion legislature. In a case from India in 1899 (26 Indian Appeals, Law Reports 113) which necessitated the review of a number of conflicting decisions of the Indian courts, Hobhouse settled a long disputed point in Hindu law
and decided, contrary to much tradition, that when an individual person was adopted as an only son, the fact of adoption should be legally recognised and the parents' plenary powers admitted.
as Baron Hobhouse, of Hadspen in the County of Somerset, with a view to assisting in the judicial work of the House of Lords, but a statutory qualification by which only judges of the high courts
of the United Kingdom
could sit to hear appeals had been overlooked. In 1887 the disqualification was removed by Act of Parliament
in regard to members of the judicial committee; but Hobhouse did not take up the work of a judge in the House of Lords. He only sat there to try three cases, in two of which, Russell v. Countess of Russell (1897 Appeal Cases 395) and the Kempton Park case (1899 Appeal Cases 143), he was in a dissenting minority. As a judge Hobhouse, who was always careful and painstaking, invariably stated the various arguments fully and fairly, but he was tenacious of his deliberately formed opinion.
, which aimed at securing a single government for the metropolis. From 1882 to 1884 he was a member of the London School Board
. Upon the creation of the London County Council
in 1888 Hobhouse was one of the first aldermen.
, Sir William Farrer (d 1911), and Cecilia Frances (d 1910), wife of Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh
. Advancing years and increasing deafness led him to retire from the judicial committee in 1901. He died at his London residence, 15 Bruton Street, on 6 December 1904, and was cremated at Golder's Green
. He left no issue, and the peerage became extinct on his death.
in 1868 on the law relating to the property of married women (1869; new edit. 1870), and to The Dead Hand (1880), a collection of addresses on endowments and settlements of property (reprinted from the Transactions of the Social Science Association).
Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...
, PC, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(10 November 1819 – 6 December 1904), was an English judge.
Background and education
Born at Hadspen, SomersetSomerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, Hobhouse was fourth and youngest son Henry Hobhouse, permanent under-secretary of state in the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
, by his wife Harriet, sixth daughter of John Turton of Sugnall Hall, Stafford. Edmund Hobhouse
Edmund Hobhouse
Edmund Hobhouse 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 second son of Henry Hobhouse, under-secretary of state for the home department...
, Bishop of Nelson, and Reginald Hobhouse (1818–95), archdeacon of Bodmin, were elder brothers. Passing at eleven from a private school to Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, he remained there seven years (1830–7). In 1837 he went to Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, graduated B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1840 with a first class in classics, and proceeded M.A. in 1844. Entering at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
on 22 April 1841, he was called to the bar on 6 May 1845, and soon acquired a large chancery
Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...
and conveyancing
Conveyancer
In Commonwealth countries, a conveyancer is a specialist lawyer who specialises in the legal aspects of buying and selling real property, or conveyancing. A conveyancer can also be a solicitor, licensed conveyancer, or a fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives.In the United Kingdom,...
practice.
Early legal career
In 1862 he became a Queen's CounselQueen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
and a bencher of his inn, serving the office of treasurer in 1880–1 and practised in the Rolls Court (the civil division of the Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
). A severe illness in 1866 led him to retire from practice and accept the appointment of charity commissioner
Charity Commission
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales....
. Hobhouse threw himself into the work with energy. He was not only active in administration but advocated a reform of the law governing charitable endowments. The Endowed Schools Act, 1869
Endowed Schools Act 1869
The Endowed Schools Act 1869 was introduced in Britain during William Ewart Gladstone’s first ministry.An Endowed Schools Commission was created to draw up new schemes of distribution for schools which received funding from the government; previous endowments had been seen as poorly distributed and...
, was a first step in that direction, and under that act Lord Lyttelton
George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton
George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton , was a British aristocrat and Conservative politician.-Early life:...
, Hobhouse, and Canon H. G. Robinson were appointed commissioners with large powers of reorganising endowed schools. Much was accomplished in regard to endowed schools, but the efforts of Hobhouse and his fellow commissioners received a check in 1871, when the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
rejected their scheme for remodelling the Emanuel Hospital
Emanuel School
Emanuel School is a co-educational independent school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded by Lady Dacre and Elizabeth I in 1594. Today it has some 710 pupils, aged between ten and eighteen.-History:...
, Westminster. There followed a controversy which was distasteful to Hobhouse, and with little regret he retired in 1872 in order to succeed Sir James Fitzjames Stephen
James Fitzjames Stephen
Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, 1st Baronet was an English lawyer, judge and writer. He was created 1st Baronet Stephen by Queen Victoria.-Early life:...
as law member of the council of the Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
. Hobhouse had meanwhile served on the royal commission on the operation of the Land Transfer Act in 1869.
India
Hobhouse, "on his departure for India received strong hints that it would be desirable for him to slacken the pace of the legislative machine", which had been quickened by the consolidating and codifying activities of Fitzjames Stephen and of Stephen's immediate predecessor, Sir Henry Sumner MaineHenry James Sumner Maine
Sir Henry James Sumner Maine, KCSI , was an English comparative jurist and historian. He is famous for the thesis outlined in Ancient Law that law and society developed "from status to contract." According to the thesis, in the ancient world individuals were tightly bound by status to traditional...
. That suggestion he approved. Whitley Stokes, secretary in the legislative department, was mainly responsible for the measures passed during Hobhouse's term of office, with the important exception of the Specific Relief Act, 1877, in which Hobhouse as an equity lawyer took an especial interest, and a revision of the law relating to the transfer of property, which became a statute after he left India. Of strong liberal sentiment, Hobhouse had small sympathy with the general policy of the government of India during the opening of Lord Lytton's
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton
Edward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, PC was an English statesman and poet...
viceroyalty. The attitude to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
was especially repugnant. He served from 1875 to 1877 as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
. On the conclusion of his term of office in 1877 he was made a K.C.S.I.
Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...
, and returning to England soon engaged in party politics as a thoroughgoing opponent of the Afghan policy of the conservative government.
Parliamentary candidate
In 1880 he and John MorleyJohn Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn OM, PC was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially a journalist, he was elected a Member of Parliament in 1883...
unsuccessfully contested Westminster
Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)
Westminster was a parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter....
in the liberal interest against Sir Charles Russell, and W. H. Smith. Hobhouse was at the bottom of the poll.
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
In 1878 Hobhouse was made arbitrator under the Epping Forest ActEpping Forest Keepers
The Epping Forest Keepers are an ancient and historical body of people who are employed by the City of London, who in return are responsible, as the Conservators, for the management and care of Epping Forest, which covers approximately ten square miles of forest, bridleway, woodland and...
and in 1881 he succeeded Sir Joseph Napier on the judicial committee of the privy council. There without salary he did useful judicial work for twenty years. He delivered the decision of the committee in 200 appeals, of which 120 were from India. Several cases were of grave moment. In Merriman v. Williams (7 Appeal Cases 484), an action between the bishop
Bishop of Grahamstown
The Bishop of Grahamstown is the bishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in the Diocese of Grahamstown, which encompasses the area around Grahamstown, South Africa and is located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The seat of the Bishop is St. Michael and St. George...
and dean of Grahamstown
Grahamstown
Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...
, Hobhouse set forth fully the history of the relationship of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa with the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, and decided that the South African Church is independent of it. In the consolidated appeals in 1887 by several Canadian banks (12 Appeal Cases, 575) against the decisions of the court of queen's bench for Quebec
Quebec Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal for Quebec is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada....
, which involved the respective limits of the power of the dominion and provincial legislatures to regulate banks, Hobhouse's judgment upheld the right of the province to tax banks and insurance companies constituted by Act of the dominion legislature. In a case from India in 1899 (26 Indian Appeals, Law Reports 113) which necessitated the review of a number of conflicting decisions of the Indian courts, Hobhouse settled a long disputed point in Hindu law
Hindu law
Hindu law in its current usage refers to the system of personal laws applied to Hindus, especially in India...
and decided, contrary to much tradition, that when an individual person was adopted as an only son, the fact of adoption should be legally recognised and the parents' plenary powers admitted.
House of Lords
In 1885 Hobhouse accepted a peeragePeerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Baron Hobhouse, of Hadspen in the County of Somerset, with a view to assisting in the judicial work of the House of Lords, but a statutory qualification by which only judges of the high courts
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
could sit to hear appeals had been overlooked. In 1887 the disqualification was removed by Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
in regard to members of the judicial committee; but Hobhouse did not take up the work of a judge in the House of Lords. He only sat there to try three cases, in two of which, Russell v. Countess of Russell (1897 Appeal Cases 395) and the Kempton Park case (1899 Appeal Cases 143), he was in a dissenting minority. As a judge Hobhouse, who was always careful and painstaking, invariably stated the various arguments fully and fairly, but he was tenacious of his deliberately formed opinion.
London government
While engaged on the judicial committee, Hobhouse devoted much energy to local government of London. From 1877 to 1899 he was a vestryman of St George's, Hanover Square. In 1880 he assisted to form and long worked for the London Municipal Reform LeagueLondon Municipal Reform League
The London Municipal Reform League was a pressure group operating in the Metropolitan Board of Works, formed in 1881 by John Lloyd, having a Liberal Party outlook. Its president from 1882 was Joseph Firth Bottomley Firth.-See also:* London Municipal Society...
, which aimed at securing a single government for the metropolis. From 1882 to 1884 he was a member of the London School Board
London School Board
The School Board for London was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London....
. Upon the creation of the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
in 1888 Hobhouse was one of the first aldermen.
Personal life
Lord Hobhouse married, on 10 August 1848, Mary (d 1905), daughter of Thomas Farrer, solicitor, and sister of Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron FarrerThomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer
Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer was an English civil servant and statistician.Farrer was the son of Thomas Farrer, a solicitor in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Born in London, he was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1840...
, Sir William Farrer (d 1911), and Cecilia Frances (d 1910), wife of Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh
Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh
Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh GCB, PC , known as Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt, from 1851 to 1885, was a British Conservative politician...
. Advancing years and increasing deafness led him to retire from the judicial committee in 1901. He died at his London residence, 15 Bruton Street, on 6 December 1904, and was cremated at Golder's Green
Golders Green Crematorium
Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000, and was opened in 1902 by Sir Henry Thompson....
. He left no issue, and the peerage became extinct on his death.
Appreciation and publications
To the last an advanced liberal and constructive legal reformer, Hobhouse, all of whose judicial work was done gratuitously, urged many legal changes, which won adoption very slowly. Much influence is assignable to an address by him before the Social Science Congress at BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
in 1868 on the law relating to the property of married women (1869; new edit. 1870), and to The Dead Hand (1880), a collection of addresses on endowments and settlements of property (reprinted from the Transactions of the Social Science Association).
External links
- Works by Hobhouse at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- More Works by Hobhouse at the Internet Archive
- Hobhouse, Leonard Trelawney; Hammond, John Lawrence, Lord Hobhouse; a memoir (1905) from the Internet Archive