Edward William Hobson (1816 - 1903)

Born 1816 in Parramatta, New South Wales (Australia)

Ancestors

Husband of Marie Anne Martha Celine Helena (Napper) Hobson — married 1846 in Melbourne, Port Phillip District, Colony of New South Wales

Descendants

Died 1903 at about age 87 in Swan Hill, Victoria (Australia)

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Biography

Edward William Hobson was born about 1812 in Parramatta, New South Wales (Australia). He was the son of Edward Hobson and Malvina Luttrell. ^[1]

As a youth Edward took to the sea, working as a sailor on ships plying between Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania), New Zealand, Swan River (Western Australia) and Port Phillip (Victoria).

Edward was a pastoralist

Early in 1837 he exchanged the open seas for the land, establishing a small run on Darebin Creek, near Melbourne. Just months later, he moved to the south-eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay and held a run, Kangerong, on the slopes of Arthur's Seat. This was followed by the establishment of Tootgarook, a run between Rye and Point Nepean. In 1843 he also took over a run at Tarwin Meadows, on Anderson's Inlet and held it until January 1845. In April 1844 he left Port Phillip with a large mob of cattle, paused at Tarwin Meadows, and then moved on into the Gippsland's Traralgon district, where, on behalf of his brother Doctor Edmund Hobson, a run of 19,000 acres (7,689 hectares).

Edmund married Helena Napper, a cousin on his mother's side of the family, on 9th September 1846 in Melbourne. ^[2] They kept a house in the city, in which Marie mostly lived.

On Edmund's death in 1848, the control of the Traralgon run passed to Edmund's executors, although Edward remained in occupation. In 1853 the run was divided into Traralgon East and Traralgon West, Edward occupying the latter for a few months. Although reasonably successful up to this time Edmund, who had been made a justice of the peace in 1847, lost substantially in investments in shipping in the late 1850s. In 1862 he was in trouble for cattle stealing and forgery. Three years later he took up cattle droving on the New South Wales side of the Murray River. There, Marie joined Edward in a home in Euston, where she opened a school. He was farming a property in that colony in 1873 and remained there until 1884 when he moved to a property of 1,900 acs (769 ha) at Swan Hill.

He passed away in 1903 in Swan Hill, Victoria, aged 91 years. ^[3] He was survived by his wife and a son. A daughter had predeceased him.

Sources

1. ↑ record of birth has not yet been located
2. ↑ Victoria Marriage Index #3831/1846
3. ↑ Victorian Death Index #11599/1903

• McCallum, C A. 'Hobson, Edmund Charles (1814–1848)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1966; accessed online 27 May 2022.