Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Baronet
Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Baronet , of Blickling Hall, was an English politician who succeeded Sir Edward Coke to become Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.Background and education
The son of Thomas Hobart and Audrey Hare, and great-grandson of Sir James Hobart of Monks Eleigh, Suffolk, who served as Attorney General during the reign of King Henry VII. He would further this lineal occupation and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 10 August 1575, and was later called to the Bar in 1584, and subsequently became governor of Lincoln's Inn in 1591.Legal and political career
Between 1588 and 1589, Hobart was Member of Parliament for St Ives, for Great Yarmouth in 1597 and 1601, and for Norwich from 1604 to 1611. He was Steward of Norwich in 1595, made Serjeant from 1603 to 1606, and later served as Attorney for the Court of Wards in 1605 and Attorney General for England and Wales between 1606 and 1613 while Bacon was Solicitor-General. While in that post, they argued Calvin's Case, by which the Rights of Englishmen were bestowed on the postnati Scots. From 1613 to 1625, his abilities were further recognized and he was elevated to Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Hobart was knighted in 1603 and made Baronet, of Intwood in the County of Norfolk on 11 May 1611. He was respected for his knowledge and sophistication in matters of estate management. He successfully acquired a fair amount of Norfolk property, including the estates of Intwood in 1596 and Blickling in 1616, where he was buried on 4 January 1625.Family
On 21 April 1590, he married Dorothy Bell, the daughter of Sir Robert Bell, in Blickling, Norfolk. They had twelve sons including John Hobart and four daughters.
