William Hobbs (politician)
Dr William Hobbs | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Council | |
| In office 26 April 1861 – 18 October 1880 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Hobbs 1822 |
| Died | 1890 (aged 67–68) |
| Resting place | Toowong Cemetery |
| Spouse | Anna Louisa Barton (d.1853 d.1914) |
| Relations | Edmund Barton (brother-in-law) |
| Occupation | Surgeon |
Dr William Hobbs (1822 – 8 December 1890) was a medical doctor and politician in colonial Queensland.
Hobbs was born in London, England, and was one of the earliest colonists of Queensland, practised as a doctor in Brisbane, and was for a considerable period the Government medical officer. Accompanied by his aged mother, he arrived at Moreton Bay on 1 May 1849 as surgeon of the Chaseley, the second of John Dunmore Lang's migrant ships. After a brief period at Drayton on the Darling Downs, he commenced practice in Brisbane in September.
He was nominated to the Queensland Legislative Council and was a member of the first responsible government, without portfolio, under the premiership of Robert Herbert, the permanent Under-Secretary for the Colonies, from April 1861 to January 1862. Mr. Hobbs married Anna Louisa Barton, sister of Edmund Barton, of Sydney. He died in Brisbane on 8 December 1890 and was buried in Toowong Cemetery.
He was also an important witness to the prosecution of the perpetrators involved within the Myall Creek Massacre sending a letter to the high court explaining what he had seen. This lead to the hanging of 7 of the perpetrators making the Myall Creek Massacre one of the only justified massacres in the Frontier Wars