Brigadier General Reginald Francis Arthur Hobbs, (30 January 1878 – 10 July 1953) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who was

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

in charge of Administration, Western Command.

Early life and education

Hobbs was born in

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the Wes ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

,''1911 England Census'' to Captain Simpson Hackett Hobbs of the 89th Foot, a wire manufacturer, and Sarah Bayley. His elder brother, Lieutenant Colonel Charles James Willoughby Hobbs, died of wounds in the First World War. He was educated at Wellington College and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

. Playing as a forward, Hobbs was capped twice for the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

Military career

Hobbs was gazetted to the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in 1898. He served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

(1899–1902), the

Somaliland campaign The Somaliland campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish rebellion, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in modern-day Somaliland. The British were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiop ...

in 1903 and in the Gold Coast in 1904–05. From 1907–11, he was technical supervisor at the School of Musketry. He returned to the field in the First World War, serving as assistant adjutant and quartermaster general in France and Italy until February 1918. Following the war, Hobbs served as Brigadier in charge of Administration, Western Command, until his retirement in 1931. Hobbs was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

in 1901, and appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

in the

1915 Birthday Honours The 1915 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

and a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

in the

1931 New Year Honours The 1931 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 30 December 1930. The recipients of honou ...

Personal life

Hobbs married Frances Graham Stirling, daughter of Sir William Stirling. They had three sons, two of whom were killed in action in North Africa during the Second World War: Major General

Reginald Hobbs Major general (United Kingdom), Major General Reginald Geoffrey Stirling Hobbs, (8 August 1908 − 7 November 1977) was a British Army officer who served as List of governors and commandants of Sandhurst, Commandant of the Royal Military Academ ...

(1908–1977), Major Peter Graham Hobbs (1911–1942) of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, killed in action in Libya, and Lieutenant Colonel William Paul Hobbs (1914–1943), killed in action in Tunisia. Hobbs died at his home in

Sutton Veny Sutton Veny is a village and civil parish in the Wylye valley, to the southeast of the town of Warminster in Wiltshire, England; the village is about from Warminster town centre. 'Sutton' means 'south farmstead' in relation to Norton Bavant, on ...

, near

Warminster Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021. The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...

, Wiltshire, on 10 July 1953 aged 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Reginald Francis Arthur 1878 births 1953 deaths People from Tyldesley People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I British Army brigadiers Military personnel from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union players from Lancashire Rugby union forwards