John Hobson (politician)
Sir John Gardiner Sumner Hobson, OBE, TD, PC, QC (18 April 1912 – 4 December 1967) was a British Conservative Party politician.
Sir John Hobson | |
|---|---|
| Attorney-General for England | |
| In office 16 July 1962 – 16 October 1964 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan Sir Alec Douglas-Home |
| Preceded by | Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller |
| Succeeded by | Sir Elwyn Jones |
| Solicitor-General for England | |
| In office 8 February 1962 – 19 July 1962 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
| Preceded by | Sir Jocelyn Simon |
| Succeeded by | Sir Peter Rawlinson |
| Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington | |
| In office 7 March 1957 – 4 December 1967 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Anthony Eden |
| Succeeded by | Dudley Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Gardiner Sumner Hobson 18 April 1912 Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England |
| Died | 4 December 1967 (aged 55) London, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Education | Harrow School |
| Alma mater | Brasenose College, Oxford |
Life and career
Hobson was born in Melton Mowbray, the son of an officer in the 12th Royal Lancers. Hobson was educated at Harrow and Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating with a second-class degree in History in 1934. Hobson was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1938. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1957, and was Recorder of Northampton from 1958 to 1962. During World War II he served with the Northamptonshire Yeomanry, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. For his military service, he was appointed OBE and mentioned in dispatches.[1]
He was first elected to the House of Commons at a 1957 by-election in the Warwick and Leamington constituency, caused by the resignation due to ill-health of the Conservative MP and former Prime Minister, Anthony Eden. He held the seat at the next three general elections. In 1959 Hobson represented suspected serial-killer Dr John Bodkin Adams in his failed attempt to be reinstated as a doctor.[2]
He was appointed Solicitor General in 1962, receiving the customary knighthood, and serving in that post for five months before taking over as Attorney General until the Conservatives lost the 1964 general election. In 1962 he led the prosecution of the spy John Vassall. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1963.
He approved the "sordid deal" whereby Anthony Blunt was given immunity from prosecution [3]
Death
He died in London on 4 December 1967,[4] from a previously undiagnosed brain tumour.
References
- Fletcher-Cooke, Charles. "Hobson, Sir John Gardiner Sumner (1912–1967)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33910. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Furneaux, Robert, Famous Criminal Cases VI, 1960, pp. 24-25.
- Historian who brought Anthony Blunt to book, The Times, 4 July 2020.
- "Sir John Hobson, 55, Tory M.P. And Ex-Attorney General, Dies". The New York Times. 4 December 1967. Retrieved 2 March 2021.