Editing William Hobson (section)

== Early life and naval career ==
William Hobson was born in [[Waterford]], [[Kingdom of Ireland]], the son of Samuel Hobson, a barrister and Martha Jones.<ref name="daubio" /> He grew up in an [[Anglo-Irish]] [[Anglican]] family.<ref name="DNZB Hobson">{{DNZB|last= Simpson|first= K. A.|id= 1h29|title= Hobson, William|access-date= 8 April 2019}}</ref> He attended a (barely) private school, but despite this disadvantage he joined the [[Royal Navy]] on 25 August 1803 as a second-class volunteer. He served in the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and was later involved in the suppression of [[piracy in the Caribbean]]. He became a midshipman in 1806 and some seven years later was a [[first lieutenant]].

In September 1822 merchants at Nassau equipped two sloops to cruise against pirates, with {{HMS|Tyne|1814|6}} providing officers and seamen to man the sloops. One sloop, with 23 men under the command of a midshipman, encountered a pirate schooner and [[felucca]]. The British repulsed the schooner and captured the felucca. Those of the felucca's crew who were not killed jumped overboard and were drowned. British casualties amounted to two men killed and seven, including the midshipman, wounded.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.c2735032?urlappend=%3Bseq=421%3Bownerid=13510798902581409-439 |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=5758 |date=12 December 1822 |hdl=2027/uc1.c2735032?urlappend=%3Bseq=421 |accessdate=23 September 2021}}</ref> The second sloop had a worse fortune. The sloop ''Whim'' was under the command of Lieutenant William Hobson and two midshipmen from ''Tyne'' when on 29 September a pirate schooner captured her at [[Guanaja|Guanaha]]. The pirates held the British captive for several days, treating their prisoners badly, but all the British survived.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.c2735032?urlappend=%3Bseq=435%3Bownerid=13510798902581409-453 |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=5762 |date=24 December 1822 |hdl=2027/uc1.c2735032?urlappend=%3Bseq=435 |accessdate=23 September 2021}}</ref>

Between March 1823 and May 1824 Hobson commanded the [[schooner]] {{HMS|Lion|1823|6}}, in which he captured several pirate vessels, earning himself the nickname "Lion Hobson".<ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Lambourn
| first1 = Alan
| title = The Treatymakers of New Zealand: Heralding the Birth of a Nation
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zrVWAAAAYAAJ
| location = Lewes, Sussex
| publisher = Book Guild
| date = 1988
| pages = 123–124
| isbn = 9780863322679
| access-date = 2020-04-23
}}
</ref> He was promoted to commander on 18 March 1824 and commanded {{HMS|Scylla|1809|6}} between 1826 and 1828. In December 1834 he obtained a commission from the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] – [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland]] – to the [[East Indies]] on {{HMS|Rattlesnake|1822|6}}.