Private, Border Regiment
Born: February 23rd 1883
Died: March 19th 1918
Age at Death: 35
Died of Wounds, France, March 19th 1918
Son of Frederick Hobson, better known as Fred Leslie, English actor, singer, comedian and dramatist.
Brother to Herbert W. L. Hobson (BC reg. 2681).
A donation to the memorial statue has been made in honour of this solder by Colonel Sam Roberts (Ch. 1950-53).
Private Frederick Lionel Vincent Hobson (Chichester House 1894-1899)
Frederick Lionel Hobson was born in London on 28th February 1883. He was the younger son and second child of Frederick Hobson, a very successful actor and comedian, and his wife Louisa (nee Agate). Before he reached the age of ten both his parents had died and he lived with his uncle Thomas Henry Hobson when he was a pupil at the College. While a pupil he was in the 2nd XI for football and cricket, being described as a ‘good fielder but a timid bat’, and played the triangle in a school concert. After leaving the College he inherited a large sum left in trust for him by his father which enabled him to live ‘on his own means’ and to marry Agnes Wright in 1909. In 1911 the couple lived in Balham, Surrey (now London) and had two children, Lionel (1909-1990) and Dorothy (1912-2003).
On the outbreak of war he enlisted initially in the Royal Field Artillery but over the course of the war transferred to a number of different units: 15th Battalion, King’s Liverpool Regiment, 3rd Battalion Border Regiment and finally 11th Battalion, Border Regiment (the “Lonsdale Pals”). It was with this unit that on 19th March 1918 he was killed in action in Flanders.
His grave is in the Artillery Wood Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium.
Source: LEST WE FORGET Project, Brighton College 2014-15