William Hobson

William Hobson (1752-1840), of Markfield House in South Tottenham, was a successful Quaker builder who in 1805 was commissioned to build Martello Towers along the South and East coast as defences against a feared French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. He was also involved in the construction of the London Docklands and the building of the new Newgate prison.

Henry Raeburn was commissioned by William Hobson in the late 1700s to paint portraits of himself and his wife, Ann. The portraits were bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum by their great-grandson Henry Pulsford Hobson. The V&A notes describe the portrait of William Hobson as:

Oil painting depicting William Hobson of Markfield, a notable building contractor, portrayed three quarter length, seated in a chair, wearing breeches and a thick coat. His hair is white but he has the stature and complexion of a young, bullish man.

Judging from the apparent age of the sitter and the style, the work was probably executed in Raeburn’s last years. The gentleman is shown at a desk, in three-quarter length, seated with legs apart. He looks slightly to the right, avoiding the direct gaze at the viewer.

Raeburn painted some of the areas, such as the sitter’s face and front of his coat, in very fine detail. In other passages he shows a dynamic sketchiness of brushwork, for which he was renowned.

Susanna Hobson by John Constable British Museum

John Constable stayed at Markfield House, as a guest of William Hobson from 24 June to 11 July 1806 where he made numerous sketches of the family.

Defence of the Realm: Martello Towers

The Martello towers which lined the south coast of England in the early years of the nineteenth century were inspired by the defences at Mortella in Corsica. They were built from early 1805 to 1812 when there was a fear of invasion by Napoleon’s forces. These engraving, drawn by JMW Turner, shows several towers in the view from Bexhill in Sussex towards Pevensey Bay.

According to Cobbett’s Parliamentary Debates for 14 March 1810, recognising the urgency of the threat of war at the time, General Twiss was of the opinion that it was impossible to build them but by contract.

A Mr Hobson, who had built the London docks with great ability, was named as a person fit to conduct the undertaking. Mr Hobson, however would not undertake to do them, as the uncertainty of the expense was such that he thought no man could in justice to his family enter into such a contract.

He was offered a percentage for superintending the work but only accepted the contract when Mr Pole called upon him as an Englishman to aid his country in her extremity. He subcontracted the work which proved to be extremely lucrative to John Smith, the builder of the towers between Bexhill and Eastbourne, said to have made a profit of £20 000, and Edward Hodges the descendants of whom said he also made a fortune.

William Cobbett refers to the extravagance in his Rural Rides some twenty years later:
All along the coast there are works of some sort or other; incessant sinks of money; walls of immense dimensions; masses of stone brought and put into piles. Then you see some of the walls and buildings falling down; some that have never been finished.

Here has been the squandering! Here has been the pauper-making work! Here we see some of these causes that are now sending some farmers to the workhouse and driving others to flee the country or to cut their throats!

Also in the debate about additional expenditure by the army in Cobbett’s Parliamentary Debates for 14 March 1810 –
Mr Wardle said that these Martello towers were all constructed for the purpose of being defended by two guns, but by some strange blunder they could only carry one …

Mr Parnell was not prepared to vote for the estimates, because he thought them in many instances most extravagant. Another objection he had to doing it was, that when he looked at the House (which was very thin indeed) he could not think that so large a sum of 4000000l. of the people’s money should be voted away by so few of their representatives, and with so little investigation.

Martello Towers near Bexhill, Sussex c.1808 Engraved by William Say Liber Studiorum 1811 Tate Britain This painting was not in the Windus Collection.

Interior of a Martello tower National Army Museum

Martello Tower, Pevensey, East Sussex Richard Henry Nibbs Towner, Eastboourne

Although there are still Martello Towers along the coast those recorded by Turner near Bexhill no longer exist.

Tower 44    East Sussex Bexhill   Lost to sea
Tower 45    East Sussex Bexhill   Demolished
Tower 46    East Sussex Bexhill   Demolished
Tower 47    East Sussex Bexhill   Washed away to sea
Tower 48    East Sussex Bexhill   Demolished
Tower 49    East Sussex Bexhill   Destroyed

Records of Martello Towers

William Hobson moved to Markfield House, which he had had built, in 1798. The house was sold to developers in 1879 and demolished in 1880.

The Tottenham and Edmonton Advertiser commented:
        Like many other estates in the once rural parish of Tottenham,
        the land is doomed to become covered ere long with brick and
        mortar, and its stately mansion with its ornamental grounds
       will also shortly know their place no more.

William Hobson died on 23rd May 1840 and
was buried at All Hallows, Tottenham.

Additional information from: Lost House of Haringey, Bruce Castle Museum, 1986