James Francis Helvetius Hobler
Encyclopedia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of eminent watch maker and exporter Jean Francois Hobler
Jean Francois Hobler
Jean Francois Hobler was born in Morges, Vaud, Switzerland in February 1727. Having migrated from Switzerland to London in the early to mid 18th century, John Francis Hobler married Charlotte Elizabeth Claudon, circa 1753....
and wife Charlotte Elizabeth Claudon.
Baptised in the newly established Swiss Protestant Church in London on 19 January 1764, Francis Hobler, as he was commonly known, held the respected position of principal clerk to the Right Hon. Lord Mayor of London during the early-to-mid-19th century. As chief clerk, his duties were to provide informed legal counsel in the areas of criminal law and the statutes and civic customs of the city of London. Hobler held this position for the majority of his life, which included numerous changes to the civic chair. He retired in 1843 due to ill health.
Revered for his intellect and wit, Francis Hobler was once described as a "fine, tall, upright, powdered-headed gentleman of the old school, always neatly, though somewhat eccentrically dressed, in a closely buttoned-up black coat, drab breeches and gaiters, which seem to be essential to, and form a part of his very existence". (The Illustrated London News, 1843)
Fluent in English, French, Spanish, German and Latin, he was known for his punctuality, compassion and excellent memory. His vivid recollection of past events is best evidenced by an incident which occurred at Mansion House, where a young thief was facing a charge of burglary. "We have seen each other before now." (questioned Hobler) "No we haven't old boy" was the impudent reply upon which, quietly turning on his seat, Mr. Hobler said, "I think I've an invite of yours" and opening a drawer took out and read, to the great merriment of his listeners, a card printed in the hand writing of the prisoner in red ink, soliciting the four of his friends' attendance at a public-house in the Borough, to get "gloriously drunk" and which had been taken from his person on a commitment to Bridewell many years before as a rogue and vagabond." (The Illustrated London News, 1843)
Francis Hobler also appears on more than one occasion in the writings of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and George Augustus Sala. "The Lord Mayor threw himself back in his chair, in a state of frantic delight at his own joke; every vein in Mr. Hobler's countenance was swollen with laughter partly at the Lord Mayor's facetiousness, but more at his own; the constables and police officers were (as in duty bound) in ecstasies at Mr. Hobler and the Lord Mayor combined; and the very paupers, glancing respectfully at the beadle's countenance, tried to smile, as even he relaxed." (The Last Cab-Driver, And The First Omnibus Cad. Sketches by Boz, Charles Dickens, 1835)
Francis Hobler and his wife Mary Furby had four children, one of whom was solicitor and author Francis Hobler, Jnr
Francis Hobler, Jnr
Francis Hobler, Jnr was a respected attorney and author. He was the son of James Francis Helvetius Hobler and Charlotte Elizabeth Claudon...
(circa 1793-1868). His youngest son George Hobler (1800–1882) was an Australian pioneer who introduced the first Devon cow to Australia. Francis and Mary also had two daughters, Charlotte Elizabeth Hobler (born circa 1795) and Mary Ann Hobler (circa 1810-1850).
James Francis Helvetius Hobler died in Pentonville
Pentonville
Pentonville is an area of north-central London in the London Borough of Islington, centred on the Pentonville Road. The area is named after Henry Penton, who developed a number of streets in the 1770s in what was open countryside adjacent to the New Road...
, London on 21 January 1844 (aged 78). He is buried at Highgate Cemetery along with his wife Mary and eldest son Francis.