Edwin Hobbs

• Born                   1840
• Christening         23 August 1840 at Box, Wiltshire
• Marriage              5 March 1869 to Hannah Maria Worsley at St James Didsbury
• Death date          26 November 1904
• Interment           29 November 1904 at Southern Cemetery, Manchester

Edwin Hobbs was born in Box, Wiltshire about 1840. He was the son of James Hobbs, stonemason, and his wife Phoebe and was also younger brother to Charles, also a mason. Edwin is presumed to have trained with his father and by 1861 he was known to have been working as journeyman stone carver in Ipswich. Although dates vary, during the next few years he was taken into partnership by Thomas Earp the renowned Lambeth based architectural sculptor. A number of commissions in North west England late in the decade led Earp to set up a northern branch in Manchester and Edwin Hobbs was placed in managerial control. These commissions included Rochdale Town Hall, (Crossland); the police and Magistrates Court in Manchester (Worthington 1868 – 71); St James Church, Milnrow (G E Street 1868) and St Peter, Swinton (GE Street 1870). Again, the date at which Edwin Hobbs moved to Manchester is unclear - probably in 1867 or 1868, but he would remain here until his death in 1904. With the marriage of Thomas Earp’s son, Arthur, in 1876 the firm gradually became known as Earp, Son and Hobbs, although there are no known formal deeds of partnership before the mid-1880s. Thomas Earp died of cholera on 15 September 1893 following which Edgar Earp, Richard H Hook and Edwin Ernest Hobbs took control in London, under the style of Earp and Hobbs while Edwin Hobbs took sole charge in Manchester. In the 1890s Edwin Hobbs took Harry Malcom Miller into partnership, the Manchester branch then trading as Earp Hobbs and Miller. Following the death of Edwin Hobbs in 1904. Malcolm Miller took sole control of the Manchester business, opening a branch in Liverpool. Edwin Earp died in 1901. On 1 January 1910 the remaining London partners dissolved the partnership although the firm continued to trade until 1974

On 5 March 1869 Edwin Hobbs married Hannah Maria Worsley at St James’s Church Didsbury and fathered several children including Edwin Ernest Hobbs who moved to London as a partner in Earp and Hobbs. Edwin Hobbs died on 26 November 1904 after a short illness and was interred in Southern Cemetery three days later.

MR E HOBBS – Mr Edwin Hobbs, the head of the firm of Earp Hobbs and Miller, architectural sculptors, died on Saturday and is to be buried today at the Southern Cemetery. The headquarters of the firm is in South London, Manchester being only a branch. Of late years the branch has come to be as important as the Lambeth works. Thomas Earp, who passed away several years ago, was a fine workman who had the true artistic spirit. Edwin Hobbs, who became his partner a generation ago, was a man of the same sort. Both were craftsmen of the high order which is invaluable to an architect in truly interpreting and giving true expression to his design. The death leaves a vacant place. It is not often that such marked ability, good taste and good judgement are manifest by all the members of such a firm. They have well-earned the high position they attained. The list of their works would fill a column in the Guardian. He leaves a widow and several children. [Manchester Guardian 29 November 1904 page 12]

Address
1868-1904     63 Lower Mosley Street, Manchester

Residence
1841    Box, Wiltshire
1851     Priory Lane Corsham
1861    Cheney Street Ipswich - Lodging with Charles Meacher, carpenter
1871     57 Francis Street Chorlton in Medlock Manchester
1881    22 Talbot Street Moss Side Manchester
1891     35 Heywood Street Moss Side Manchester
1901    50 Manley Road Withington Manchester
1904    50 Manley Road Withington Manchester

Reference    Manchester Guardian 29 November 1904 page 12 - obituary
Reference    Anthony Mitchell: Thomas Earp, Master of Stone, 1990.  page 87, 100