Edward Hobson was born in London on 19 October 1921, the son of Ernest Edward Hobson (a Physician) and Enid Sydney Hobson of Brackenhurst, Walton on Thames, London.  On 15 September 1933 a young Edward Ashley Hobson and his mother Enid (described as a Press Agent) arrived in Plymouth in the P & O Liner SS RAJPUTANA having embarked in Tangiers.

He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 1 September 1939 and was promoted to Midshipman on 1 May 1940 and was appointed to the battleship HMS BARHAM on the same date.  Promotion to Acting Sub Lieutenant followed on 1 January 1941 and, on 10 November 1941 he was appointed to the submarine base HMS ELFIN at Blyth ‘for Submarine Training’.  On 15 January 1942 he was appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS AMBROSE at Dundee ‘for Submarines’.  He was sent to the Mediterranean on 15 March 1942 when he was appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS MEDWAY at Alexandria before being appointed to HMS PORPOISE as Third Hand on 10 April 1942.  On 1 October 1942 HMS PORPOISE was transferred to a new Depot Ship, HMS MEDWAY II at Beirut in the Lebanon.

Edward Hobson was awarded the DSC (London Gazette dated 29 December 1942) ‘for Mediterranean War Patrols’.  Following his return home he was appointed to HMS DOLPHIN ‘for Submarine HMS TALLY HO as First Lieutenant – Standing by whilst completing at Vickers at Barrow in Furness’ on 25 January 1943.  He returned to HMS DOLPHIN on 3 September 1943 ‘for Commanding Officers Qualifying Course’ which he completed satisfactorily and, on 15 December 1943 he was appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS CYCLOPS at Rothesay ‘for Submarine P511 in Command’.  This was followed on 30 August 1944 by an appointment to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS FORTH at the Holy Loch ‘for Submarine HMS SEADOG in Command’.  SEADOG was sent to the Indian Ocean and joined the 2^nd Submarine Flotilla based on the Submarine Depot Ship HMS WOLFE at Trincomalee in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 1 August 1945.

Edward Hobson returned home with an appointment to HMS DOLPHIN ‘for Submarine HMS TUDOR in Command – refitting’ on 19 November 1945 and he was awarded a Bar to the DSC ‘for Far East War Patrols’ (London Gazette dated 20 November 1945).  An appointment to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS WOLFE at Malta followed.  He is reported to have died on 29 July 1947 although the circumstances of his death have not been established.  Edward Hobson is buried in the Kalkara Naval Cemetery, Kalkara, Southern Harbour, Malta in the Protestant Section (Officers’), Plot E. Grave 26.