David Lennox Hobson was born on 15th December 1920 at Marrickville NSW where his father was a general practitioner. His mother died in 1925. Later his father married Mardi who had a daughter, Marion, and a son, Bruce.

David was educated at the King’s School. He studied medicine at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1943. He joined the Army in 1944 as Captain and and was sent to Moratai west of Irian Jaya with the 2/5 AGH. This hospital served as a base for mop up operations and the recapturing of the Philippines and Borneo. Changi POWs and men on the Burma railway, all suffering from Berri Berri dehydration and malnutrition, were hospitalised there. He was the last doctor to leave the hospital at Moratai. He never spoke of the war. On his return to Australia he spent time at the Toowoomba, Jandowae and Concord Repatriation Hospitals.

He obtained his MRACP in 1953 and FRCP London 1955 and married Jacqueline (nee Howe) in 1956. They had two sons, Malcolm and Peter.

David served as a consultant physician at Princess Alexandra Hospital and Royal Brisbane Hospital. He was Honorary Physician at Mt Olivet Hospital for ten years and later Honorary Physician at Greenslopes Hospital. He had rooms at the Brisbane Clinic and Cooparoo Clinic. He also lectured nurses and examined GP and MRACP students associated with the University of Queensland.

In his youth he spent many nights camping with his brother, Phillip, where he developed his love of nature and the bush.

He loved walking daily, reading, music, concerts, opera, Montserrat Caballe singing, Oscar Wilde, Italian and French food. He was an authority and lectured on Dr Johnson and Boswell. He was a quiet, unassuming man who was strong-willed and altruistic who lived by his principles. He referred to cigarettes as coffin nails. He was always polite, stubborn, patient and intelligent. He never regretted studying medicine.

His son, Peter Hobson, has written:

I suspect David’s plight in his early life and his war years came back to haunt him both physically and mentally.

In 1991 David Hobson had a mitral valve repair which was successful. The tubing used during surgery irritated a pre-existing oesophageal diverticulum after which he could only be fed by TPN. He retuned to work at Coorparoo Clinic on a part time basis. He did not tolerate the TPN and his weight went down to 40kg. Together with hyponatraemia, his mental state deteriorated which meant he could no longer work and he retired early 1992. He became severely depressed. Later in 1992 his family decided that he must have surgery to remove the diverticulum so that he could return to a normal diet. His surgery was successful, however the mental scars were quite debilitating for a period of several years. He spent the rest of his years living at Mary Crest Hostel and at his other home with his loyal wife, Jacqui, who tirelesly stuck by him. Right up until he died, he read incessantly, at least a book every two or three days. His intellect and wit was still intact. He would frequently play chess with his grandsons. His family will attest that his medical knowledge and intuition was just as sharp as ever as he frequently discussed medical issues with his family.