Hobhouse is a rare English surname, generally belonging to members of a family originally from Somerset. Those currently with this surname are members of several branches of this patronymic that achieved prominence from the 18th century. Originally merchants, the family diversified into the slave trade, joined the ranks of the West country gentry, accumulating wealth through advantageous marriages and entering into local and national politics, both with success.

Notable Hobhouses include:

• John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton
  John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton
  John Cam Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton GCB, PC, FRS , known as Sir John Hobhouse, Bt, from 1831 to 1851, was a British politician and memoirist.-Background and education:...
  
   (1786–1869), a British politician and memoirist.
• Thomas Benjamin Hobhouse(1807–1876), a British Liberal Party politician.
• Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse
  Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse
  Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse KCSI, PC, QC , was an English judge.-Background and education:Born at Hadspen, Somerset, Hobhouse was fourth and youngest son Henry Hobhouse, permanent under-secretary of state in the Home Office, by his wife Harriet, sixth daughter of John Turton of Sugnall...
  
   (1819–1904), an English judg
• Henry Hobhouse (MP)
  Henry Hobhouse (MP)
  Henry Hobhouse was an English landowner and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1906....
  
   (1854–1937) an English landowner and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1906
• Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse
  Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse
  Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse was a British liberal politician and sociologist, who has been considered one of the leading and earliest proponents of social liberalism. His works, alongside that of writers such as T.H. Green and John A. Hobson, occupy a seminal position within the canon of New...
  
   (1864–1929), a British liberal politician and proponent of social liberalism
• Emily Hobhouse
  Emily Hobhouse
  Emily Hobhouse was a British welfare campaigner, who is primarily remembered for bringing to the attention of the British public, and working to change, the poor conditions inside the British concentration camps in South Africa built for Boer women and children during the Second Boer War.-Early...
  
   (1860–1926), publicised the poor conditions inside the British concentration camps built in South Africa during the Second Boer War
• Sir Charles Hobhouse, 4th Baronet (1862–1941), a British Liberal politician. He was a member of the Liberal cabinet of H. H. Asquith between 1911 and 1915
• Sir Arthur Hobhouse
  Arthur Hobhouse
  Sir Arthur Lawrence Hobhouse was a long-serving English local government Liberal politician, who is best remembered as the architect of the system of National parks of England and Wales....
  
   (1886–1965), a long-serving English local government Liberal politician, who is best remembered as the architect of the system of National parks of England and Wales

Hobhouse may also mean:

• Hobhouse, Free State
  Hobhouse, Free State
  Hobhouse is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa, named after welfare campaigner Emily Hobhouse. Maize, wheat, cheese and livestock are produced here.-External links:*...
  
  , town in South Africa