Charles was born in New London on March 3, 1799. No information could be found concerning his parents. He married Martha B. Stebbins on April 14, 1822 in New London. No formal record of any children could be found. However, other sources show that there was at least one child born of the marriage, Charles (Jr.). New London probate records contain the will of Charles’s brother Francis who died on August 8, 1886. His will contains a contingent gift to “Charles Hobron Jr., the son of my brother Charles B. Hobron”. Further confirmation of the son comes from a New London Day (11/1/1904) obituary of Capt. Charles Hobron, Jr. who “was for many years a follower of the sea and held several important commands … he was a son of the late Capt. Charles and Martha Hobron“. Charles died in New London on April 28 1851. The New London probate records for his estate (4/29/1850) show the following entry for “the estate of Charles Hobron late of New London, deceased, represented insolvent”. Note that this date is a year before the date of his death as shown on his gravestone, April 28, 1851. Martha survived him by 30 years, dying on March 15, 1881. They are buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London. A handsome obelisk records their dates of death, Capt. Charles showing April 28, 1851.
Charles had an early start in whaling. Quoting from Colby (p. 6) writing about the early days of whaling from New London, “These early vessels were virtual training schools for future whaling captains. Aboard Pizzaro for her 1821 voyage were [22] men…[eight of whom] eventually became masters: [including] Charles Hobron…”. No record was found of his experience at sea prior to becoming a master.
Charles had a busy career as master of whaling vessels with New London home port, sailing on 13 voyages on five different ships. The destination of all but two of his voyages were to the So. Atlantic, sometimes described as Brazil.
NEPTUNE (AS2032): (ship. 285 tons, length 94 ft., built in New Bedford in 1809, altered to bark in 1850, broken up in 1857). NEPTUNE made three successive trips under Charles: July 24, 1825 to May 26, 1826, July 2, 1826 toApril 28, 1827, and June 15, 1827 to May 23. 1828. Starbuck shows “C. Holmes” as master for these and several other voyages, probably a clerical error. Thomas W. Williams was the agent for these voyages. AV10359, AV10360, and AV10361respectively.
ANN MARIA (AS0879); (ship, 368 tons, length 106 ft., built in Philadelphia PA in 1810, lost off St. Paul’s Island in August 1842). ANN MARIA made two successive trips under Charles: July 2, 1828 to April 13, 1829 and June 18, 1829 to March 22, 1830. Thomas W. Williams was the agent for both voyages. AV01024 and AV01025 respectively.
COMMODORE PERRY (AS1137): (ship, 270 tons, length 91 ft., built in E. Greenwich RI in 1815, broken up in 1848). PERRY made three trips under Charles: July 9, 1830 to May 21, 1831, June 20, 1831 to February 23, 1832, and, after a gap of four years, March 18, 1836 to April 6, 1838. N. & W.W. Billings was the agent for the first two voyages and Frink Chew & Co. was the agent for the third. AV03167, AV03168, and AV03172 respectively.
JULIUS CAESAR (AS1737): (ship (changed to bark in 1856), 347 tons, length 100 ft., built in Sag Harbor NY, broken up in 1859). CAESAR sailed on May 5, 1832 and returned on February 13, 1833. Sailed again on April 19, 1833 with the destination including the Indian Ocean, no return date shown. Neither Colby, Decker nor Starbuck record this voyage. Sailed again in 1834 and returned on January 31, 1835. Sailed again on May 31, 1836 and returned on April 7, 1837. Colby does not record this voyage. Starbuck and Decker show the master as McLean, probably Albert McLean (AM3404). Dennis Wood Abstract 1-278 confirms Charles as master. N. and W.W. Billings was the agent for these voyages. AV07940, AV17257, AV07941, and AV07943 respectively.
INDIAN CHIEF (AS1647): (ship, 401 tons, length 105 ft., built in Portsmouth VA in 1812, lost in the Arctic on August 25, 1857). It sailed on October 1, 1838 for the Indian Ocean and returned on April 5, 1851. Starbuck records the master of this voyage as “Skinner”. AOWV records four masters named Skinner but their ships and dates of service are not consistent with this voyage. James Skinner (AM4383) was master of the 1842-1844 voyage of INDIAN CHIEF. Frink, Chew & Co. was the agent. AV07007.
No record could be found of Charles serving as the member of a crew; all his voyages were as master.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
February 2026