Born in Glasgow to Hamilton and Margaret (Maggie) Hotson, he was educated at Edinburgh Academy (1889–1895) and Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating BA in 1899,[1] and MA (1905).
[4] He was appointed OBE on 3 June 1918, Companion of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India (CSI) in the New Year Honours, 1926, and elevated to Knight Commander (KCSI) in 1930.
[8] In 1924 Hotson married Mildred Alice, daughter of Arthur Bennett Steward (a fellow member of the ICS); this coincides with his elevation to the position of Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay.
After the arrest of the national leaders Khurshed Nariman and Jamnalal Bajaj on 8 May 1930, mass demonstrations in the district of Sholapur led the Collector, Mr Knight, to seek advice from Hotson who was now in Bombay as the Home Member.
[9] Martial law was lifted on 30 June, however, a year later, on 22 July 1931, as Acting Governor of Bombay in the period after the departure of Sir Frederick Sykes, Hotson was visiting the library of Fergusson College in Pune (Poona) when one of the students, Vasudeo Balwant Gogte (Gogate), attempted to assassinate him.