The son of John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire by his first wife Judith Britiffe, he was educated at Westminster School and Christ's College, Cambridge.

He held office as Comptroller of the Household in 1755-56 and as a Lord of the Bedchamber from 1756 to 1767, having succeeded his father as Earl in 1756.

[2] He was Ambassador from the United Kingdom to Russia from 1762 to 1765 and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1776 to 1780, when his Chief Secretary was Sir Richard Heron, Bt.

In the latter role, he had to concede free trade and, more importantly, the enactment of the Papists Act 1778 which partially repealed the Penal laws and provided measures for the relief of Roman Catholics and Dissenters.

He married firstly Mary Anne Drury, daughter of Sir Thomas Drury, 1st Baronet, and secondly, Caroline, daughter of William James Conolly, but died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his half-brother George Hobart, 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire.