Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Bt. was the second son of Thomas Hobart of Plumstead and his wife, Audrey, daughter of William Hare of Beeston, Norfolk. He was called to the bar in 1584 and went on to carve out a successful career as a lawyer and a judge. He was M.P. for Great Yarmouth and later Norwich, as well as being appointed attorney-general in 1606. In 1613, he was appointed chief justice of the common pleas and was also chancellor to Henry, Prince of Wales. In 1616 he purchased the manor of Blickling in Norfolk and embarked on an extensive building program which cost over £6,500 and continued after his death.

It is not known when the present work entered the collection of the Vyner family at Studley Royal, however, it may have been inherited from the Aislabie family who purchased the estate in the late seventeenth century. Studley Royal House was twice destroyed by fire, in 1716 and 1946, after which its remaining contents were dispersed.

Another version of this portrait is at Blickling Hall, Norfolk (inv. no. 355515).