 Born to Norman Theodore Hobbs, a market gardener, and Dorothy Ada (née Weedon), a schoolteacher, in Paradise, South Australia, a horticultural community on the outskirts of Adelaide, Brian Hobbs attended Campbelltown Primary School and Prince Alfred College, where he boarded after the family moved to Victor Harbor.Following secondary education, Hobbs attended the University of Adelaide to study medicine and graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery.After graduating from medical school, Hobbs worked and trained in surgery in London and Edinburgh.