Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton, PC (; 15 August 179813 July 1869) was a British Whig and

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politician of the mid-19th century.

Background and education

Labouchere was born in London into a prominent family, the son of Peter Cesar Labouchere of Hylands, a Dutch-born banker of French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

ancestry who had settled in England, and his wife Dorothy Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Baring. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

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, where he took his B.A. (1821) and his M.A. (1828).

Political career

In 1826, Labouchere became MP for St Michael, as a Whig. In 1830, he moved to the

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

seat, which he held until 1859. In 1835 he was opposed by

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

for the Taunton seat; Labouchere won by 452 votes to 282. He was first appointed to office by Lord Grey in 1832, serving as Civil Lord of the Admiralty . After beginning the second

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

ministry as

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Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

, and

Vice-President of the Board of Trade The office of Vice-president of the Board of Trade was a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom at the Board of Trade, within the Department for Business and Trade. The office of Vice-president was created in 1786 b ...

(and, later, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies), Labouchere was raised to a cabinet post,

President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centur ...

, which he held from 1839 until the Melbourne government fell in 1841. When the Whigs, now led by Lord John Russell, returned to office in 1846, Labouchere returned to the cabinet, this time as

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

. Under his administration the worst effects of the

Great Irish Famine The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger ( ), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a historical social crisis and had a major impact o ...

began to be felt in Ireland. The following year, he once again became President of the Board of Trade, and stayed in that post until Russell's government fell in 1852. From 1853 to 1854 he sat on the Royal Commission on the City of London. Labouchere's final cabinet posting came during the first Palmerston ministry, for which he served as

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire. The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...

from 1855 to 1858. In 1859, Labouchere was raised to the peerage as Baron Taunton, of Taunton in the County of Somerset. Between 1864 and 1868 the then Lord Taunton chaired the Schools Enquiry Commission.

Family

In 1840 Labouchere married his first cousin Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas Baring. They had three daughters: * Emily (1844–1933) who married Henry Eliot, 5th Earl of St Germans * Mina Francis, who married Sir Arthur Ellis * Mary Dorothy who married Edward James Stanley MP Frances Labouchere died in May 1850, aged 36, in premature childbirth. In 1852 Labouchere married Lady Mary Howard (1823–1892), a daughter of the Earl of Carlisle. There were no children from this marriage.Barke, G. F. R
"Labouchere, Henry, Baron Taunton (1798–1869)"
rev. H. C. G. Matthew, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, Oct 2008, accessed 9 March 2012 Lady Mary was buried at St Mary's Church, Charlynch, Somerset where a reredos was erected in 1893 in her memory. Taunton died in July 1869, aged 70, at his London house in

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for ...

. He was buried near his

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

Quantock Lodge at Over Stowey. As he had no sons, the barony became extinct on his death. His nephew, also Henry Labouchere, inherited part of his fortune, and later became a well-known newspaper editor and politician.

Arms

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taunton, Labouchere, Henry, 1st Baron Taunton Taunton, Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton, Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton, Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of Ireland People from Sedgemoor (district) Taunton, Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs who were granted peerages English Anglicans Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Mitchell Chief secretaries for Ireland Secretaries of State for the Colonies Presidents of the Board of Trade Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria