Sir Robert John Wilmot-Horton, 3rd Baronet,
GCH,
PC,
FRS (21 December 1784 – 31 May 1841) was a
British politician, sociopolitical theorist, and colonial administrator. He was
Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies between 1821 and 1828, and
Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers:
Portuguese Ceylon
* List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551)
* List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...
between 1831 and 1837. He is most widely known for his writings on assisted emigration to the colonies of the British Empire.
Background and education
His name at birth was Robert John Wilmot. He was the only son of
Sir Robert Wilmot, 2nd Baronet, of
Osmaston, near Derby (see
Wilmot baronets), and his first wife Juliana Elizabeth (née Byron). He was educated at
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
, and at
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
.
[''Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition'' Horton, Sir Robert Wilmot (1784–1841)](_blank)
/ref>
Political and administrative career
Wilmot-Horton was a Canningite supporter of free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
and Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
among the Tories. He sat as a Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...
from 1818 until 1830. He served under the Earl of Liverpool
Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for e ...
, George Canning
George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...
and Lord Goderich
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon, (1 November 1782 – 28 January 1859), styled The Honourable F. J. Robinson until 1827 and known between 1827 and 1833 as The Viscount Goderich (pronounced ), the name by which he is best known to ...
as Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1821 to 1827 and was sworn of the Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
in 1827. He reorganised the Colonial Office, including dividing the Empire into areas with a senior clerk responsible for administering each area.
Wilmot-Horton's aide-de-camp at the Colonial Office was his friend Thomas Moody, Kt., with whom he maintained an extensive correspondence throughout his life. Wilmot-Horton forwarded one of Moody's reports on the West Indies to Canning in 1824, and subsequently advocated the contentions expressed in Moody's reports, to the Parliamentary Commission on West Indian Slavery, between 1825 and 1828. Wilmot Horton and Thomas Hyde Villiers MP also wrote articles - under the pseudonym 'Vindex', which Moody had also used - to ''The Star'' newspaper, in which they refuted the objections that others had made to Moody's philosophy and defended Moody. Moody performed special service in the Dutch Colonies of the West Indies for Wilmot Horton between 1828 and 1829. Moody named one of his sons, Wilmot Horton Moody, after Wilmot-Horton.
Wilmot-Horton is best remembered for advocating that poor British and Irish families should be allowed to emigrate to the colonies and be granted land there, and was mainly responsible in securing two parliamentary grants in 1823 and 1825 to fund an experiment where poor Irish families settled in Canada. He managed to establish a parliamentary committee on emigration and served as its chairman between 1826 and 1827. In this position he pushed for a plan where so called paupers gave up their rights to parish maintenance in return for grants of land in the colonies. However, the plans were dropped after Wilmot-Horton left the Colonial Office in 1827.
In 1831 Wilmot-Horton was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Order by William IV and appointed Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers:
Portuguese Ceylon
* List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551)
* List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...
. In Ceylon he implemented the recommendations of the '' Colebrooke–Cameron Commission'' forming Ceylon's First Legislative Council and Executive Committee; abolished the feudal practice of compulsory labour; abandoned government's claims to free service (Rajakariya); recognised the right to private property; abolished government's monopoly of the Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...
trade, dating to the Dutch period; started the first newspaper of Ceylon, the ''Colombo Journal'', and the first mail coach in Asia ; reformed the education system, established Ceylon's first public school, the Colombo Academy
Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...
, which was renamed in 1881 as the Royal College
A royal college in some Commonwealth countries is technically a college which has received royal patronage and permission to use the prefix ''royal''. Permission is usually granted through a royal charter. The charter normally confers a constituti ...
, the only school in the world outside England, to be granted approval by Queen Victoria to use the word Royal in a college name. It was also the only school in Asia which was Accredited by Her Majesty. In 1834 he succeeded his father as third Baronet.
In his absence his plans on assisted emigration were ridiculed as those of an impractical dreamer by a succession of writers on colonial affairs, but Wilmot-Horton continued to write pamphlets advocating and defending his ideas. He returned to Britain in 1837.
Family
Wilmot-Horton married Anne Beatrix Horton, daughter and co-heiress of Eusebius Horton, of the Catton Hall estate in Derbyshire, in 1806. Her beauty inspired Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
to write a poem She Walks in Beauty
"She Walks in Beauty" is a short lyrical poem in iambic tetrameter written in 1814 by Lord Byron, and is one of his most famous works.
It is said to have been inspired by an event in Byron's life. On 11 June 1814, Byron attended a party in Lon ...
after they first met at a party in June 1814. They had four sons and three daughters.
In 1823 he inherited the Catton Hall estate on the death of his father-in-law and pursuant to the latter's will added Horton as a second surname. He died at Sudbrooke Park, Petersham, in May 1841, aged 56, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
.
Legacy
Horton Plains was named after Sir Robert in 1834 by Lt William Fisher of the 78th Regiment and Lt. Albert Watson of the 58th Regiment.Vinod Moonesinghe, OMG! And the Fishers of Ramboda, ''Ceylon Daily News'', 22 June 2012.
Horton Place in
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
was named after the Governor.
His memorial is located in
St John the Baptist's Church, Croxall.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmot-Horton, Robert
1784 births
1841 deaths
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
UK MPs 1818–1820
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs 1826–1830
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Tory MPs (pre-1834)
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Newcastle-under-Lyme
People from Osmaston, Derby
People educated at Eton College