![Abraham Hume b1749 Romney](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Abraham_Hume_b1749_Romney.jpg)
Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet (29 February 1749 – 24 March 1838, in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
) was a British
floriculturist
Floriculture, or flower farming, is a branch of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry. The development of new varieties by plant breeding i ...
and
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
between 1774 and 1818.
Life and Politics
He was born the eldest son of
Sir Abraham Hume, 1st Baronet
Sir Abraham Hume, 1st Baronet (1703 – 10 October 1772) was a British businessman and MP.
He was the fourth son of Robert Home (subsequently Hume) of Ayton, Berwick.
Hume was a Principal Managing Owner for groups which built ships and hired t ...
, of Wormleybury, Hertfordshire, whom he succeeded in 1772, inheriting his title and the
Wormleybury
Wormleybury is an 18th-century house surrounded by a landscaped park of 57 ha (140 acres) near Wormley in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, a few miles north of Greater London. The house was rebuilt in the 1770s from an earlier house built ...
estate.
![Lady Amelia Hume by Joshua Reynolds](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Lady_Amelia_Hume_by_Joshua_Reynolds.jpg)
He was appointed
High Sheriff of Hertfordshire
The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisio ...
for 1774 and also elected at the
1774 general election 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 the
borough of Petersfield in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
,
and holding the seat until the
1780 general election, when he did not contest Petersfield again.
He was returned to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
27 years later, at the
1807 general election as an MP for the
borough of Hastings
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
.
[Stooks Smith, pages 337–8] He resigned the seat in early 1812 in order to contest a by-election in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
where he was defeated in April 1812,
[Stooks Smith, page 197] and was then re-elected for Hastings at a by-election later the same month.
At the
1812 general election, he contested both Boston
and Hastings,
but was elected only in the latter, and held that seat until the
1818 general election, when he contested neither Boston
nor Hastings.
He died in 1838. He had married Amelia Egerton (25 November 1751 – 8 August 1809), daughter of
John Egerton, Bishop of Durham.
[See ''Hume, Abraham (1749–1838), in Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 28.] They had two daughters, both of whom predeceased him:
*
Amelia Hume (21 January 1772 – 15 January 1837), who married
Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough
Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough (2 January 1760 – 17 January 1838) was an English politician and connoisseur of the arts.
Early life
Born in London, he was the fourth surviving son of West Indies merchant Beeston Long and his wife Sara ...
* Amelia Sophia Hume (31 July 1788 – 21 February 1814), who married
John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow
John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow, GCH (19 August 1779 – 15 September 1853) was a British Peer and Tory politician.
Life
Cust was the eldest son of the 1st Baron Brownlow and his second wife, Frances. He was educated at Eton (1788–93) and ...
.
The Baronetcy thereby became extinct and the Wormleybury estate passed to the male children of Lady Brownlow (Viscount Alford and the Hon. Charles Henry Cust) who jointly sold it in 1853 to a Henry John Grant.
Yeomanry career
After Britain was drawn into the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
, Prime Minister
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
proposed in 1794 that the counties should form a part-time force of Volunteer Yeoman Cavalry (
Yeomanry
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...
) for home defence and internal security.
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
began raising its Yeomanry in June, and Hume was commissioned as
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
in the
Southern Troop commanded by his neighbour,
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Sir George Prescott, 1st Baronet
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
, of
Theobalds Park
Theobalds House (also known as Theobalds Palace) in the parish of Cheshunt in the English county of Hertfordshire, was a significant stately home and (later) royal palace of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Set in extensive parkland, it was a ...
,
Cheshunt
Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Hertfor ...
. In the spring of 1798 the increased threat of invasion led the government to encourage the formation of armed associations of cavalry and infantry for purely local defence. Hume formed a
Troop
A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...
of horse or 'flying' artillery to support the
Yeomanry
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army, British Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve, descended from volunteer British Cavalry, cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of ...
cavalry, with himself as captain. The volunteers were disbanded after the
Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition
The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...
, but the peace was shortlived, and on the resumption of war the Hertfordshire units were reformed in August 1803. Hume took over command of the Southern Troop as well as his horse artillery, with the rank of
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
. He assumed command of an unofficial 'all arms' force, the
South Hertfordshire Legion consisting of the Southern Troop of Yeomanry Cavalry, the Horse Artillery Troop, and the
Cheshunt and Wormley Volunteer Infantry. After the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
the remaining volunteers were disbanded and the Yeomanry declined. Hume's Southern Troop and Artillery Troop were the last remaining parts of the Hertfordshire Yeomanry when they were disbanded in 1824. Although too old to serve himself, Hume took a close interest when the Hertfordshire Yeomanry was re-raised in 1830, providing advice and funding, and the regimental historian notes that he occupied a position in the regiment akin to a present-day
Honorary Colonel.
Rosarian and Art Collector
![Abraham Hume b1749](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Abraham_Hume_b1749.jpg)
Both Sir Abraham Hume and his wife
Amelia Egerton were active as rosarians and developed several rose
cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s at their estate in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in December 1775, and one of the founding members of the
Geological Society
The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows.
Fe ...
and the
British Institution
The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...
.
He was a keen art collector, especially of Old Master prints and drawings (drawings by
Polidoro da Caravaggio
Polidoro Caldara, usually known as Polidoro da Caravaggio ( – 1543) was an Italian painter of the Mannerist period, "arguably the most gifted and certainly the least conventional of Raphael's pupils", who was best known for his now-vanished pa ...
were a particular favourite). He was friends with
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
who painted portraits of him and his wife and left him in his will the choice of his
Claude Lorraine
Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...
including a small painting now in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
. The earliest of Hume's portraits by Reynolds is now in the National Gallery. In 1783 John Jones and in 1791 C. H. Hodges issued engravings of the portraits of Hume. There is also a Portrait of Lady Hume by Cosway. And 1783 Valentine Green engraved the portrait of Lady Hume by Reynolds.
In 1786 Sir Abraham Hume bought the
Portrait of a Condottiero, Giovanni Emo by
Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father ...
which was kept by his heirs and family until 1923 and is now in the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
.
National Gallery of Art: Giovanni Emo
/ref> In 1815 a 'Catalogue Raisonné' of the diamonds of Sir Abraham Hume was published and in 1824 a 'Descriptive Catalogue' of his collection, which was for sale. Most of the artworks including works by Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...
had been acquired at Venice and Bologna between 1786 and 1800.
References
Bibliography
Sir Abraham Hume
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hume, Abraham
1749 births
1838 deaths
Rose breeders
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Tory MPs (pre-1834)
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
British MPs 1774–1780
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1807–1812
UK MPs 1812–1818
Hertfordshire Yeomanry officers
Fellows of the Royal Society
English art collectors
High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire