George Ward Hunt, Vanity Fair, 1871-03-11

George Ward Hunt (30 July 1825 – 29 July 1877) was a British statesman of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

who was

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Ch ...

and

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

in the first and second ministries of

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

Early life

He was born at Buckhurst in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

, the eldest son of the Rev. George Hunt of

Winkfield Winkfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest unitary authority of Berkshire, England. Geography According to the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 14,998. The parish includes the hamlets of Winkfield, Maidens ...

, and his wife Emma Gardiner, daughter of Samuel Gardiner of Coombe Lodge, Oxfordshire. His father was rector of Barningham and then Boughton. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

. He matriculated 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 uniq ...

in 1844. As an undergraduate, he went on vacation reading parties with

Arthur Hugh Clough Arthur Hugh Clough ( ; 1 January 181913 November 1861) was an English poet, an educationalist, and the devoted assistant to Florence Nightingale. He was the brother of suffragist Anne Clough and father of Blanche Athena Clough who both became ...

: in 1845 at Grasmere, in 1846 at Castleton of Braemar and in 1847 at

Drumnadrochit Drumnadrochit (; gd, Druim na Drochaid) is a village in the Highland local government council area of Scotland, lying near the west shore of Loch Ness at the foot of Glen Urquhart. The village is close to several neighbouring settlements: the v ...

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claim ...

. In Clough's poem ''

The Bothie of Toper-na-fuosich ''The Bothie of Toper-na-fuosich'', subtitled "A Long-Vacation Pastoral" is a lengthy narrative poem by the Victorian poet Arthur Hugh Clough Arthur Hugh Clough ( ; 1 January 181913 November 1861) was an English poet, an educationalist, and ...

'', he is identified with the outsize character Hobbes. Hobbes dances in a kilt, and Hunt painted a self-portrait of himself wearing one. Hunt graduated B.A. in 1848, and M.A. in 1851; on 21 November of that year he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

Political career

Hunt entered 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. T ...

in 1857 as

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 o ...

for Northamptonshire North, at the end of the year, having made several unsuccessful attempts previously. He was a

Secretary to the Treasury In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure ...

from 1866 to 1868, in the ministry of the

14th Earl of Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

. Regarded as "sensible but dull", according to Derby's biographer Hawkins, he was then appointed to the Exchequer when Disraeli took office. There is a Westminster tradition that, on leaving

Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk f ...

for the House of Commons on Budget Day, the Chancellor of the Exchequer shows the assembled crowd the ministerial red box containing the Budget speech, by holding it aloft. When Hunt presented his one and only Budget speech, he kept the House of Commons waiting, and it is supposed that he had left the speech behind. When he spoke, the Budget presentation was the shortest recorded. Hunt was appointed to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

for Disraeli's second ministry, serving from 1874 until his death from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intens ...

in 1877. Although he was considered competent at finance, his turn at the Admiralty was, for a long time, not much admired. That attitude has, however, been revised. Canada's

Ward Hunt Island Ward Hunt Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Arctic Ocean, located off the north coast of Ellesmere Island near the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. The island is located just from the geographical North Pole. The northern cape of Ward Hunt Isla ...

was named for him. It is off

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( iu, script=Latn, Umingmak Nuna, lit=land of muskoxen; french: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Br ...

, and of interest for the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf observed in 1876 by

Pelham Aldrich Admiral Pelham Aldrich, CVO (8 December 1844 – 12 November 1930) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer, who became Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Docks. Biography He was born in Mildenhall, Suffolk, the son of Dr. Pelham Aldrich and El ...

. Hunt died at

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe'', w ...

, Germany, in July 1877, on the eve of his 52nd birthday. His wife died in 1894.

Family

Hunt married Alice, daughter of the Right Reverend

Robert Eden Robert Eden may refer to: *Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of West Auckland (c. 1644–1721), MP for County Durham * Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet, of West Auckland (died 1794) * Sir Robert Johnson-Eden, 5th Baronet, of West Auckland (1774–1844) * S ...

Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness The Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness. The bishop's seat (cathedra) is located at the Cathedral Church of St Andrew, Inverness, Scotland. The current bishop is t ...

, in 1857. They had five sons and five daughters, including Sir Allen Thomas Hunt, an Admiral in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

. Hunt's residence was Wadenhoe House in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, George Ward 1825 births 1877 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies First Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Presidents of the Oxford Union