Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst
This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. (July 2021) |
William IV | |
---|---|
Prime Minister | The Duke of Wellington |
Preceded by | The Duke of Portland |
Succeeded by | The Marquess of Lansdowne |
Personal details | |
Born | London | 22 May 1762
Died | 27 July 1834 Tory | (aged 72)
Spouse |
Lady Georgina Lennox
(m. 1789) |
Children | 7 |
Parent(s) | Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst Tryphena Scawen |
Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst,
Background and education
Lord Bathurst was the elder son of Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, by his wife Tryphena Scawen, daughter of Thomas Scawen. He was educated at Eton College from 1773 to 1778 and then up to Christ Church, Oxford. This college was considered the most academic at Oxford, and he went up with his closest companions at Eton William Wyndham Greville, Richard, Lord Wellesley and Canon Bathurst, his cousin. He matriculated at Christ Church on 22 April 1779, at the age of sixteen. In 1781, he decided to embark on a Grand Tour of Europe. Without taking a degree, Bathurst left Oxford for Germany, where he travelled with Greville. From Switzerland, he went to Italy, before moving north to Paris. On hearing that William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne's government was challenged by a Fox–North coalition, Bathurst headed back to London in February 1783.
Immediately upon entering politics, he admired the patriotism and oratory of William Pitt.
It was through the ultra Tories Pitt and Wellington that he helped to gain recognition for the independence of Spain and Portugal; a policy decision that was influential on the Peninsular War. Later on, he would support Canada and Australia to establish 'white' dominion status, a legacy of what one historian has noted was the significant tenure of Secretary of War and Colonies before Palmerston in the 19th century. This fact is often overlooked since Bathurst was far from being a radical. The social diarist Maria Edgeworth, often alluded to by Jane Austen, wrote that he was an "old school dog". A "formalist", she thought who was "very much from that class".
Political career
Lord Apsley was member of the British Parliament for Cirencester from July 1783, when he was elected the moment he turned 21 but refused to serve with the Whigs owing to a friendship with Tory William Pitt. A maiden speech bravely opposing the East India Bill was sufficiently impressive to bring down the government. On New Year's Eve 1783 the "mince pie" administration was without the young lord who was called away to Cirencester.
He was a junior civil lord of the
Apsley contested the General Election in 1790 in his father's interest at Cirencester. Granted the reversion in 1786 from Lord Hardwicke to the tellership sinecure worth £2,700 per annum in the Commons as a lord of the treasury to 1791.[1] A cousin Richard Hopkins vacated a junior post at the Treasury on 10 August 1789. He was therefore responsible for counting the government's votes on divisions in the chamber as well as recording expenditure. On 19 April 1791, he voted for repealing the slave trade in the first such vote on abolition. He was however not in favour of repealing the Test Act in Scotland. On 3 June 1791 he sat on the committee of Inquiry into the Prince of Wales' civil list and use of funds which were granted for the heir apparent's household at Carlton House. Yet by the 21st he had resigned to attend to his dying father at home.[2]
As an unpaid Commissioner of the Board of Control from 1793, he was sworn to the
In 1801 he was a Joint clerk of the crown in Chancery worth £1,100 pa; a position that monitored claims and civil suits, giving him an eye for better administrative competence. At the height of Bonaparte's invasion scares he returned home to command the Cirencester Volunteer Cavalry. When Pitt was asked to resume as Prime Minister he chose his old friend again in May 1804, to be Master of the Mint in new offices built by Robert Smirke in July, while he worked on the entrance hall at Cirencester. He professed to Pitt he was "well provided for" after he had tried to bring the Pitt and Grenville factions to unite. He advised Grenville that the king would not tolerate Catholic officers in the Army during a national crisis, on the Whig's summons to the palace. His friend's death on 23 Jan 1806 prompted Bathurst to quit politics, but the Ministry of all the Talents was very brief.[3]
Appointed as President of the Board of Trade in March 1807, Bathurst's first concern was Napoleon's Continental System against free trade. Yet he was defeated by cabinet 'hawks', who closed all British ports, invoking the Navigation Acts at home and abroad. Bathurst's response was the Orders-in-council of 11 and 25 November 1807. He was behind Admiral Berkeley's posting to Lisbon, and subsequent championing of John VI of Portugal as Emperor of Brazil. Obliged to concede Napoleon's Convention of Cintra, Canning criticised the policy as "the most disastrous."
In defending royalty when the
He remained Master of the Mint during the ministries of the
Bathurst deserves some credit for improving the conduct of the
When King George IV turned to George Canning to form a government following Liverpool's resignation, Bathurst, along with Wellington and Lord Eldon on the far right of the Tory party, who called themselves the 'Ultra Tories', refused to serve under him due to the new prime minister's humble origins, liberal policies and support for Catholic emancipation. When Wellington in turn was called to form a government a few months later in the aftermath of Canning's death, he opted for a middle-of-the-road cabinet and Bathurst had to contend with the relatively minor position of Lord President of the council.[6]
A High Tory
A close friend of Castlereagh's and Wellington's, Bathurst shared their view that the first responsibility of government was to try to preserve the established order both at home and overseas. He enjoyed sinecure incomes as Teller of the Exchequer and Clerk of the Crown and, as such, was a beneficiary of the 'old corruption' system loathed by radicals. He was a High Churchman and a High Tory, a significant Gloucestershire landowner, a lifelong supporter of agricultural interests and a supporter of the Corn Laws. As Colonial Secretary, he would be hostile both to the introduction of representative institutions, and to the development of a free press in Britain's possessions. While himself an efficient and conscientious bureaucrat, he ran the Colonial Office on traditional, paternalistic lines and overseas posting owed much to status, nepotism and family contacts. He appointed his brother-in-law the Duke of Richmond, who was in financial straits, Governor-General of Canada and sent out his son-in-law, Major General Sir Frederic Ponsonby, to be Governor of Malta. He appointed as Governor of Cape Colony Lord Charles Somerset, a son of his friend the Duke of Beaufort. On the other hand, while not an abolitionist, he was a friend of William Wilberforce and he pressed his colonial governors hard to improve the living conditions of Caribbean slaves.[7]
Position regarding penal transportation
Bathurst reorganized the department with his capable Under-secretary Henry Goulburn. Blue books were introduced for the first time with new office routines. Goulburn's successor, Wilmot Horton was an admirer of practical good sense and discretion. Bathurst appears to have been personable, amused and capable of delegating tasks. To prevent a Tory split he supported Pitt's decision to return the Cape of Good Hope colony in Feb 1801, voted to keep the Aliens Act 1793 and wanted foreigners to carry passports. He accepted the Peace Treaty of Amiens in 1802 following Pitt's lead, whom Malmesbury said: "he looked up to".
In 1817 he dispatched a commission of inquiry to Australia to investigate the colony's use of transportation and treatment of convicts. John T Bigge sent back three Reports recommending that more settlers should be sent to the colony, and therefore transportation should continue. Bathurst ordered changes to the administration of justice and land distribution in the colony. He was made Knight of the Garter in 1817, and he held several lucrative sinecures.[5] The collapse of wages and economic depression since 1800 exercised the mind of the Board President
"When I paused over this scene of misery, unequalled in the history of civilised times, I felt naturally to demand, how it was possible to sustain existence in such circumstances, and whether it were not practicable to administer charitable aid?"
Rising unemployment brought a real sense of crisis to Bathurst's statement to the Lords. Much of the blame for importuned labourers begging in the streets was protectionism, Lord Brougham demanding on 13 March 1817, "a full and unsparing review of the whole commercial policy of this country".[8] Also in 1817 he made a signal speech to the Lords governing the conditions under which Napoleon had been sent to St Helena in which he made it clear the hardship the former emperor was facing.
Position regarding the abolition of slavery
Bathurst's official position caused his name to be mentioned frequently during the agitation for the
Bathurst was Lord President of the Council in the government of the Duke of Wellington from 1828 to 1830, and favoured the removal of the disabilities of Roman Catholics, although did not believe that it would improve the constitution and so voted against.[5] He was however a sturdy opponent of the Reform Bill of 1832.[5] The Earl, who had four sons and two daughters, died on 27 July 1834 at his London home, 16 Arlington Street, Piccadilly. He was buried in Cirencester Abbey's parish church. Charles Greville's much-quoted encomium is hardly flattering but remains largely because it was published in his Memoirs.[9]
Family
Lord Bathurst married Lady Georgiana, daughter of
- Henry George (1790–1866)
- William Lennox (1791–1878)
- Louisa Georgina (1792–1874)
- Peter George Allen (1794–1796)
- Seymour Thomas (1795–1834)
- Emily Charlotte (1798–1877) married Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby.
- Rev. Charles (1802–1842)
Lady Bathurst died in January 1841, aged 75.
Likenesses
Sir Thomas Lawrence was the court painter when Bathurst sat for his studio. Subsequent etchings were done in London, in 1810, by Thomas Phillips and Henry Meyer. One example was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
There is a sculpture of Bathurst on the exterior of the Colonial Office in London.[10]
Legacy
Bathurst was portrayed by
- Some places named after Bathurst
- Bathurst County, a county in New South Wales, Australia
- Bathurst, a regional city in New South Wales, Australia
- Bathurst Island, part of the Tiwi Islands, in Northern Territory, Australia
- Bathurst Island, an island in Nunavut, Canada
- Bathurst Street, a street in Toronto, Canada
- Bathurst, a city in New Brunswick, Canada
- Bathurst, a town in Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Bathurst, the capital city of The Gambia, now known as Banjul
See also
- Second Portland ministry
- Spencer Perceval ministry
Notes
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2019) |
- ^ Extra Black Book – 1820
- ^ Thompson, p.16
- ^ Letters from Bathurst to William Pratt, Earl of Camden
- ^ Thompson, p.27
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911.
- ^ David Cannadine (2017), Victorious Century. The United Kingdom, 1800–1906, Penguin Books, 2019, p. 147.
- ^ David Cannadine (2017), p. 116–118.
- ^ The speech of Henry Brougham, Esq., M.P. In the House of Commons, March 13, 1817, on the state of the nation. Printed for Ridgways. 1817.
- ^ Greville, Memoirs, vol.3, p.65
- ^ "Colonial Office - S08 - Bathurst". London Remembers. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
Sources
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bathurst, Earls". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Thompson, Neville. "Bathurst, Henry, third Earl Bathurst (1762–1834)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1696. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Arthur Aspinall, The Letters of King George IV 1812-1830, 3 volumes, (London 1938)
- Francis Bickley (ed.), Report on the manuscripts of Earl Bathurst, preserved at Cirencester Park, HMC, 76 (1923)
- Supplementary despatches (correspondence) and memoranda of Field Marshal Arthur, duke of Wellington, ed. A. R. Wellesley, second duke of Wellington, 15 vols. (1858–72)
- Despatches, correspondence, and memoranda of Field Marshal Arthur, duke of Wellington, ed. A. R. Wellesley, second duke of Wellington, 8 vols. (1867–80)
- N. D. McLachlan, 'Bathurst at the colonial office, 1812–27: a reconnaissance', Historical Studies [University of Melbourne], 13 (1967–9), 477–502
- N. Thompson, Earl Bathurst and the British empire (Barnsley 1999)
- GE Cokayne, The Complete Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland, vol.XIV (London 1912–1958)
- History of Parliament, Commons
- The Greville memoirs, 1814–1860, ed. L. Strachey and R. Fulford, 8 vols. (1938)
- The Times (29 July 1834)
Archives
- BL, 108 volumes of corresp. and papers, Loan 57
- Lord Bathurst, Cirencester Papers, 70 Letters
- Glos. RO, Cirencester MSS
- NL Scot., dispatches and papers received
- Surrey HC, secret service accounts
- Surrey HC, Goulburn Papers
- BL, corresp. with Lord Aberdeen, Add MS 43074–43260
- BL, corresp. with Sir William A'Court, Add MS 41511–41523
- BL, corresp. with Lord Grenville, Add MS 58944
- BL, corresp. with Lord Liverpool, Add MS 38247–38575
- BL, corresp. with Sir Hudson Lowe, Add MS 20111–20233, passim
- BL, corresp. with Sir H. Lowe, Add MS 49508, passim
- BL, corresp. with Sir Robert Peel, Add MS 40226–40398
- BL, corresp. with comte de Puisaye, Add MS 7981
- BL, corresp. with George Rose, Add MS 42773
- BL, corresp. with Lord Wellesley, Add MS 37288–37314, passim
- BL OIOC, corresp. with Mary Skelton, MS Eur. E 334
- CKS, corresp. with Lord Camden
- Royal Archives
- Cumbria AS, Carlisle, letters to Lord Lonsdale
- Derbys. RO, corresp. with Sir R. J. Wilmot-Horton (Cotton) Papers
- LPL, corresp. with Bishop Howley · Mitchell L.,
- NSW, letters to Sir Robert Wilmot Horton · Mount Stuart Trust Archive, Mount Stuart, Rothesay, letters to Lord Hastings
- NA Scot., corresp. with Lord Dalhousie
- NA Scot., letters to Sir Alexander Hope
- NL Scot., corresp. with Sir Alexander Cochrane and Thomas Cochrane
- NL Scot., corresp. with Sir Francis Graham
- NL Scot., corresp. with Lord Melville
- NL Scot., dispatches and letters to Lord Stuart De Rothesay
- PRONI, corresp. with Lord Castlereagh · Sandon Hall, Staffordshire, Harrowby Manuscript Trust, corresp. with Lord Harrowby
- TNA: PRO, letters to William Pitt, PRO 30/8
- U. Nott. L., letters to Lord William Bentinck
- U. Nott. L., letters to fourth duke of Newcastle
- U. Southampton L., letters to duke of Wellington [copies].
- U. Keele, Sneyd Papers
- U. NSW Aus, The Mitchell Lib., Bathurst Papers
- U. W Ontario, D.B.Weldon Lib., Bathurst Papers
Glossary
- BL - British Library
- OIOC - Oriental and India Office catalogue, in British Library
- CKS -
- Derbys RO - Derbyshire Record Office
- Surrey HC - Surrey History Centre
- NL Scot - National Library Scotland
- NA Scot - National Archives Scotland
- PRONI - Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
- U. Nott. L. - University of Nottingham Library
- TNA - The National Archives of UK at Kew, Richmond, Surrey.