Joseph Hume

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Joseph Hume, 1854
Joseph Hume by Alexander Handyside Ritchie, 1830

Joseph Hume FRS (22 January 1777 – 20 February 1855) was a Scottish surgeon and Radical MP.[1]

Early life

He was born the son of a shipmaster James Hume in Montrose, Angus, who died shortly. He attended Montrose Academy, where he knew the older James Mill; and from 1790 was apprenticed to a local surgeon-apothecary, John Bale.[2][3]

Medical career

Hume studied medicine at the University of Aberdeen and then the University of Edinburgh. He had as patron David Scott MP. Before he qualified, he saw wartime service as surgeon-mate on the hoy HMS Hawke; and then was on the East Indiaman Hope for 18 months.[2][4]

In 1799 Hume sailed to India, nominated to the Bengal service by

British East India Company.[2] He worked his passage as medical officer on the Houghton.[5] Once there, he was commissioned as a surgeon to the 7th Sepoy Regiment. Gaining fluency in Hindustani and Persian, he worked also as an interpreter and on commissariat.[2]

On the eve of the

Allahabad into Bundelkhand. He took on again a variety of roles during the campaign.[5]

Return to the United Kingdom

In 1808, Hume resigned from the army and returned to the United Kingdom with a fortune of about £40,000. Between 1808 and 1811, he travelled around England and Europe.

In 1818 Hume was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, being, according to his nomination, "well versed in various branches of Useful knowledge and particularly in Chemistry, in various branches of oriental literature and Antiquities".[6]

Political career

Weymouth

In 1812, Hume obtained through

Perceval administration.[4] The parliament was dissolved for the 1812 United Kingdom general election. Ure refused to support Hume further, in fact being overruled by the Duke of Cumberland and Viscount Newark. Hume stood nonetheless in the four-member constituency, and received just two votes.[7] He had toed the line in some matters, but on the expulsion of Benjamin Walsh and the Luddite legislation he had shown independence unacceptable to the Duke.[4] Hume kicked up a fuss and took legal action, and was paid off with £1,000, supposedly to cover election expenses.[7][2]

This brief Tory period did bring Hume an association with the

John Cam Hobhouse relayed an anecdote told by John Conroy of the Duke's household, in which Hume advised the Duke to limit the Duchess to one horse-chaise.[10] In 1833, Hume provided Alexander Burnes with an introduction to his daughter Princess Victoria.[11]

Hiatus and route to radicalism

In connection with the financial troubles of Joseph Lancaster, Hume met Francis Place in 1813, through Joseph Fox.[12] It was Place who brought Hume into the group of political radicals with whom he from then on was associated.[13]

Hume renewed his friendship with James Mill: they both and Place were interested in the school project of a West London Lancasterian Association floated in 1813.

Westminster Review.[17]

At this period Hume also aimed to become a director of the East India Company, a position he described in an 1813 speech as an "arduous and most respectable office". He lobbied the company's shareholders, and in so doing met Maria Burnley, whom he married in 1815.[2][18]

Aberdeen Burghs

When Hume was returned to Parliament once more in 1818, as member for the Aberdeen Burghs, Borders, Scotland, it was with the support of William Maule. He stood there on a radical platform of his own devising.[4]

In 1823 Hume contested the election of James Duff, 4th Earl Fife as rector of Marischal College in Aberdeen; in 1824 and 1825 he himself was elected. He revived the long-disused rectorial court in 1825, but offended the electorate of students by the use he made of it. He lost out in 1826 and 1827 to James McGrigor, but was re-elected in 1828. There was a Royal Commission on the Scottish universities in 1826, and Hume claimed he had prompted it.[19][20][21]

In Aberdeen's local politics, Hume was at odds with a largely Tory town council, but had supporters including Alexander Bannerman. His chances there dropped when he failed to support a road bill before parliament.[22] Faced in 1829 with a serious challenge from Sir James Carnegie, 5th Baronet, with a Brechin base, Hume decided to change seat.[23]

Joseph Hume in middle age, engraving

Later seats

In March 1830, with

manhood suffrage and the secret ballot. He was elected that year for Middlesex, England.[24] He produced a County Rates Bill, and aimed to re-organise local government.[25] He came under attack, however, by 1837, as a moderate "Whig-Radical" too close to the Melbourne ministry.[26]

Hume later represented Kilkenny, Ireland (1837); and then, from 1842, for the rest of his life Montrose Burghs.

Hume as politician

Hume was a relentless, individualistic campaigner over a wide range of causes. Élie Halévy (English translation) characterised him in terms of "pigheadedness", with a "heavy mind"; and he was always a "dull yet dogged orator".[27][2]

During much of the

Nicholas Vansittart.[30][31]

A close ally, in parliament from 1826, was

Canning administration in 1827, however, Henry Brougham wrote to Sir Robert Wilson that the Whigs "shall have no connection with Hume & Co. and the Benthamites", while expecting their votes 90% of the time.[34]

Hume often annoyed colleagues on the same side of the argument. He only with difficulty gained the trust of Francis Place, who took many years to come round to James Mill's view of his character.

Grey ministry
:

We one and all thought it wrong that Joseph Hume should not be a member of the new government. We were ignorant of party connections and differences,—ignorant of the atomic nature of some politicians, of the gregarious nature of others.[35]

Around 1831, "Hume, Warburton and others" formed a recognisable group, still known as "The Mountain".[32] After the Reform Act 1832, there were new radical MPs, but parliamentary voting support for the radicals reached a peak of 40, apart from specific issues on further electoral reform. Hume had become an "old parliamentary radical", Cobbett a "national radical".[36] At the period of the 1835 Lichfield House Compact, Hume's plan to unite the parliamentary radicals with Daniel O'Connell's followers proved divisive.[37] In 1836–7 he was behind the Constitutional newspaper, aiming to appeal to militant radicals.[38]

Hume was an early supporter of the London Working Men's Association.[39]

Hume's campaigns

Public finances

A Humebugging attempt to Dissect a Naval Estimate, 1822

Hume made a habit of challenging and bringing to a vote every item of

public expenditure. In 1820, he secured the appointment of a committee to report on the expense of collecting tax revenue. He helped to abolish the sinking fund. It was he who caused the word "retrenchment" to be added to the Radical programme "peace and reform
." The groat coin or four pence was re-introduced in 1836 during the reign of William IV at the suggestion of Hume. Popularly known as the 'joey', named after Hume's Christian name, it was introduced to ease transactions on the London buses, the fare being four pence or one groat. As the last groats were struck in 1888 the nickname became passed over to the silver threepences struck after that date until 1941 (the last year of production for British use).

Labour organisation

The

right to strike, which remained the situation until the 1870s.[40][41]

Hume brought about the repeal of the laws prohibiting the export of machinery, and of the act preventing workmen from going abroad.

Military

Hume protested against the use of

Duke of Wellington on social grounds.[43]

He also campaigned against the impressment of sailors, and imprisonment for debt.

Burnley Hall and death

The grave of Joseph Hume, Kensal Green Cemetery

Hume in 1824 bought the Somerton estate in Norfolk, north of Great Yarmouth, from the heirs of Sir Philip Stephens, 1st Baronet, and named the house there Burnley Hall from his wife's name before marriage.[44] It became his seat. He died there in 1855 and is buried to the north-east of the main chapel in Kensal Green Cemetery in London next to his good friend William Williams.

Works

  • A blank verse translation of The Inferno (1812)
  • Letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1812), suggested that
    framework knitting.[4]
  • The Substance of the Speech of Joseph Hume ...: Delivered at an Adjourned General Court of the Proprietors of East India Stock, Held in the India House, on the 19th of January, 1813 (1813)[45]
  • The Speech of Mr. Joseph Hume, at the East-India House, on the 6th of October, 1813 (1813)[46]
  • A Plan for a New General System of Weights (1816)[4]
  • Economy and Retrenchment. Speech of Joseph Hume in the House of Commons, Wednesday, the 27th of June, 1821, on Economy and Retrenchment (1822)[47]
  • The Celebrated Letter of Joseph Hume ... to W. L. Mackenzie ... Mayor of Toronto (1834)[48]
  • Speech of Mr. Hume, in the Debate on the Motion of the Marquis of Chandos, on the 10th of March, 1835, for the Total Repeal of the Malt Tax (1835)[49]
  • On the Corn Laws and the Claims of the Agriculturists to Relief from Taxation : Speech of Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P., on the Motion of the Marquess of Chandos, in the House of Commons on Wednesday, April 27, 1836 (1836)[50]
  • On the Bank of England; and the State of the Currency (1839).[51] There was a reply that year on the financing of the Slave Compensation Act 1837 by the economist Richard Page (1773–1841) ("Daniel Hardcastle").[52][53]
  • Debate on Sugar Duties: speech of Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P., in the House of Commons, on the 13th May, 1841, on the motion of Lord John Russell (1841)[54]
  • Letter from Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P., et al. (1853)[55]

Family

Hume married in 1815 Maria Burnley, the daughter of Hardin Burnley, an American merchant and

Mary Catherine Hume-Rothery.[2][56][57]

Legacy

Statue of Hume, in the High Street of Montrose, at its intersection with Hume Street

A memorial of Hume was published by his son Joseph Hume (London, 1855). A subscription fund established a Joseph Hume Scholarship, in jurisprudence and political economy, at

University College London.[66] As of 2021 it is still awarded.[67] Hume bequeahed his working library of approximately 5000 pamphlets to University College London in 1855.[68]

According to the History of the Silver Coinage of England by Edward Hawkins, a groat was known as a "Joey". It was "so called from Joseph Hume, M.P., who strongly recommended the coinage for the sake of paying short cab-fares, etc."[69]

Radical commemoration

Further information: Political Martyrs' Monument
The Political Martyrs Monument, Edinburgh

In 1837 Hume initiated a plan for a

Old Calton Cemetery
, Edinburgh.

In February 1852, a second monument to the Scottish Political Martyrs, again initiated by Hume, was unveiled at Nunhead Cemetery, London.[72]

References

  1. ISBN 0-87169-163-9
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    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14148. (Subscription or UK public library membership
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  3. ISBN 978-0-87169-163-7
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  4. ^ a b c d e f "Hume, Joseph (1777-1855), of 38 York Place, Portman Square, Mdx. and Burnley Hall, Norf., History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
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  6. ^ "Fellow details". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Weymouth and Melcombe Regis 1790-1820, History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
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  9. ^ Cave, Edward (1855). The Gentleman's Magazine: Or, Monthly Intelligencer: Volume the first [-fifth], for the year 1731 [-1735] ... Printed and sold at St John's Gate [by Edward Cave]; by F. Jefferies in Ludgate-Street. p. 450.
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  15. ^ Bain, Alexander (1882). James Mill: A Biography. Longmans, Green, and Company. p. 86.
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  19. ^ Bulloch, John Malcolm (1890). The lord rectors of the universities of Aberdeen. D. Wyllie & son. pp. 53–54.
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  24. ^ "Middlesex (1820-1832), History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  25. ^ Mullins, Edward (1836). A Treatise on the Magistracy of England, and the origin and expenditure of county rates ... To which is subjoined a full abstract of Mr Hume's bill to authorize the rate-payers in every county in England and Wales to elect a council and auditors of accounts. Second edition.
  26. ISBN 978-0-86193-312-9
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  27. ISBN 978-0-678-08005-4
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  28. ^ Skottowe, Britiffe Constable (1887). A Short History of Parliament. Harper. p. 251.
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  31. ^ Nightingale, Joseph (1822). A calm and dispassionate view of the life and administration of the late Marquis of Londonderry, etc.
  32. ^ a b "Warburton, Henry (1784-1858), of 45 Cadogan Place, Mdx., History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  33. ISBN 978-0-87169-163-7
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  34. ISBN 978-1-84588-033-0
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  35. ^ Somerville, Alexander (1848). The Autobiography of a Working Man. C. Gilpin. p. 143.
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  38. ISBN 978-0-87169-163-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
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  39. ISBN 978-0-7190-0088-1
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  40. ISBN 978-0-19-821711-4
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  41. ISBN 978-1-135-69958-1
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  42. ^ Commons, Great Britain Parliament House of (1836). Parliamentary Papers. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 56.
  43. ISBN 978-0-8264-3453-1
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  44. ^ Palmer, Charles John (1874). The Perlustration of Great Yarmouth, with Gorleston and Southtown. G. Nall. p. 11 note.
  45. ^ Hume, Joseph (1813). The Substance of the Speech of Joseph Hume ...: Delivered at an Adjourned General Court of the Proprietors of East India Stock, Held in the India House, on the 19th of January, 1813. J. Stockdale.
  46. ^ Hume, Joseph (1813). The Speech of Mr. Joseph Hume, at the East-India House, on the 6th of October, 1813: Upon the Motion for an Increase of the Salaries of the Directors of the Company from the Sum of £300 Per Annum to £1000, and of the Chairman and Deputy, from £500 to £1500. Printed at Cox and Baylis.
  47. ^ Hume, Joseph (1822). Economy and Retrenchment. Speech of Joseph Hume in the House of Commons, Wednesday, the 27th of June, 1821, on Economy and Retrenchment. James Ridgway.
  48. ^ Hume, Joseph (1834). The Celebrated Letter of Joseph Hume ... to W. L. Mackenzie ... Mayor of Toronto, Declaratory of a Design to Free These Provinces from the ... Domination of the Mother Country: with the Comments of the Press of Upper Canada on the ... Tendency of that Letter, Etc.
  49. ^ Hume, Joseph (1835). Speech of Mr. Hume, in the Debate on the Motion of the Marquis of Chandos, on the 10th of March, 1835, for the Total Repeal of the Malt Tax. From the Mirror of Parliament, Revised, with Notes Explanatory. Committee for the Diffusion of Political Knowledge amongst the people.
  50. ^ Hume, Joseph (1836). On the Corn Laws and the Claims of the Agriculturists to Relief from Taxation : Speech of Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P., on the Motion of the Marquess of Chandos, in the House of Commons on Wednesday, April 27, 1836. proprietor of "The Mirror of Parliament", 3, Abingdon-Street, Westminster.
  51. ^ Hume, Joseph (1839). On the Bank of England; and the State of the Currency: The Speech of Joseph Hume ... in the House of Commons, on the 8th of July, 1839, on a Motion for "Enquiry Into the Pecuniary Transactions of the Bank of England, Since the Resumption of Cash Payments in 1821.".
  52. ^ Page, Richard (1839). A Critical Examination of the Twelve Resolutions of Mr. Joseph Hume: Respecting the Loan of Fifteen Millions for Slave Compensation: Also, a Review of the Financial Operations of the British Government Since 1794 ... P. Richardson.
  53. ISBN 978-0-19-921195-1
    .
  54. ^ Hume, Joseph (1841). Debate on Sugar Duties: speech of Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P., in the House of Commons, on the 13th May, 1841, on the motion of Lord John Russell : ways and means, corn laws, sugar duties, etc.
  55. ^ Hume, Joseph (1853). Letter from Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P. John Sullivan, Esq., Samuel Gaselee, Esq. Alderman David Salomons, and Other Proprietors of East India Stock, to the Directors of the East India Company, Forwarding a Memorial on Behalf of the Distressed Family of the Ex-Rajah of Sattara, Detained Prisoners at Benares, with the Court's Reply.
  56. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/109518. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  57. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34049. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  58. ^ "Arbroath". Arbroath Guide. 28 January 1871. p. 2.
  59. ^ "Biographical Information". Oxford English Dictionary.
  60. ^ "Gubbins, Charles – Persons of Indian Studies by Prof. Dr. Klaus Karttunen". 23 October 2020.
  61. ^ Burke, Bernard; Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1 January 1912). A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Ireland. Dalcassian Publishing Company. p. 283.
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  64. ^ Edmund, Lodge (1845). The Peerage of the British Empire as at present existing. To which is added the baronetage. p. 450.
  65. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1184. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  66. ^ London, University College (1895). Calendar. p. 180.
  67. ^ "MPhil/PhD fees and scholarships". UCL Faculty of Laws. 14 October 2020.
  68. ^ UCL (23 August 2018). "Hume Tracts". Library Services. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  69. ^ E. Cobham Brewer (1898) Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
  70. ISBN 0-19-211768-8
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  72. ^ Wally MacFarlane. "The Scottish Martyrs", a pamphlet published by the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joseph Hume.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis
1812–1812
With: Charles Adams
Richard Steward
Sir John Murray, Bt 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Aberdeen Burghs
1818–1830 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Middlesex
1830–1837
With: George Byng 		Succeeded by
Thomas Wood
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Kilkenny City
1837–1841 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Montrose Burghs
1842–1855 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen
1824–1825 		Succeeded by
Sir James McGrigor
Preceded by
Sir James McGrigor
 Rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen
1828–1829 		Succeeded by
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