Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton

For the writer and publisher (his nephew), see Henry Labouchère

The Right Honourable The Lord Taunton PC
200px Lord Taunton (1855) by Charles Baugniet.
President of the Board of Trade
In office 29 August 1838 – 30 August 1841
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	Charles Poulett Thomson
Succeeded by	The Earl of Ripon
In office 22 July 1847 – 21 February 1852
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Lord John Russell
Preceded by	The Earl of Clarendon
Succeeded by	J. W. Henley
Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office 21 November 1855 – 21 February 1858
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Viscount Palmerston
Preceded by	Sir William Molesworth, Bt
Succeeded by	Lord Stanley
Personal details
Born	15 August 1798 (1798-08-15) Over Stowey, Somerset
Died	13 July 1869 (1869-07-14) Over Stowey, Somerset
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	(1) Frances Baring (1813-1850) (2) Lady Mary Howard (d. 1892)
Alma mater	University of Oxford

Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton PC (15 August 1798 – 13 July 1869) was a prominent British Whig and Liberal Party politician of the mid-19th century.

Background and education

Labouchere /læbuːˈʃɛər/ was born in Over Stowey, Somerset, into a Huguenot merchant family. His father was Peter Caesar Labouchere and his mother Dorothy Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Baring. He was educated at Winchester College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his B.A. (1821) and his M.A. (1828).

Political career

In 1826, Labouchere became MP for St Michael, as a Whig. In 1830, he moved to the Taunton seat, which he held until 1859. In 1835 he was opposed by Benjamin Disraeli for the Taunton seat; Labouchere won by 452 votes to 282. He was first appointed to office by Lord Grey in 1832, serving as Civil Lord of the Admiralty. After beginning the second Melbourne ministry as Master of the Mint, Privy Counsellor, and Vice-President of the Board of Trade (and, later, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies), Labouchere was raised to a cabinet post, President of the Board of Trade, which he held from 1839 until the Melbourne government fell in 1841.

Lord Taunton by William Menzies Tweedie.

When the Whigs, now led by Lord John Russell, returned to office in 1846, Labouchere returned to the cabinet, this time as Chief Secretary for Ireland. The following year, he once again became President of the Board of Trade, and stayed in that post until Russell's government fell in 1852. From 1853 to 1854 he sat on the Royal Commission on the City of London. Labouchere's final cabinet posting came during the first Palmerston ministry, for which he served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1855 to 1858. In 1859, Labouchere was raised to the peerage as Baron Taunton, of Taunton in the County of Somerset.

Family

In 1840 Labouchere married his first cousin Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas Baring. They had three daughters, one of whom was Emily Labouchere (1844-1933) who married Henry, 5th Earl of St Germans, Mina Francis, who married Sir Arthur Ellis, and Mary Dorothy; Frances snr died in 1850, aged 36. In 1852 he married Lady Mary Howard (1823–1892) daughter of the Earl of Carlisle. There were no children from this marriage.

Taunton died in July 1869, aged 70, at his London house in Belgrave Square. He was buried near his country house Quantock Lodge at Over Stowey. As he had no sons the barony became extinct on his death. His nephew, also Henry Labouchere, inherited part of Labouchere's fortune, and was later to become a well-known newspaper editor and politician.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Labouchere

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir George Staunton, Bt William Taylor Money	Member of Parliament for Mitchell 1826–1830 With: William Leake	Succeeded by Hon. Lloyd Kenyon John Heywood Hawkins
Preceded by Henry Seymour William Peachey	Member of Parliament for Taunton 1830–1859 With: Edward Thomas Bainbridge, 1830–1842 Sir Thomas Colebrooke, Bt, 1842–1852 Arthur Mills, 1852–1853 Sir John William Ramsden, 1853–1857 Arthur Mills, 1857–1859	Succeeded by Arthur Mills George Cavendish-Bentinck
Political offices
Preceded by Viscount Lowther	Vice-President of the Board of Trade 1835–1839	Succeeded by Richard Lalor Sheil
Preceded by Charles Thomson	President of the Board of Trade 1839–1841	Succeeded by The Earl of Ripon
Preceded by The Earl of Lincoln	Chief Secretary for Ireland 1846–1847	Succeeded by Sir William Somerville, Bt
Preceded by The Earl of Clarendon	President of the Board of Trade 1847–1852	Succeeded by Joseph Warner Henley
Preceded by Sir William Molesworth, Bt	Secretary of State for the Colonies 1855–1858	Succeeded by Lord Stanley
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Taunton 1859–1869	Title extinct