Papers of Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton

Letters, notes, memoranda, etc. on British imperial affairs, includingmaterial relating to the colonial church, Jamaica, Prince Edward Island,New Zealand, Victoria (British Columbia), Trinidad and Malta, 1854-1858.

Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton (1798-1869) matriculated in 1816 at ChristChurch, Oxford where, four years later, he took a first in classics. Althoughadmitted as a member of Lincoln's Inn in 1917, he was never called to the bar.In 1924 he travelled with Stanley, Denison and Stuart Wortley (afterwardsLords Derby, Ossington and Wharncliffe) through Canada and the United States.From 1826 to 1858 he sat in the House of Commons as Whig MP for MichaelBorough, then Taunton. During this time, he was appointed a lord of theAdmiralty, 1832-1833, Master of the Mint, 1835-1841, Vice-President of theBoard of Trade, 1835-1839, Undersecretary of War and the Colonies, 1839,President of the Board of Trade, 1839-1841, 1847-1852, Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, [1846-1847] and Secretary of State for theColonies, 1855-1858. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1835. Whilein Parliament he drew attention to the abuses of the system of governmentin Canada, carried through the bill by which the Navigation Laws were repealed,and was instrumental in passing the Mercantile Marine Acts and the Seaman's Fund Act. In 1858 he was created Baron Taunton of Taunton. He served as oneof the commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, and presided over thecommission appointed in 1853 to investigate the state of the Corporation ofthe City of London and also a commission inquiring into schools. In 1840 he married Frances Baring, with whom he had three daughters. Frances died in 1850,and in 1852 he married Lady Mary Matilda Georgiana Howard, with whom he had nochildren. The barony of Taunton therefore became extinct upon his death.

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Collection level description created by Paul Davidson, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House.

Listed as no. 623 in Manuscript Collections in Rhodes House Library Oxford,Accessions 1978-1994 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1996).

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Letters from Sir George Henry Ward recording his administration as Governorof Ceylon, 1855-1858 (ref. MSS. Ind. Ocn. s. 126); letters from Sir WilliamReid as Governor of Malta, 1855-1858 (ref. MSS. Medit. s. 10); letter toHerman Merivale concerning proposed alterations to the New Zealandconstitution, 1856 (ref. MSS. N.Z. s. 1, ff.4-13); letters from Sir FrancisHinks as Governor of Barbados, 1856-1857 (ref. MSS. W. Ind. s. 36).