Henry Goulburn | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Engraving byHenry William Pickersgill,c. 1850 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 26 January 1828 – 22 November 1830 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarchs | George IV William IV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | The Duke of Wellington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | John Charles Herries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Viscount Althorp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 September 1841 – 27 June 1846 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Victoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Sir Robert Peel, Bt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Francis Baring | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sir Charles Wood, Bt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home Secretary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 15 December 1834 – 18 April 1835 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | William IV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Sir Robert Peel, Bt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Duke of Wellington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Lord John Russell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Secretary for Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 29 December 1821 – 29 April 1827 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | George IV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Lord Liverpool | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Charles Grant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | William Lamb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1784-03-19)19 March 1784 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 12 January 1856(1856-01-12) (aged 71) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Frederick Goulburn (Brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Henry GoulburnPCFRS (19 March 1784 – 12 January 1856) was a BritishConservativestatesman and a member of thePeelite faction after 1846.
Born in London, Goulburn was the eldest son of a wealthy planter, Munbee Goulburn, of Amity Hall,Vere Parish, Jamaica, and his wife Susannah, eldest daughter ofWilliam Chetwynd, 4th Viscount Chetwynd. He was educated atTrinity College, Cambridge.[1]
Goulburn lived inBetchworth,Dorking, in Betchworth House for much of his life.
Goulburn's inheritance included a number of sugar estates in Jamaica, with Amity Hall in the parish of Vere, nowClarendon Parish, being the most important. Slave labour was still being used to work the sugar plantations when he inherited the estates.[2][3]
Goulburn never visited Jamaica himself due to his health and political work. He relied on attorneys to manage his estates on his behalf. One attorney, in particular, Thomas Samson, held the top job at the estate from 1802 to 1818 and earned a reputation for cruelty towards Goulburn's slaves.
By 1818, the income from his Jamaican estates halved to less than £3,000 "although he did console himself that the condition of his slaves had probably improved".[2]
In 1818, Henry Goulburn's brother was sent to inspect the Jamaican Sugar Plantation. Thomas Samson had already been dismissed over his treatment of slaves.[4] Henry Goulburn wrote to Samson in June 1818:
"Since my brother’s return to England, I have had a great deal of conversation with him respecting the management of my Estate in Jamaica, the state of the Negroes and other particulars connected with it which from want of personal inspection of the property I have hitherto but imperfectly understood. The result had been a conviction upon my mind that as far as regards the negroes of the Estate, the system hitherto used by you had been founded altogether upon erroneous principles which (though I believe to be too commonly followed on the generality of estates in Jamaica) are such as I can never approve because I cannot consider them consistent with the duty which I owe to the negroes which belong to me....
You have recently been possessed of a considerable property which makes the management of my Estate less if at all an object to you... therefore your removal from Amity Hall cannot inconvenience you in a pecuniary point of view."[4]
In 1808, Goulburn became Member of Parliament forHorsham. In 1810, he was appointedUnder-Secretary of State for Home Affairs, and two and a half years later, he was madeUnder-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. It was in this capacity thatJames Meehan namedGoulburn,New South Wales after him, a naming that was ratified by GovernorLachlan Macquarie. Still retaining office in theTory government, he became aPrivy Counsellor in 1821, and shortly afterwards was appointedChief Secretary for Ireland, a position which he held until April 1827. Here, although he was frequently denounced as he was considered an Orangeman, he had a successful period of office on the whole, and in 1823 he managed to pass theComposition for Tithes (Ireland) Act 1823. In January 1828, he was madeChancellor of the Exchequer under theDuke of Wellington; like his leader, he disliked Roman Catholic emancipation, which he voted against in 1828.[5]
In the finance domain, Goulburn's chief achievements were to reduce the interest rate on the part of the national debt and allow anyone to sell beer upon payment of a small annual fee, a complete change of policy about the drink traffic. Leaving office with Wellington in November 1830, Goulburn wasHome Secretary underSir Robert Peel for four months in 1835. When this statesman returned to office in September 1841, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer for the second time. Although Peel himself did some of the chancellor's work, Goulburn was responsible for a further reduction in the rate of interest on the national debt, and he aided his chief in the struggle, which ended in the repeal of theCorn Laws. With his colleagues, he left office in June 1846. After representingHorsham in theHouse of Commons for over four years, Goulburn was successively member forSt Germans, forWest Looe, and for the city ofArmagh. In May 1831, he was elected forCambridge University, and he retained this seat until his death.[5]
According to theLegacies of British Slave-Ownership at theUniversity College London, Goulburn was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of theSlavery Abolition Act 1833 with theSlave Compensation Act 1837. The British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £1.8 billion in 2023)[6] with interest fromNathan Mayer Rothschild andMoses Montefiore which was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers (ending in 2015). Goulburn was associated with two different claims, he owned 277 slaves inJamaica and received a £5,601 payment at the time (worth £671,415 in 2023).[6][7]
Goulburn was a member of theCanterbury Association from 27 March 1848.[8]
Frederick Goulburn (1788–1837), the firstColonial Secretary ofNew South Wales, was his younger brother. Henry Goulburn married the Hon. Jane, third daughter ofMatthew Montagu, 4th Baron Rokeby, in 1811. They had four children. He died on 12 January 1856, aged 71. His wife died the following year.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Goulburn, Henry".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 283–284.| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHorsham 1808–1812 With:Joseph Marryat | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSt Germans 1812–1818 With:William Henry Pringle | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWest Looe 1818–1826 With:Sir Charles Hulse | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forArmagh 1826–1831 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCambridge University 1831–1856 withWilliam Yates Peel 1831–1832 Charles Manners-Sutton 1832–1835 Hon. Charles Law 1835–1850 Loftus Wigram 1850–1856 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 1810–1812 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1812–1821 With:Henry Edward Bunbury 1812–1816 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Secretary for Ireland 1821–1827 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1828–1830 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Home Secretary 1834–1835 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1841–1846 | Succeeded by |
| Church of England titles | ||
| Preceded by New post | Third Church Estates Commissioner 1850–1856 | Succeeded by |
.svg)
