The Earl of Haddington | |
|---|---|
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| Lord Lieutenant of Ireland | |
| In office 1 January 1835 – 8 April 1835 | |
| Monarch | William IV |
| Prime Minister | Sir Robert Peel, Bt |
| Preceded by | The Marquess Wellesley |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Mulgrave |
| First Lord of the Admiralty | |
| In office 6 September 1841 – 8 January 1846 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Sir Robert Peel, Bt |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Minto |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Ellenborough |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1780-06-21)21 June 1780 |
| Died | 1 December 1858(1858-12-01) (aged 78) |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Party | Tory |
| Spouse | Lady Maria Parker (d. 1861) |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh Christ Church, Oxford |
Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington,KT,PC,FRS,FRSE (21 June 1780 – 1 December 1858), known asLord Binning from 1794 to 1828, was aScottishConservative statesman.
Lord Haddington was the only son of Lady Sophia, daughter ofJohn Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, andCharles Hamilton, 8th Earl of Haddington. He was educated at theUniversity of Edinburgh andChrist Church, Oxford.[1]
At the beginning of the 19th century, Lord Haddington was a supporter ofGeorge Canning. He was elected as aMember of Parliament forSt Germans in 1802, but did not stand for re-election in 1806. In August 1814, he was appointed one of His Majesty's Commissioners for the management of the affairs in India. He served sporadically in theHouse of Commons until 1827 when he was elevated to theHouse of Lords by the newprime minister, George Canning, who had him createdBaron Melrose, of Tynninghame in the County of Haddington, in thePeerage of the United Kingdom. He had previously been created aprivy counsellor in 1814, and, in 1828, he succeeded to his family'sScottish earldom.[1]
Lord Haddington went on to vote against theReform Bill in 1831, but later changed his mind and voted for it in 1832, possibly due to the political crises surrounding its passage. Upon the rise ofSir Robert Peel to the premiership in 1834, Lord Haddington was madeLord Lieutenant of Ireland, however the government collapsed within six months, and the Whigs were once again in power. Lord Haddington was able to return to government in 1841 with the return of Sir Robert Peel to the premiership - he declined the post ofGovernor General of India, instead opting to becomeFirst Lord of the Admiralty and a member of theCabinet. He held that post until January 1846, when he was shuffled to becomeLord Privy Seal, a post he held until the death of the government in July.[1]
Lord Binning's family were related to the Stanhopes and staunch supporters of Pitt's administration. Being, as the eldest son of a Scots peer, ineligible for a seat in Scotland, he was provided with an English seat in 1802 'under the peculiar protection of Mr Pitt', by Pitt's sister's father-in-law, Lord Eliot.
As might have been expected, Binning followed Pitt's line in his first Parliament, voting with him for the orders of the day, 3 June 1803, against Addington, 7 March, 13 and 16 April. (though on 15 March he did not divide on Pitt's motion on the navy) and also for Fox's and Pitt's defence motions which brought down Addington, 23 and 25 April 1804. He went on to support Pitt's second administration and voted against the censure of Melville, 8 Apr. 1805. He was on the committee which investigated the 11th naval report. After Pitt's death he was one of the Pittite group led by Canning, Sturges Bourne and George Rose which held fortnightly dinners at White's, and became a steward of the Pitt Club. He voted against the Grenville ministry on Ellenborough's seat in the cabinet, 3 March 1806, and against the repeal of Pitt's Additional Force Act, 30 April. On 26 June, he asked why Scotland was excluded from the training bill; on 3 July, when he was teller against the bill, he was put down by the lord advocate who asked him why he wished to extend to Scotland a bill that his fellow oppositionists had been abusing for weeks; but promised to bring in a separate bill for Scotland.
Binning found no seat in 1806, though his friend Huskisson reported that he wished Binning's father had allowed him to contest Dover, where he might have got in at modest expense. Melville secured an opening for him from Viscount Lowther on a vacancy at Cockermouth in January 1807: Melville had suggested that Binning might come in for Haslemere on the same interest instead of Viscount Garlies, when the latter succeeded to the title in November 1806, but Binning had to wait for the next vacancy. Cockermouth was only available to him for another year, so at the general election of 1807, he found another seat on Lord Clinton's interest at Callington, through their mutual uncle Francis Drake.
In 1831 he was stripped of his hereditary title of Keeper of the Royal Park (Holyrood Park) due to the outrageous behaviour of his father in quarrying in the park. However, Thomas received £40,000 in compensation (the equivalent of £4.5 million in 2022).[2]
Lord Haddington married Lady Maria Parker, heir ofGeorge Parker, 4th Earl of Macclesfield, in 1802. They had no surviving children and the Earl died in December 1858, aged 78. On his death the barony of Melrose became extinct while he was succeeded in the remaining titles by his second cousin,George Baillie-Hamilton. Lady Haddington died in 1861.[1]
In 1828 he commissionedWilliam Burn to remodel the family seat ofTyninghame House, which passed with the earldom to Baillie-Hamilton.
Barker, George Fisher Russell (1890)."Hamilton, Thomas (1780-1858)" . InStephen, Leslie;Lee, Sidney (eds.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London:Smith, Elder & Co.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSt Germans 1802–1806 With:James Langham | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCockermouth 1807 With:James Graham | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCallington 1807–1812 With:Thomas Carter 1807–1810 William Stephen Poyntz 1810–1812 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMitchell (or St Michael's) 1814–1818 With:Hon. Edward Law | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forRochester 1818–1826 With:James Barnett 1818–1820 Ralph Bernal 1820–1826 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forYarmouth (Isle of Wight) 1826–1827 With:Joseph Phillimore | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1834–1835 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | First Lord of the Admiralty 1841–1846 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord Privy Seal 1846 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by | Earl of Haddington 1828–1858 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Melros 1827–1858 | Extinct |
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| National | |
| People | |
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