William Hutt (British MP)

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Sir William Hutt, KCB, MA (1791–1882) was a British MP who was heavily involved in the colonization of New Zealand and South Australia.

Born in Lambeth, Surrey in 1791, Hutt was educated privately at Ryde, Isle of Wight, and Camberwell. He graduated BA (1827) and MA (1831) from Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1831 he married Mary Milner.

Hutt entered Parliament as MP for Kingston upon Hull in 1832, holding the seat until 1841. He was greatly interested in colonial affairs, and became increasingly involved in them. He was a member of the select committee on colonial lands in 1836; a commissioner for the foundation of South Australia; a member of the New Zealand Association from 1837; and a member of the select committee on New Zealand in 1840. He also helped form the New Zealand Company, of which he was later a director and chairman.

After he ceased to be MP for Hull in 1841, he successfully stood for the seat of Gateshead, a seat that he retained for over 30 years. In 1859, he was vice-president of the Board of Trade. His first wife died in 1860, leaving him mining properties worth £18,000 a year. The following year he married a daughter of the Hon Sir James Francis Stanhope. From 1860 to 1865 he was Paymaster-General. He was made a KCB in 1865, and died on 24 November 1882.

He is commemorated in the name of the Hutt River in the North Island of New Zealand and the cities of Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt, which stand on its banks. The Hutt River in South Australia's Clare Valley was also named in his honour.

His brother John Hutt was the second governor of Western Australia.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George Schonswar and William Battie-Wrightson	Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull 2-seat constituency (with Matthew Davenport Hill, to 1835; David Carruthers, 1835; Thomas Perronet Thompson, 1835–1837) 1832–1837	Succeeded by William Wilberforce and Sir Walter Charles James
Preceded by William Wilberforce and Sir Walter Charles James	Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull 2-seat constituency (with Sir Walter Charles James) 1838–1837	Succeeded by Sir John Hanmer and Sir Walter Charles James
Preceded by Cuthbert Rippon	Member of Parliament for Gateshead 1841–1874	Succeeded by Walter Henry James
Political offices
Preceded by William Francis Cowper	Paymaster-General 1860–1865	Succeeded by George Joachim Goschen