Francis Horner
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Francis Horner (12 August, 1778 – 8 February, 1817) was a Scottish Whig MP for St. Ives in 1806, Wendover in 1807, and St. Mawes in 1812 (in the patronage of the Marquis of Buckingham).
He was born in Edinburgh and studied at its university until being called to the bar in Scotland in 1800 and for England in 1807. He translated Leonhard Euler's Elements of Algebra in 1797 and published Short Account of a late Short Administration in 1807. In 1810 he was chairman of the Bullion Committee,[1] where he "extended and confirmed his fame as a political economist by his share in the famous Bullion Report".[2]
Horner was offered a Treasury secretaryship in 1811 when Lord Grenville was attempting to form a ministry, which he refused as he would not accept office until he was wealthy enough to survive out of office. A believer in political economy, he took part in the parliamentary debates on the Corn Laws and slavery in 1813-15.[3]
He struggled to earn a living and in October 1816 his physicians advised him to visit Italy due to ill health. However he died at Pisa a few months later. He is buried at Leghorn and has a statute in Westminster Abbey.
[edit] Notes
- ^ AIM25: British Library of Political and Economic Science: HORNER, Francis, 1778-1817, Politician
- ^ Francis Horner
- ^ Francis Horner
[edit] Further reading
- Leonard Horner (ed.), Memoirs and Correspondence of Francis Horner, M.P..
