William Hutt (British MP)

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Sir William Hutt, KCB, MA (17911882) 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, as tutor for the young John Bowes, he married his pupil's mother Mary Milner, Dowager Countess of Strathmore (d. 1860), widow of John Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

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 Frances Anna Jane “Fanny” Stanhope, a daughter of Hon. Sir Francis Charles Stanhope[1]. From 1860 to 1865 he was Paymaster-General. He was made a KCB in 1865. He died at Appley Towers, Ryde, on 24 November 1882, leaving his landed property to his brother, Sir George Hutt (1809–1889).

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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Marquis of Ruvigny and Raineval, Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal, London, 1905, Clarence Volume, p. 31, table XXXVII.
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)

18321837
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)
1837–1838
Succeeded by
Sir John Hanmer and
Sir Walter Charles James
Preceded by
Cuthbert Rippon
Member of Parliament for Gateshead
18411874
Succeeded by
Walter Henry James
Political offices
Preceded by
William Francis Cowper
Paymaster-General
1860–1865
Succeeded by
George Joachim Goschen