| The Right Honourable The Lord Basing PC, FRS, DL |
|
|---|---|
| "The safe man". Caricature by Ape published in Vanity Fair in 1874. | |
| President of the Local Government Board | |
| In office 1874–1880 |
|
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Benjamin Disraeli |
| Preceded by | James Stansfeld |
| Succeeded by | John George Dodson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 May 1826 London |
| Died | 22 October 1894 Hoddington House, Hampshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Lydia Birch (d. 1881) |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
George Limbrey Sclater-Booth, 1st Baron Basing PC, FRS, DL (19 May 1826 – 22 October 1894), known as George Sclater-Booth before 1887, was a British Conservative politician. He served as President of the Local Government Board under Benjamin Disraeli between 1874 and 1880.
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Born George Sclater, Basing was the son of William Lutley Sclater, of Hoddington House, Hampshire, and Anna Maria, daughter of William Bowyer. His brother was the naturalist Philip Sclater. He was educated at Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford, and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1851. In 1857 he assumed by Royal license the additional surname of Booth.[1]
Basing was elected Member of Parliament for North Hampshire in 1857, which constituency he would represent until 1885, when the constituency was divided.[2] He was then returned for Basingstoke, one of the new divisions of the his old constituency, for which he sat until being made a peer in 1887.[3] His first position in government was that of Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board in Lord Derby's third and final ministry, replacing Ralph Anstruther Earle (formerly Disraeli's private secretary), who had resigned over the Reform Bill of 1867. He later served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury in Benjamin Disraeli's short-lived 1868 government. When the Conservatives returned to power in 1874 under Disraeli he was made President of the Local Government Board, which post he held until the fall of the government in 1880. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1874[4] and in 1887 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Basing, of Basing Byflete and of Hoddington, both in the County of Southampton.[5]
Lord Basing married Lydia Caroline, daughter of George Birch, in 1857. They had four sons and six daughters. She died in July 1881. Lord Basing survived her by thirteen years and died at Hoddington House, Hampshire, in October 1894, aged 68. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, George.[6]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Shaw-Lefevre James Scott |
Member of Parliament for North Hampshire 1857 – 1885 With: William Wither Beach |
Constituency divided |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Basingstoke 1885 – 1887 |
Succeeded by Arthur Frederick Jeffreys |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ralph Anstruther Earle |
Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board 1867 – 1868 |
Succeeded by Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt |
| Preceded by George Ward Hunt |
Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1868 |
Succeeded by Acton Smee Ayrton |
| Preceded by James Stansfeld |
President of the Local Government Board 1874 – 1880 |
Succeeded by John George Dodson |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Basing 1887 – 1894 |
Succeeded by George Sclater-Booth |