James Frederick Hutton

James Frederick Hutton (1826 - March 1, 1890) was a British businessman, colonialist and Conservative politician.

He was the son of W M Hutton and Elizabeth Chapman, and inherited the family business importing palm oil from Africa."Biographies of Candidates", The Times, November 25, 1885, p.5] Hutton's warehouses were near Piccadilly, Manchester ["Sales by Auction", The Times, October 3, 1889, p.16] He was for some years the President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, and was the inaugral President of the Manchester Geographical Society. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. ["Manchester Chamber of Commerce", The Times, February 3, 1885]

Hutton took a great interest in colonial policy in Africa. In 1876 he was part of a deputation that met with Lord Carnarvon, the Secretary of State for the Colonies to protest against a treaty with Portugal that would have ceded areas along the River Gambia. ["The Proposed Exchange of Gambia", The Times, February 2, 1876, p.6] At the time of the Congo Conference of 1884 he was involved in campaigns against the Portugese "Pink Map" and to maintain British control of Sierra Leone. ["The Congo Treaty in the Gambia", The Times, March 18, 1884, p.10] ["British Sherboro and Sierra Leone", The Times, November 18, 1885, p.5]

In 1885 he was selected as Conservative candidate for the newly-created constituency of Manchester North. He was successfully elected, beating the Liberal, Charles Schwann by 650 votes. He was only a member of parliament for eight months, however, losing his seat to Schwann in the 1886 general election. ["The General Election", The Times, July 31, 1886] Shortly before losing his seat, he appeared at the Congress of the Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire, promoting the idea of an Anglo-Colonial penny postage union. ["Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire", The Times, June 4, 1886, p.10]

In November 1886 Hutton was approached by William Mackinnon, and asked to help organise the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, led by H M Stanley. ["Emin Bay and Mr Stanley", The Times, November 24, 1886, p.9] In 1887 Hutton was appointed by the President of the Board of Trade to a committee charged with inquiring into the duties, organisation and arrangemants of the Patent Office. ["The Patent Office", The Times, March 25, 1887, p.9] In 1887 he was made a member of the organising committee of the Imperial Institute of the United Kingdom, the Colonies and India. The committee were charged with raising funds to build the Institute as meorial to the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. ["Imperial Institute of the United Kingdom", The Times, June 13, 1887, p.10] In 1888 he was named as one of the court of directors in the founding charter of the Imperial British East Africa Company. ["British East Africa", The Times, September 8, 1888, p.12]

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