- George Ward Hunt
George Ward Hunt (
30 July 1825 –29 July 1877 ) was a British Conservative Party politician and statesman,Chancellor of the Exchequer andFirst Lord of the Admiralty in 1st and 2nd ministries ofBenjamin Disraeli .He was born at
Buckhurst inBerkshire , the only surviving son of a minister, and graduated fromChrist Church, Oxford , in 1851, and21 November of that year was called to the bar at theInner Temple .He married Alice Eden, daughter of a bishop, in 1857, and finally entered the House of Commons asMember of Parliament for Northamptonshire North, at the end of the year, having made several unsuccessful attempts previously.He was a
Secretary to the Treasury from 1866 to 1868, in the ministry of the 14th Earl of Derby. He was then appointed to the Exchequer when Disraeli took office.By repute, when he presented his one and only
Budget speech to parliament he discovered that he had left the ministerial "Red Box" containing it at home. This is said to be the start of the tradition that, when a Chancellor leaves for the House of Commons on Budget Day, he shows the assembled crowd the box by holding it aloft.Hunt was appointed to the
Admiralty for Disraeli's second ministry, serving from 1874 until his death fromgout in 1877.Although he was considered competent at finance, his turn at the Admiralty was, for a long time, not much admired. Recently however, this attitude has shifted. [ Eric J. Grove, "The Royal Navy since 1815", p. 57-59.]
A very heavy-set person, he is said to have been responsible for the semicircle that is cut out from the end of the table in the Admiralty Board Room.
Canada's
Ward Hunt Island was named after him.His residence was
Wadenhoe House inNorthamptonshire . He died atBad Homburg , Germany.Notes
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