James McGarel-Hogg, 1st Baron Magheramorne

James McGarel-Hogg, 1st Baron Magheramorne

James Macnaghten McGarel-Hogg, 1st Baron Magheramorne, KCB (3 May 1823 – 27 June 1890) was a British politician, Member of Parliament, and local government leader.

Early life

McGarel-Hogg was the son of Sir James Weir Hogg, Bt., the Administrator-General of Bengal and Chairman of the British East India Company, and was born in Calcutta. His surname at birth was merely Hogg, but he added the surname McGarel on February 8, 1877 on inheriting the estates of Charles McGarel, his brother-in-law.

He attended Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, a pattern of education which was a family tradition.

Career

However he left Oxford early without taking his degree to enter the Army and became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Life Guards, part of the Household Cavalry. On retiring from the Army he went into politics, being elected unopposed as a Conservative MP for Bath in 1865.

He was also a member of St. George, Hamilton Square Vestry, a form of local government similar to a parish council. From 1867 he was chosen by the Vestry to represent them on the Metropolitan Board of Works which co-ordinated cross-London building schemes. He was defeated for re-election in Bath in 1868 and concentrated on his work on the Board, and after the death of Sir John Thwaites who had chaired the Board since it was created, he was elected as the new Chairman on November 18, 1870. Hogg was elected MP for Truro in 1871 and retained that seat until he transferred to Hornsey at the 1885 general election.

His Parliamentary duties made it more difficult for Hogg to be a full-time chairman of the Board. While his predecessor had dismissed staff who he felt were not up to the job, Hogg used his influence to try to keep their jobs safe. Unlike Thwaites, he did not look in detail at the work of the staff but let them get on with their work. This meant that departments within the Board became either very efficient, or very inefficient. The Architects department was particularly noted for inefficiency.

Several of the Board's big schemes were just being completed when McGarel-Hogg's Chairmanship began. The Victoria Embankment had been opened shortly before he was elected, and he got to share in the rewards for the Board's successes, being made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1874 when the Chelsea Embankment was opened. Under McGarel-Hogg, the Board bought up all of the bridges over the Thames and freed them of tolls. However, the Board's desire for a new bridge by Little Tower Hill could not be fulfilled because its revenue source was not secure. Tower Bridge was eventually built by the City of London Corporation.

The Board also acquired the power to clear slums in 1875, but found the process cumbersome and expensive, resulting in small progress (although it accelerated when further Acts of Parliament removed some restrictions). Several parks were also bought by the Board and opened to the public. However, McGarel-Hogg's administration was hit by scandal in 1887 over the sale of surplus land, blighting somewhat the award of a peerage in the celebrations of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. A Royal Commission found officers and two members of the Board guilty of malpractice. This resulted in the decision to abolish the Board and replace it with a directly-elected council.

Magheramorne had fought for the Board to get permission to build a tunnel at Blackwall and it had been granted in 1887. The tenders for the contract came in early in 1889, when the London County Council had been elected but was not yet in control. He was determined to grant the contract through the Board and resisted the LCC's request that it leave the decision to them; however, when the LCC discovered the Board's intention to seal the contracts, they appealed to the Government and the Board was abolished on March 21, 1889.

Later life

He died in 1890, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. [http://www.brompton.org/Residents.htm]

Personal life

Magheramorne married Caroline Elizabeth Emma Douglas-Pennant, the daughter of Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn. He died a year after leaving office at the MBW, with his son James inheriting the peerage.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • James McGarel-Hogg, 2nd Baron Magheramorne — James Douglas McGarel Hogg, 2nd Baron Magheramorne (January 16, 1861 March 10, 1903) was an Anglo Irish Peer.McGarel Hogg was born in London, the son of James Macnaghten McGarel Hogg, 1st Baron Magheramorne. He served as an officer in the Life… …   Wikipedia

  • Dudley McGarel-Hogg, 3rd Baron Magheramorne — Dudley Stuart McGarel Hogg, 3rd Baron Magheramorne (3 December 1863 – 14 March 1946) was an Anglo Irish peer. He was the second son of James McGarel Hogg, 1st Baron Magheramorne and was educated at Radley College. He inherited the peerage from… …   Wikipedia

  • James McGarel-Hogg — may refer to:* James McGarel Hogg, 1st Baron Magheramorne (1823 ndash;1890), British politician, Member of Parliament, and local government leader * James McGarel Hogg, 2nd Baron Magheramorne (1861 ndash;1903), Anglo Irish Peer …   Wikipedia

  • Hogg (surname) — Hogg is a surname, and may refer to:Academics and literature* Ian V. Hogg (1926–2002), British author * J. Bernard Hogg (1908–1994), American labor historian * James Hogg (1770–1835), Scottish poet and novelist * Peter Hogg (born 1939),… …   Wikipedia

  • Hogg Baronets — The Hogg Baronetcy, of Upper Grosvenor Street in the County of London, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 July 1846 for the lawyer and Conservative politician James Weir Hogg. He was Registrar of the Supreme… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Conservative Party (UK) MPs — This is a list of Conservative Party MPs. It includes all Members of Parliament elected to the British House of Commons representing the Conservative Party from 1834 onwards. Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly or the European… …   Wikipedia

  • Viscount Hailsham — Viscount Hailsham, of Hailsham in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1929 for the lawyer and Conservative politician Douglas Hogg, who twice served as Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom. He …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”