ROBERT WILMOT HORTON AND LIBERAL TORYISM by Stephen Peter Lamont MA, MBA Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2015 Abstract This thesis examines aspects of the political career of Robert Wilmot Horton (1784-1841), a junior minister in the Tory governments of the 1820s and an advocate of state-aided emigration to the British colonies. It considers how far Wilmot conforms to existing conceptualisations of ‘liberal Toryism’, which are summarized in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 finds both ambition and principle in Wilmot’s choice of party, while identifying fundamental aspects of his political make-up, in particular his devotion to political economy and his hostility to political radicalism. Chapters 3 to 5 explore his economic thinking. Chapter 3 charts Wilmot’s gradual move away from a Malthusian approach to the problem of pauperism, and the resulting changes in his view of the role of emigration as a means of relief. Chapter 4 shows how his specific plan of colonization addressed broader considerations of imperial strategy and economic development. Chapter 5, exploring the wider context of economic debate, reveals Wilmot as an advocate of governmental activism in social policy, a critic of ‘economical reform’, and a moderate protectionist in the short term. Chapter 6 suggests that Wilmot, and the ministry as a whole, were driven by pragmatic rather than ideological considerations in their approach to the amelioration of slavery. Chapter 7 concludes that Wilmot’s advocacy of Catholic Emancipation, on grounds of expediency, conformed to the approach normally ascribed to liberal Tories in principle if not in detail. Chapter 8 finds, in Wilmot’s pamphleteering and lecturing, a striking instance of an ‘outward turn’ in political behaviour; and, in his support for parliamentary reform in 1831, a continuing determination to resist political radicalism. Overall, the thesis argues that Wilmot embraced political economy more in its ‘secular’ than its ‘Christian’ guise, but took interventionist positions on economic and social questions which set him apart from his colleagues. These conclusions complicate the task of retrieving a convincing ideology of liberal Toryism, if indeed there is one to be found. Acknowledgments I would like to thank the custodians and archivists of all of the manuscript collections listed in the bibliography, for the help and assistance given to me during my research. I recognise with particular gratitude the assistance I received at Arundel Castle, at Keele University Library, at the Staffordshire Record Office and William Salt Library, and above all at Derbyshire Record Office. I am grateful to his Grace the Duke of Norfolk for permission to consult and to quote from the records of the British Catholic Association held at Arundel Castle. At the intellectual level my principal thanks must be to my supervisors, Professor Richard Gaunt and Professor Chris Wrigley. I have profited greatly from their wise guidance and advice, and both showed a diligence beyond the call of duty in reading and commenting on my numerous work-in-progress papers. This thesis could not have been completed without them; needless to say its faults are all my own. I am also intellectually indebted to the many authors listed in the bibliography. It would be invidious to offer a short-list, but it would also be wrong not to acknowledge a particular debt to Professor Boyd Hilton, who also gave generously of his time when I first ventured into 19th century political history. In one or two places I have taken issue with his view of Liberal Toryism, but the scope and nature of the enquiry have undoubtedly been strongly influenced by his work. The research for and writing of this thesis have taken a very long time, and would not have been possible without the support and encouragement, not to mention the patience and forbearance, of my wife Hilary and daughter Emily. If dedications were appropriate to PhD theses, this one would be dedicated to them. Stephen Lamont Contents page List of Illustrations 3 Abbreviations 3 Biographical Note 6 Chapter 1: Introduction and Methodology 8 Chapter 2: ‘Unattached to Either Party’? Motivations, Principles and Allegiances 45 Chapter 3: The Abstraction of Superfluous Labour Pauperism and Emigration 76 Chapter 4: ‘A Careful Hand’ Emigration and Colonization 121 Chapter 5: Controverted Points Emigration and Other Remedies 155 Chapter 6: The ‘Moderate West Indian’ The Amelioration of Slavery, 1823-1830 190 Chapter 7: The ‘Cautious Protestant Advocate’ Catholic Emancipation, 1825-1830 217 Chapter 8: ‘Wedded to a Favourite Theory’? Wilmot Horton, 1827-1831 244 Chapter 9: Conclusion: Drawing the Serpentine Line Wilmot Horton and Liberal Toryism 272 Appendix Publications by Wilmot Horton 286 Bibliography 291 1 2 List of Illustrations Page Robert Wilmot Horton 7 John Doyle, ‘The Battle of the Pamphleteers’ 58 Sir Robert Wilmot Horton, Bart. 271 Abbreviations Note: Full titles and bibliographic details of published works by Wilmot Horton are given in the Appendix. Add. MS British Library, Additional Manuscripts Arundel Arundel Castle Archives ASR Anti-Slavery Reporter Baines R.W. Horton, Correspondence upon some Points connected with the Roman Catholic Question (1829) Bathurst Letters Mitchell Library, New South Wales, Fond A73, Letters of Earl Bathurst to R.J. Wilmot Horton, 1824-1827 BCA British Catholic Association Blackwood’s Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine Burdett R.W. Horton, A Letter to Sir Francis Burdett (1826) C Derbyshire Record Office, Fond D3155, Wilmot-Horton of Osmaston and Catton Papers, ‘C’ series letter 3 Causes R.W. Horton, Causes and Remedies of Pauperism ... considered (1829) Chronicle The Morning Chronicle CO The National Archives, Kew, Colonial Office files ‘Corn Laws’ [R.W. Horton], ‘The Corn Laws’, QR vol 35 no 69 (Jan 1827), pp.269-83 D4576 Derbyshire Record Office, Fond D4576, Wilmot Horton Papers Denison Papers Denison of Ossington Papers, Nottingham University Manuscripts Department EHR The English Historical Review ER The Edinburgh Review Hansard Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates (followed by 2nd or 3rd series as appropriate, volume, column, and date) Grey Papers Grey Papers, Durham University Library Hatherton Papers Hatherton Family Papers, Staffordshire Record Office HJ The Historical Journal Inquiry R.W. Horton, Inquiry into the Causes and Remedies of Pauperism (1830) Lectures R.W. Horton, Lectures on Statistics and Political Economy (1832) Murray Papers John Murray Archive, National Library of Scotland Newcastle R.W. Horton, Letter to the Electors of Newcastle-under-Line (1826) Observations R.W. Horton, Observations upon the Present Crisis in Public Affairs (MS, Aug 1830; WH2858) PH Parliamentary History 4 P.P. Parliamentary Sessional Papers PRO The National Archives, Kew, ‘PRO’ series files Protestant Safety R.W. Horton, Protestant Safety ... (1829) Protestant Securities R.W. Horton, Protestant Securities Suggested (1828) QR The Quarterly Review Reform R.W. Horton, Reform in 1839 and Reform in 1831 (1839) Rochester R.W. Horton, Letter to the Lord Bishop of Rochester ... (1828) RO Record Office Speech, 1828 Speech of the Right Hon. R. Wilmot Horton ... on the 6th of March 1828 (1828) ‘Taxation’ [R.W. Horton], ‘Taxation and Expenditure’, QR vol 35 no 69 (Jan 1827), pp.283-307 Taylor Papers Taylor Family Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society West India Question R.W. Horton, The West India Question practically considered (1826) WH Derbyshire Record Office, Fond D3155, Wilmot-Horton of Osmaston and Catton Papers, ‘WH’ series file York Letter, I R.W. Horton, First Letter ... on Negro Slavery (1830) York Letter, II R.W. Horton, Second Letter ... on Negro Slavery (1830) 5 Biographical Note Robert John Wilmot was born in 1784, the only child of Sir Robert Wilmot, second baronet, of Osmaston near Derby, by his first wife Juliana, the second daughter of Admiral John Byron. The poet Byron was Wilmot’s first cousin.1 Wilmot was only three years old when his mother died; his father later remarried and had seven further children by his second wife.2 Wilmot was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating in 1803, graduating B.A. in 1806, and taking his M.A. in 1815. In 1806 he married Anne Beatrix Horton, the elder daughter of Eusebius Horton of Catton Hall, Derbyshire. Their marriage settlement provided them with an estate at Davenport, Cheshire,3 where they lived until moving to London in 1812. They had eight children between 1808 and 1825, four boys and four girls, of whom two of the girls died in infancy or childhood.4 Wilmot was Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme from 1818 to 1830, having previously contested the borough unsuccessfully in 1815. From late 1821 to early 1828 he served as Undersecretary of State in the Colonial Department, and from 1831 to 1837 as Governor of Ceylon. Between 1825 and 1831 he wrote extensively on emigration, slavery, Catholic emancipation, and other subjects. On returning to England in 1838 he resumed his pamphleteering on these subjects but was unable to attract much interest. In ill health, he spent much of his time abroad. He died in 1841. Wilmot took the additional surname Horton in 1823, as a condition of his succession to the Catton estates under his father-in-law’s will. Thereafter he signed himself R.W. Horton, but was generally referred to as Wilmot Horton. In this thesis for the sake of simplicity he is referred to throughout as Wilmot 1 Unless otherwise stated, basic biographical data is taken from the article on Wilmot Horton in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 2 The Gentleman’s Magazine (Oct 1834), pp.431-2. 3 WH2549, Correspondence between Sir R. Wilmot and E. Horton, 1806-7. 4 Revd. R. Ussher, A Historical Sketch of the Parish of Croxall (1881), p.174. 6 or Wilmot Horton.