Robert Wilmot Horton and liberal Toryism. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

321 Pages·2016·1.84 MB·English

by  Christine Middleton

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