GOULBURN, HENRY (1784-1856)

This article appears in Volume V12, Page 284 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GOULBURN, HENRY (1784-1856) , English statesman, was born in London on the 19th of March 1784 and was educated at Trinity College,

Cambridge

. In r8o8 he became member of parliament for Horsham; in 1810 he was appointed under-secretary for home affairs and two and a half years later he was made under-secretary for war and the colonies. Still retaining office in the Tory government he became a privy councillor in 1821, and just afterwards was appointed

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

secretary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, a position which he held until April 1827. Here although frequently denounced as an Orangeman, his period of office was on the whole a successful one, and in 1823 he managed to pass the Irish Tithe Composition Bill. In January 1828 he was made chancellor of the exchequer under the duke of

Wellington

; like his leader he disliked Roman Catholic emancipation, which he voted against in 1828. In the domain of finance Goulburn's

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

achievements were to reduce the rate of

interest

INTEREST

on part of the national debt, and to allow any one to sell beer upon payment of a small annual fee, a complete

change

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. 冠 urmu', to bend)

of policy with regard to the drink traffic. Leaving office with

Wellington

in November 1830, Goulburn was home secretary under Sir Robert Peel for four months in 1835, and when this statesman returned to office in September 1841 he became chancellor of the exchequer for the second time. Although Peel himself did some of the chancellor's

work

WORK

, Goulburn was responsible for a further reduction in the rate of

interest

INTEREST

on the national debt, and he aided his chief in the struggle which ended in the repeal of the corn laws. With his colleagues he left office in June 1846. After representing Horsham in the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Commons for over four years Goulburn was successively member for St Germans, for West

Looe

LOOE

, and for the city of

Armagh

ARMAGH

. In May 1831 he was elected for

Cambridge

University, and he retained this seat until his death on the 12th of January 1856
at Betchworth

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

, Dorking. Goulburn was one of Peel's firmest supporters and most intimate friends. His eldest son, Henry (1813-1843), was senior classic and second wrangler at Cambridge in 1835.
See S. Walpole, History of England (1878-1886).

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