Huskinson

Huskinson, WILLIAM, statesman and financier, was born at Birtsmorton Court, in Worcestershire, 11th March 1770, and in 1783 was sent to Paris to study medicine. He was present at the storming of the Bastille, and as a member of the Club of 1789 attracted attention by a speech on the assignats. Returning to England, he was appointed in 1795 under-secretary in the Colonial Department. Next year he entered parliament for Morpeth as a supporter of Pitt. Being returned for Liskeard in 1804, he was appointed secretary of the Treasury; and he held the same office under the Duke of Portland (1807–9). In 1814 he became chief Commissioner of the Woods and Forests; in 1823 President of the Board of Trade, and treasurer of the navy; and in 1827 Secretary of State for the Colonies. But he resigned office finally in the following year. Through his exertions the old restrictions on the trade of the colonies with foreign countries were removed. He also obtained the removal or reduction of many import duties, considerable relaxation of the navigation laws, and is allowed to have been an active pioneer of free trade. He received fatal injuries at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 15th September 1830, and died the same evening. A collection of his speeches, with a Life prefixed, was published in 3 vols. in 1831.