Lewis, SIR GEORGE CORNEWALL, statesman and author, was born in London, 21st October 1806, son of Sir T. F. Lewis, Bart., of Harpton Court, Radnorshire; and was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where in 1828 he took a first-class in classics and a second-class in mathematics. A pupil of Austin's, he was called to the bar of the Middle Temple in 1831, and succeeded his father as Poor-law Commissioner in 1839. He sat for Herefordshire from 1847 to 1852, and for the Radnor Boroughs from 1855. After holding minor government offices, he rose rapidly to be financial secretary to the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Palmerston (1855–58), Home Secretary (1859–61), and Secretary at War. He succeeded his father as second baronet in 1855, and died 13th April 1863. He was an earnest and sincere politician, and his business capacity, sound sense, varied knowledge, and moral and intellectual qualities made him a notable figure in the public and political life in England.
His extraordinary versatility may be gathered from a list of his works, which include a treatise on the Origin and Formation of the Romance Language (1835), The Fables of Babrius, The Use and Abuse of Political Terms, The Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion (1850), his famous Inquiry into the Credibility of Ancient Roman History (1855—against Niebuhr), The Method of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, Local Disturbances and the Irish Church Question (1836), The Government of Dependencies, Herefordshire Glossary, The Astronomy of the Ancients (1859), and Dialogue on the Best Form of Government (1859). He was editor of the Edinburgh Review from 1852 to 1855. See his Letters (1870), and Bagehot's Literary Studies (1879).