Hugh Childers Totally Explained

Everything about Hugh Childers totally explained

Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (25 June 1827 – 29 January 1896) was a British and Australian Liberal statesman of the nineteenth century. He is perhaps best known for being the politician responsible for the sinking of HMS Captain and for his damaging 'reforms' at the Admiralty. However he'd other failures. At the War Office he made budget cuts in the period before the First Boer War. As Chancellor of the Exchequer he made a failed attempt to convert Consols, and his attempt to correct a budget shortfall led to the fall of the government.

Early Life

He was born in London and educated at both Oxford and the University of Cambridge, graduating B.A. from the latter in 1850. He then decided to seek a career in Australia and in October emigrated to Victoria.

Australia

He joined the government of Victoria and served as inspector of schools and immigration agent, before becoming auditor-general in 1853. In 1852 he placed a bill before the state legislature proposing the establishment of a second university for Victoria, following the foundation of the University of Sydney in 1850. With the receipt of the Royal Assent in 1853, the University of Melbourne was founded, with Childers as its first vice-chancellor.

Return to Britain

He retained the post until his return to Britain in March 1857 and received a M.A. from Cambridge the same year.

Enters British Politics

In 1860 he entered Parliament as the Liberal member for Pontefract, and served in a minor capacity in the government of Lord Palmerston, becoming a Civil Lord of the Admiralty in 1864 and Financial Secretary to the Treasury in 1865.

First Lord of the Admiralty

With the election of Gladstone's government in December 1868 he rose to greater prominence, serving as First Lord of the Admiralty. Childers "had a reputation for being hardworking, but inept, autocratic and notoriously overbearing in his dealing with colleagues." "His re-organisation of the Admiralty was unpopular and poorly done." "Following the loss of his son and the recriminations that followed, Childers resigned through ill health as First Lord in March 1871."

1871-1880

Following his resignation he spent some months on the Continent, and recovered sufficiently to take office in 1872 as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

War Office

When the Liberals regained power in 1880, Childers was appointed Secretary for War, a position he accepted reluctantly. He therefore had to bear responsibility for cuts in arms expenditure, a policy that provoked controversy when Britain found itself fighting first the Boers in South Africa in 1880 and invading Egypt in 1882.
Childers was also very unpopular with Horse Guards for his reinforcement and expansion of the Cardwell reforms. In 1 May 1881 he passed General Order 41, which made a series of improvements known as the Childers reforms.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

He became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1882, a post he'd coveted. As such, he attempted to implement a conversion of Consols in 1884. Although the scheme proved a failure, it paved the way for the subsequent conversion in 1888.
He attempted to resolve a budget shortfall in June 1885 by increasing alcohol duty and income tax. His budget was rejected by Parliament, and the government - already unpopular due to events in Egypt - was forced out of office. The Earl of Rosebery commented resignedly: "So far as I know the budget is as good a question to go out upon as any other, and Tuesday as good a day."

Home Secretary

At the subsequent election in December 1885 Childers lost his Pontefract seat, but returned as an independent Home Ruler for Edinburgh South (one of the few Liberals who adopted this policy before Gladstone's conversion in 1886).
He then served as Home Secretary in the short-lived ministry of 1886. He was critical of the financial clauses of the first Home Rule Bill, and their withdrawal was largely due to his threat of resignation. Nevertheless, the Bill still failed to pass, and its rejection brought down the Liberal government.

Retirement

He retired from parliament in 1892, and his last piece of work was the drafting of a report for the royal commission on Irish financial relations, of which he was chairman.

Miscellaneous

Towards the end of his ministerial career "HCE" Childers was notable for his girth, and so acquired the nickname "Here Comes Everybody".
A cousin, Robert Erskine Childers, was the author of the famous spy novel The Riddle of the Sands, and father of the fourth President of Ireland, Erskine Childers.

Biography

The Life and Correspondence of the Rt. Hon. Hugh C.E. Childers, Spencer Childers, 1901
The Educational Activities in Victoria of the Right Hon. H. C. E. Childers, E. Sweetman, 1940

Further Information

Get more info on 'Hugh Childers'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://hugh_childers.totallyexplained.com">Hugh Childers Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.