Sir Frederick Seager Hunt, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician, and a prominent distiller.
Birth and Early Life
Frederick Seager Hunt was born on 27 April 1837 in ChippenhamChippenham
Chippenham may be:* Chippenham, Wiltshire* Chippenham * Chippenham, Cambridgeshire-See also:* Virginia State Route 150, also known as Chippenham Parkway, USA* Cippenham, Berkshire, UK...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, the eldest son of James Hunt and Eliza Seager. Eliza Seager was the eldest daughter of the distiller James Lys Seager.
He attended school at St. Peter's College, Westminster.
Business career
Seager Evans and Co.Seager Evans and Co.
Seager Evans and Co. was a London based wine and spirits company. They specialised in distillation of gin, and their most famous product was Seagers Gin.-19th century:...
was founded by Hunt's Grandfather James Lys Seager and William Evans
William Evans
-Politicians and military:*William Evans , British Army officer during the War of Spanish Succession*William Evans , American Indian Wars soldier...
. In 1864 Hunt became a partner, and in 1872 the prior partnership with Richard and Christopher Wilson was dissolved, leaving just Frederick and James as partners in the business. James Lys Seager died a year later, making Frederick the sole proprietor from then on.
During the time Hunt was involved with the company, the distillery was sited at Millbank
Millbank
Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster...
in London, although it later moved to Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
, in the 1920s. Their most famous product was Seagers Gin.
Vanity Fair
A caricature of Sir Frederick was included in Vanity FairVanity Fair (magazine, historical)
Vanity Fair has been the title of at least five magazines, including an 1859–1863 American publication, an 1868–1914 British publication, an unrelated 1902–1904 New York magazine, and a 1913–1936 American publication edited by Condé Nast, which was revived in 1983.Vanity Fair was notably a...
, dated May 18, 1893. The accompanying biographical passage read as follows:
STATESMEN. No. 613
SIR FREDERICK SEAGER HUNT, BART.
JAMES EDWARD HUNT of Cromwell RoadCromwell RoadCromwell Road is a major road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, and is designated part of the A4. It was created in the 19th century and is named after Oliver Cromwell....
(who was quite an eminent railway contractor) married Eliza, daughter of James Lys Seager, Esquire, and had issue two sons and three daughters; of whom the eldest (who is the first Baronet of this ancient family) was born at Chippenham five-and-fifty years ago. They taught him scholastically at Westminster, and more broadly in India, where he travelled in his youth; and among other things he acquired, or developed, a capacity for business that has since made him in more than one way. For he is now the head of the firm Seager, Evans and Co., of Millbank (which was founded by his maternal grandfather), a director of Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering CompanyEarle's ShipbuildingEarle's Shipbuilding was an engineering company that was based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1845 to 1932.-Earle Brothers:...
, a Governor of the Westminster Bluecoat School, Chairman of a big ToryToryToryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
organisation and of the United Westminster Almshouses, a Deputy-LieutenantDeputy LieutenantIn the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of the County of London, and Patron of the living of CharmouthCharmouthCharmouth is a village at the mouth of the River Char in West Dorset, England, with a population of 1,687 according to the 2001 census.-The village:...
, in Dorset. He is also one of the founders of the Primrose LeaguePrimrose LeagueThe Primrose League was an organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883 and active until the mid 1990s...
as well as one of Lord SalisburyRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of SalisburyRobert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
's BaronetBaronetA baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
s of last year; and having once been defeated for Marylebone in 1880, he has now gone back to Westminster, where he has most constitutionally represented the Western Division of that district for the last eight years.
Although he is now a rich man, he still goes to business daily. He is something of a sportsman, for he is a member of the Four-in-Hand Club, who is very fond of driving four horses at once, and President of the North of the Thames Licensed Victuallers' Cricket Club; which is the biggest amateur thing of its kind in England. Yet he no longer plays cricket. He has done more service to his Party than is ordinarily represented by Baronetcy; for not long ago he was royally "dined" and rewarded by a spontaneous presentation in recognition of his really great services in organising the London Boroughs. He is no orator, and when he is (very occasionally) moved to speak he shows the swaying nervousness that becomes the honest, modest man. He is very popular with the "Trade"; he has a cheery, inspiring face, and he is the husband of a very attractive cousin.
He has shown that he is an inveterate Tory by becoming member of no fewer than four Tory clubs; yet he is so good a fellow that, even in Westminster bear-garden, no decent man has found a word to say against him. He is generous; and, despite the fact he is a distiller, he is a gentleman. He knows a good cigar when he gets it.
Political career
Sir Frederick was elected at the 1885 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Marleybone West
Marylebone West (UK Parliament constituency)
Marylebone West was a borough constituency located in the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone, in London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
. He was re-elected in 1886
United Kingdom general election, 1886
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
and 1892
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
, but at the 1895 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
he stood instead in Maidstone
Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency)
Maidstone was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The parliamentary borough of Maidstone returned two Members of Parliament from 1552 until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member...
, where he was returned unopposed. He resigned his seat
Resignation from the British House of Commons
Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...
in 1898 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead.
Sources
- National Archives Records for Seager Evans and Co. Ltd.
- 1851 Census, National Archives
- Vanity FairVanity Fair (magazine, historical)Vanity Fair has been the title of at least five magazines, including an 1859–1863 American publication, an 1868–1914 British publication, an unrelated 1902–1904 New York magazine, and a 1913–1936 American publication edited by Condé Nast, which was revived in 1983.Vanity Fair was notably a...
, May 1893