Joseph Hunt (1762–1816) was a British Tory MP who also held various senior posts linked to the Admiralty and Royal Navy.

Life

He was born at

Portsea, Portsmouth Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. The island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth. Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all the i ...

in January 1762 the son of Edward Hunt a shipbuilder at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...

(later

Surveyor of the Navy The Surveyor of the Navy, originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy, held overall responsibility for the design of British warships from 1745. He was a principal commissioner and member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of tha ...

) and his wife Anne Irish (d.1804). The family also had a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

house at Blackheath. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

from 1773 to 1777. From 1779 (aged only 17) he was Clerk to his father in his role as

(to which post he had been appointed in 1778). Through this role he became private secretary to Admiral

Sir Samuel Hood Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of , Hood drove a Fre ...

at the Admiralty 1781–82. In 1788 he became private secretary to

John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham General John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham (9 October 1756 – 24 September 1835) was a British soldier and politician. He spent a lengthy period in the cabinet but is best known for commanding the disastrous Walcheren Campaign of 1809. Chatham wa ...

in the Admiralty, retaining this role until at least 1802. In 1789 he became "Receiver" in the Admiralty's Sixpenny Office. From 1790 to 1798 he was commander of the victualling office overseeing supplies to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. He was in charge of the Transport Office 1798 to 1802 (dealing with French prisoners-of-war), clerk of deliveries in the Ordnance Department 1802–03, Treasurer to the Royal Navy 1803 to 1806 and 1807 to 1810. In 1791 he was appointed Director of

Greenwich Hospital, London Greenwich Hospital was a permanent home for retired sailors of the Royal Navy, which operated from 1692 to 1869. Its buildings, initially Greenwich Palace, in Greenwich, London, were later used by the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and the Uni ...

, one of the Admiralty's most important locations. He held this post for 19 years. In 1804 he stood unsuccessfully as MP for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

but in 1807 was elected MP for

Queenborough Queenborough is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. Queenborough is south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River ...

. He was forced to resign as treasurer in January 1810 having left a deficit of £11,000 in his first 18 months and a breathtaking £93,300 in his second 18 months. As a consequence of what appeared to be

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

Hunt not only lost his job in May by expulsion from Parliament but also had his house in

Lee, Kent Lee, also known as Lee Green, is an area of South East London, England, straddling the border of the London Borough of Lewisham and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located northwest of Eltham and southeast of Lewisham. It was in Kent bef ...

confiscated by the Ordnance Board. Disgraced, he died in France on 10 January 1816.Hart, Lee, 11-12; Gent. Mag. (1816), i. 380; Burke PB (1959) Davie

Family

In April 1785 he married Catherine Davie, daughter of Sir John Davie, 7th baronet of Creedy in Devon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Joseph 1762 births 1816 deaths People educated at Winchester College Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Queenborough Expelled members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Politicians convicted of embezzlement UK MPs 1807–1812