George Arbuthnot (20 November 1802,

Norbiton Norbiton is an area within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It lies approximately east of Kingston upon Thames town centre, and from Charing Cross. Its main landmarks include Kingston Hospital, Kingsmeadow football stad ...

, Surrey - 28 July 1865) was a distinguished member of the permanent British civil service. He worked in the Treasury at the Colonial Office in Hong Kong when the HSBC charter was first drawn up;

Arbuthnot Road Arbuthnot Road (Chinese: 亞畢諾道) is a road in Central, Hong Kong. The road begins at the Former Central Magistracy, a declared monument of Hong Kong. The road ends at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. History Most of th ...

, Hong Kong was named after him.

Career

Arbuthnot served in the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

. He was appointed by

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...

a junior clerk in the Treasury 18 July 1820 and served with that department until his death, as private secretary to six successive Secretaries of the Treasury. In February, 1843, he was appointed private secretary to

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

and subsequently to Sir Charles Wood, later

Viscount Halifax A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is so ...

. He was then holding the appointment of auditor of the civil list and was also secretary to the ecclesiastical commissioners. He was twice offered the appointment of financial member of the council of the

governor-general of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...

, first on the death of Mr

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada * James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Queb ...

, PC in 1860 and then on the retirement of

Sir Charles Trevelyan Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, (2 April 1807 – 19 June 1886) was an English civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India. He returned to Britain and took up ...

in 1865, but was obliged to turn down the offer on health grounds on both occasions.

Personal life

Arbuthnot was the son of Lt-General Sir Robert Arbuthnot, KCB. He was married (1829) to Augusta Papendick (died 1853) and then (1857) to Louisa Anne Jones (daughter of Lt-General Sir Richard Jones, KCB). George Arbuthnot was father of General Henry Thomas Arbuthnot. He wrote a retrospective economic analysis of the

Bank Charter Act 1844 The Bank Charter Act 1844 ( 7 & 8 Vict. c. 32), sometimes referred to as the Peel Banking Act of 1844, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed under the government of Robert Peel, which restricted the powers of British bank ...

: *''Sir Robert Peel's Act of 1844, Regulating the Issue of Bank Notes, Vindicated'',

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman ...

, 1857. He died in 1865.

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arbuthnot, George 1802 births 1865 deaths Civil servants in HM Treasury Private secretaries in the British Civil Service George Arbuthnot