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. Portsea Island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth. Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all th ...

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 lo ...

(later

Surveyor of the Navy The Surveyor of the Navy also known as Department of the Surveyor of the Navy and originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy was a former principal commissioner and member of both the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 1 ...

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

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

house at Blackheath. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

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 at the Admiralty 1781/2. In 1788 he became private secretary to

John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham General John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, also 2nd Viscount Pitt and 2nd Baron 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 dis ...

in the Admiralty, retaining this role until at least 1802. In 1789 he became "Receiver" in the Admiralty's

Sixpenny Office The Sixpenny Office was one of the British admiralty's smaller offices. Established in 1696, it was originally based at Tower Hill, London. The office's main responsibility was the collection of six pence from all serving seaman's wage's on a m ...

. From 1790 to 1798 he was commander of the victualling office overseeing supplies to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. He was in charge of the Transport Office 1798 to 1802 (dealing with French prisoners-of-war), clerk of deliveries in the Ordnance Department 1802/3, 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, in Greenwich, London, were later used by the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and the University of Greenwich, and a ...

, 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 in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but ...

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 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 is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

Hunt not only lost his job but also had his house in

Lee, Kent Plumstead (1855–1894) and then Lee (1894–1900) was a local government district within the metropolitan area of London from 1855 to 1900. It was formed as the Plumstead district by the Metropolis Management Act 1855 and was governed ...

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 ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only a ...

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 English constituencies