Matthew Talbot Baines (17 February 1799 – 22 January 1860) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

lawyer and Liberal politician. He most notably served as

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the prime minister ...

in Lord Palmerston's 1855 to 1858 administration.

Background and education

Born at

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, Baines was the eldest son of Edward Baines, a noted journalist and minor politician, by Charlotte, daughter of Matthew Talbot. Sir Edward Baines was his younger brother. He was educated at

Richmond School Richmond School & Sixth Form College, often referred to simply as Richmond School, is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school with academy status, located in North Yorkshire, England. It was created by the merger of three schools, the ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he graduated in 1820.

Legal and political career

Baines was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1825 and established a successful legal practice. In 1837 Baines was appointed

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Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

, and in 1841 he became a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. Baines then turned to politics and was elected to parliament for

in 1847, a seat he held until 1852, and subsequently represented

until 1859. Only two years after entering the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, he was appointed President of the Poor Law Board in the Whig administration of

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 186 ...

. In July 1849 he was also admitted to the Privy Council. The Liberals fell from power in February 1852, but in December of the same year he was once again appointed President of the Poor Law Board, this time in the

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

headed by

Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in fo ...

. Baines remained as head of the Poor Law Board when Lord Palmerston's became Prime Minister in February 1855. In December 1855 he was made

with a seat in the cabinet. He remained in this office until the Liberals lost power in 1858. Baines was also a Deputy Lieutenant of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

and of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He retired from public life in April 1859 on grounds of ill-health.

Personal life

In 1833, Baines married the only daughter of Lazarus Threlfall. He died in January 1860, at the age of 60.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baines, Matthew Talbot 1799 births 1860 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Deputy lieutenants of Lancashire Deputy lieutenants of the West Riding of Yorkshire Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 Politicians from Kingston upon Hull