Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton

Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton PC (15 August 1798 – 13 July 1869) was a prominent British Whig and Liberal Party politician of the mid-19th century.

Background and education

Labouchere /læbuːˈʃɛər/ was born in Over Stowey, Somerset, into a Huguenot merchant family. His father was Peter Caesar Labouchere and his mother Dorothy Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Baring. He was educated at Winchester College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his B.A. (1821) and his M.A. (1828).

Political career

In 1826, Labouchere became MP for St Michael, as a Whig. In 1830, he moved to the Taunton seat, which he held until 1859. In 1835 he was opposed by Benjamin Disraeli for the Taunton seat; Labouchere won by 452 votes to 282. He was first appointed to office by Lord Grey in 1832, serving as Civil Lord of the Admiralty. After beginning the second Melbourne ministry as Master of the Mint, Privy Counsellor, and Vice-President of the Board of Trade (and, later, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies), Labouchere was raised to a cabinet post, President of the Board of Trade, which he held from 1839 until the Melbourne government fell in 1841.

Taunton

Coordinates: 51°01′08″N 3°06′00″W / 51.019°N 3.100°W / 51.019; -3.100

Taunton /ˈtɔːntən/ is the county town of Somerset, England. The built up area of the town had a population of 64,621 in 2011.

The town has over 1,000 years of religious and military history, including a monastery in the 10th century and Taunton Castle which has origins in the Anglo Saxon period and was later the site of a priory. The Normans then built a stone structured castle, which belonged to the Bishops of Winchester. The current heavily reconstructed buildings are the inner ward, which now houses the Museum of Somerset and the Somerset Military Museum. The town is undergoing a regeneration project with redevelopment of the town centre. It has various transport links which support its central role in economy and commerce. These have included the Grand Western Canal which reached Taunton in 1839 and arrival of the railway in 1842. It is the county town of Somerset.

Taunton is the site of Musgrove Park Hospital and Somerset County Cricket Club's County Ground and is home to 40 Commando, Royal Marines. Central Taunton is part of the annual West Country Carnival circuit. It hosts the Taunton flower show, which has been held in Vivary Park since 1866. The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office is located on Admiralty Way.

Taunton (UK Parliament constituency)

Taunton was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors from 1295 to 2010, taking its name from the town of Taunton in Somerset. Until 1918, it was a parliamentary borough, electing two Member of Parliaments (MPs) between 1295 and 1885 and one from 1885 to 1918; the name was then transferred to a county constituency, electing one MP.

In the boundary changes that came into effect at the general election of 2010, the Boundary Commission for England replaced Taunton with a modified constituency called Taunton Deane, to reflect the district name.

Boundaries

Taunton borough (to 1918): The borough consisted of the town of Taunton, Somerset. Until 1832, it retained the medieval boundaries, which included only part of the parish of St Mary Magdalene, Taunton, but the boundary act extended it to take in more of the town, including parts of Taunton St James, Wilton, West Monkton and Bishop's Hull parishes, which more than doubled its population.

Taunton (disambiguation)

Taunton is the county town of Somerset. It may also refer to:

Places

In Great Britain:

In Australia:

In the United States:

People