Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton

The Lord Ashburton
The Right Honourable; The Lord Ashburton
Member of the United Kingdom Parliament; for Thetford
	In office; 1830–1831 Serving with Lord James FitzRoy
Preceded by	Bingham Baring; Lord Charles FitzRoy;
Succeeded by	Alexander Baring; Lord James Fitzroy;
Member of the United Kingdom Parliament; for Thetford
	In office; 1832–1841 Serving with Lord James FitzRoy to 1834; Earl of Euston (1) from 1834;
Preceded by	Alexander Baring; Lord James Fitzroy;
Succeeded by	Bingham Baring; Earl of Euston (1);
Member of the United Kingdom Parliament; for Thetford
	In office; 1848–1857 Serving with Earl of Euston (2)
Preceded by	Earl of Euston (2); Hon. Bingham Baring;
Succeeded by	Earl of Euston (2); Alexander Baring;
Personal details
Born	20 May 1800; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	6 September 1868 (aged 68)
Political party	Tory
Other political; affiliations	Whig
Children	Alexander Baring, 4th Baron Ashburton

Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton (20 May 1800 – 6 September 1868[1]) was a British peer Whig and later Tory politician.

Early life

He was born in Philadelphia, United States, the second son of Alexander Baring and Ann Louisa, the daughter and coheiress of the wealthy William Bingham of Blackpoint, Philadelphia, a US Senator. He was the younger brother of Bingham Baring. Francis was educated privately and at Geneva and in 1817 joined Baring Brothers, the family bank. After successfully travelling on business to North America and the West Indies he was made a quarter share partner in the bank in 1823.[2]

However, after unfortunate financial speculations in Mexican land and in the French sugar market, he was demoted to a non-executive director in 1828 and in 1830 was given his brother's Parliamentary seat for Thetford.

Political career

He was elected at the 1830 general election as a Whig Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of Thetford in Norfolk,[3] and held the seat until the 1831 election, which he did not contest.[3] He was re-elected in 1832 as a Tory,[4] and held the seat as a Conservative until the 1841 general election, which he did not contest.[4]

According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Baring was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837. The British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £1.43 billion in 2021[5]) with interest from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore which was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers (ending in 2015). Baring was associated with eight different claims, he owned 1079 slaves in British Guiana and received a substantial payment.[6]

He was returned again for Thetford at a by-election in August 1848,[4] and held the seat until his resignation through appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds on 30 November 1857.[7]

Baring succeeded to the barony in 1864 on the death of his brother, Bingham Baring, becoming the 3rd Baron Ashburton.

Family

He married in 1832 Claire Hortense (c. 1812 – 1882), a daughter of Hugues-Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano, and moved to live in Paris. He was the father of Alexander Baring, 4th Baron Ashburton, and Hon. Marie Anne Louise Baring (wife of William FitzRoy, 6th Duke of Grafton).

Legacy

The town of Ashburton, New Zealand, is named for Francis Baring, who was a member of the Canterbury Association.

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
"BARING, Francis (1800-1868), of The Grange, nr. Alresford, Hants and 82 Piccadilly, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 228. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 305. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
"Francis Baring". University College London. Retrieved on 20 March 2019.
Department of Information Services (14 January 2010). "Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2010.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Francis Baring

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Bingham Baring Lord Charles FitzRoy	Member of Parliament for Thetford 1830–1831 With: Lord James FitzRoy	Succeeded by Alexander Baring Lord James FitzRoy
Preceded by Alexander Baring Lord James FitzRoy	Member of Parliament for Thetford 1832–1841 With: Lord James FitzRoy to 1834 Earl of Euston (1) from 1834	Succeeded by Bingham Baring Earl of Euston (1)
Preceded by Earl of Euston (2) Hon. Bingham Baring	Member of Parliament for Thetford 1848–1857 With: Earl of Euston (2)	Succeeded by Earl of Euston (2) Alexander Baring
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Bingham Baring	Baron Ashburton 1864–1868	Succeeded by Alexander Baring

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[1] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)

[HoP-2] "BARING, Francis (1800-1868), of The Grange, nr. Alresford, Hants and 82 Piccadilly, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 10 December 2017.

[stooks-smith-3] Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 228. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.

[craig1832-1885-4] Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 305. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.

[inflation-UK-5] UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.

[6] "Francis Baring". University College London. Retrieved on 20 March 2019.

[hoc-resignations-7] Department of Information Services (14 January 2010). "Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2010.