George Larpent

Sir George Gerard de Hochepied Larpent, 1st Baronet (16 February 1786 – 8 March 1855) was a British businessman of Huguenot and Dutch descent and a Liberal Party politician.

Career

Larpent born in London. His elder brother inherited the Hungarian title of Baron de Hochpied, through his mother's line, in 1819. At that time he added de Hochepied to his family name, Larpent. He was made a British baronet in 1841.[1] His father was John Larpent, the inspector of plays. His mother, Anna Margaretta, assisted in this work. She kept a journal for most of her life which is now in the Huntington Library.[1]

He was involved with trade to India, became chairman of the Oriental and China Association, and was deputy chairman of the St. Katherine's Dock company. Larpent stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at a by-election in May 1840 for Ludlow[2] He was unsuccessful again at a by-election in April 1841 for Nottingham[3] but at the general election in June 1841, just prior to becoming a baronet in August, he won the seat. However, he served little more than a year as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham; he resigned from Parliament in May 1842. At the 1847 general election he stood in the City of London, where he fell just three votes short of winning the fourth seat.[4]

In 1847 he was Chairman of 'a Committee for promoting the extension of Steam Navigation to Australia and New Zealand',[5] which also included the pioneer of the 'overland route' to the East, Lt. Thomas Waghorn, and another would-be improver of routes to the East, Henry Wise.

He edited the Peninsular War journal [6] of his half-brother, Frances Seymour Larpent, and a History of Turkey [7] from papers left by his grandfather, Sir James Porter.

He died in 1855, having outlived two wives and leaving three sons and a daughter.

In Lady Larpent's garden at Roehampton, Hampshire, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides was first successfully flowered in England; it was at first given the name Plumbago larpentae, "Lady Larpent's Plumbago".[8]

References
  • Craig, Fred W. S. (1989) [1977]. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 978-0-900178-26-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  1. "Larpent, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  2. Craig 1989, p. 193.
  3. Craig 1989, p. 228.
  4. Craig 1989, p. 4.
  5. "STEAM TO ENGLAND". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842–1954). 7 July 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 3 October 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. Larpent, Francis Seymour (1853). The Private Journal of F. Seymour Larpent: During the Peninsular War, from 1812 to Its Close. R. Bentley.
  7. Porter, Sir James (1 January 1854). Turkey; Its History and Progress. Gregg International Publishers. ISBN 978-0-576-03954-3.
  8. Coats, Alice M. (1965). "Ceratostigma". Garden shrubs and their histories. Dutton. p. 66.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Walter
Sir John Hobhouse, Bt		 Member of Parliament for Nottingham
1841–1842
With: Sir John Hobhouse, Bt		 Succeeded by
John Walter
Sir John Hobhouse, Bt
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Roehampton)
1841–1855		 Succeeded by
Albert Larpent
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