George Rose (politician)

The Right Honourable George Rose
File:George Rose by Sir William Beechey.jpg
Vice-President of the Board of Trade
In office 1807–1812
Preceded by	Earl Temple
Succeeded by	Frederick John Robinson

George Rose (17 June 1744 – 13 January 1818) was a British politician.

Life

Born at Woodside near Brechin, Scotland, Rose was the son of the Reverend David Rose of Lethnot, by Margaret, daughter of Donald Rose of Wester Clune. He was educated at Westminster School, afterwards entering the Royal Navy, a service which he left in 1762 after he had been wounded in some fighting in the West Indies. He then obtained a position in the civil service, becoming joint Keeper of the Records in 1772 and secretary to the Board of Taxes in 1777. In 1782 he gave up the latter appointment to become one of the secretaries to the treasury under Prime Minister Lord Shelburne, though he did not enter Parliament.

He left office with his colleagues in April 1783, but in the following December he returned to his former position at the Treasury in Pitt's ministry, being henceforward one of this minister's most steadfast supporters. He entered parliament as Member for Launceston early in 1784, and his fidelity and friendship were rewarded by Pitt, who gave him a lucrative post in the court of exchequer; in 1788 he became Clerk of the Parliaments. In 1801 Rose left office with Pitt, but returned with him to power in 1804, when he was made vice-president of the committee on trade and joint Paymaster-General.

Rose resigned these offices a few days after Pitt's death in 1806, but he served as vice-president of the committee on trade and Treasurer of the Navy under the Duke of Portland and Spencer Perceval from 1807 to 1812. He was again Treasurer of the Navy under Lord Liverpool, and he was still MP for Christchurch, a seat which he had held since 1790, when he died at Cuffnells, in Hampshire. He and many of his family are buried at Christchurch Priory,

Rose was a close friend of Admiral Lord Nelson. He first met Nelson when the latter was a young Captain and had just returned from the West Indies. This friendship grew over the years. Nelson invited Rose to go on board HMS Victory before the ship sailed for the Battle of Trafalgar; his purpose was to tell Rose that, if he was killed, he had left Lady Hamilton and their daughter Horatia to the Nation. Rose was thus the last man in England to see Nelson alive. After Nelson's death Rose became Emma Hamilton's executor and Horatia's guardian; but Pitt's death diminished Rose's influence and his fellow Ministers did not support her.

Rose was also a friend of King George III and his family who stayed with him a number of times at his house "Cuffnells" in Lyndhurst, on their way to summer holidays at Weymouth. Rose also owned a seaside house at Sandhills near Christchurch, now a holiday camp.

Rose was a conscientious politician, although he and his two sons drew a large amount of money from sinecures, a fact referred to by William Cobbett in his A New Year's Gift to old George Rose.

Works

Rose wrote several books on economic subjects, and his Diaries and Correspondence, edited by the Rev. L. V. Harcourt, was published in 1860.

Family

His elder son, Sir George Henry Rose (1771–1855), was in parliament from 1794 to 1813, and again from 1818 to 1844, and in the meantime he was British minister at Munich, at Berlin, and at Washington. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Hanoverian Guelphic Order. In 1818 he succeeded his father as clerk of the parliaments. He was the father of Field Marshal Baron Strathnairn who was described as one of the bravest men in the British Army and the best commander in the Indian Mutiny. The second son was the poet William Stewart Rose who was friendly with Sir Walter Scott.

Legacy

The historic Australian town (now suburb of Sydney) of Parramatta was originally called Rose Hill after George Rose, but was later renamed. However, the name Rose Hill was retained by a neighbouring suburb, Rose Hill.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
• The Right Honourable George Rose by Peter Poland, published in Sydney, Australia January 1989

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Rose

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Charles Perceval Sir John Jervis	Member of Parliament for Launceston 1784–1788 With: Charles Perceval	Succeeded by Charles Perceval Sir John Swinburne, Bt
Preceded by Harry Burrard Robert Colt	Member of Parliament for Lymington 1788–1790 With: Robert Colt	Succeeded by Harry Burrard Harry Burrard-Neale
Preceded by John Frederick Hans Sloane	Member of Parliament for Christchurch 1790–1801 With: Hans Sloane 1790–1796 William Stewart Rose 1796–1800 William Chamberlayne 1800–1801	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Christchurch 1801–1818 With: William Chamberlayne 1801–1802 William Sturges Bourne 1802–1812 William Edward Tomline 1812–1818	Succeeded by William Edward Tomline Sir George Henry Rose
Political offices
Preceded by Richard Burke	Secretary to the Treasury (junior) 1782–1783	Succeeded by Richard Burke
Preceded by Richard Brinsley Sheridan	Secretary to the Treasury (senior) 1783–1801	Succeeded by John Hiley Addington
Preceded by Ashley Cowper	Clerk of the Parliaments 1788–1818	Succeeded by Sir George Henry Rose
Preceded by Nathaniel Bond	Vice-President of the Board of Trade 1804–1806	Succeeded by Earl Temple
Preceded by Thomas Steele John Hiley Addington	Paymaster of the Forces 1804–1806 With: Lord Charles Henry Somerset	Succeeded by Earl Temple Lord John Townshend
Preceded by Earl Temple	Vice-President of the Board of Trade 1807–1812	Succeeded by Frederick John Robinson
Preceded by Richard Brinsley Sheridan	Treasurer of the Navy 1807–1818	Succeeded by Frederick John Robinson