26o THE OLD BERKS HUNT 



and for a short time went the Western Circuit. 

 When in London he was a frequent visitor at 

 Holland House, where he met the many 

 eminent men who resorted there. He twice 

 unsuccessfully contested Salisbury, for which 

 his father had sat from 1800 to 1828. In 1844, 

 however, he was returned for the Kilmarnock 

 Burghs, which he represented continuously 

 until 1874, the General Election of which year 

 brought his Parliamentary career to an end. 

 He unsuccessfully contested the Borough of 

 Liskeard against Mr. L. Courtney in 1880, but 

 made no other attempt to enter Parliament. He 

 was one of a small minority who voted in favour 

 of Mr. Villiers' motion for the repeal of the Corn 

 Laws, and soon began to make his mark 

 in general business. In 1850 he was made 

 Under-Secretary for the Home Department 

 under Sir George Grey. He did not hold 

 office in the Ministry of 1852, but in this year 

 he was made Chairman of Committees. In 

 1855 he became Vice-President of the Board of 

 Trade, and as such conducted through the 

 House the Act permitting the establishment 

 of companies with limited liability. In the 

 same year he became Paymaster-General, and 

 subsequently President of the Poor Law Board, 

 which latter office he held until 1858. When 

 Lord Palmerston's Government was formed in 



