Thomas Milner Gibson

Thomas Milner Gibson PC (3 September 1806 – 25 February 1884) was a British politician.

For the rugby league footballer of the 1910s for England, and Dewsbury, see Thomas Milner.
For other people named Thomas Gibson, see Thomas Gibson (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
Thomas Milner Gibson
President of the Board of Trade
In office
6 July 1859 – 26 June 1866
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Viscount Palmerston
The Earl Russell
Preceded byThe Earl of Donoughmore
Succeeded bySir Stafford Northcote, Bt
Vice-President of the Board of Trade
In office
8 July 1846 – 8 May 1848
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterLord John Russell
Preceded bySir George Clerk, Bt
Succeeded byThe Earl Granville
Personal details
Born3 September 1806 (1806-09-03)
Port of Spain, Trinidad
Died25 February 1884 (1884-02-26) (aged 77)
Algiers, French Algeria
NationalityBritish
Political partyTory
Whig
Liberal
SpouseSusannah Cullum
ChildrenThomas Gibson Bowles
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge

Background and education

Thomas Milner Gibson came of a Suffolk family, but was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where his father, Thomas Milner Gibson, was serving as an officer in the British Army.

He was educated in Trinidad, in a school at Higham Hill also attended by Benjamin Disraeli, at Charterhouse, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1830.[1]

Political career

In 1837, Gibson was elected to parliament as Conservative member for Ipswich, but resigned two years later and losing the subsequent by-election, having adopted Liberal views, and became an ardent supporter of the free-trade movement. As one of Richard Cobden's chief allies, he was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Manchester in 1841, and, from 1846 to 1848, he was Vice-President of the Board of Trade in Lord John Russell's ministry.

Although defeated in Manchester in 1857, he found another seat for Ashton-under-Lyne, and sat in the cabinet under Lord Palmerston and then Russell from 1859 to 1866 as President of the Board of Trade.[2]

In 1846, he was sworn of the Privy Council.[3] Gibson was the leading spirit in the movement for the repeal of taxes on knowledge, and his successful efforts on behalf of journalism and advertising were recognized by a public testimonial in 1862. He retired from political life in 1868, but he and his wife, whose salon was a great Liberal centre, were for many years very influential in society.[2]

Family
Arethusa Susannah Milner Gibson, oil on canvas, William Boxall, R.A.

Milner Gibson married Arethusa Susannah Cullum, daughter of Revd. Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, 7th Baronet of Hardwick House, Suffolk, in 1832.[1] They resided at Theberton House,[lower-alpha 1] Suffolk.

Gibson also had a relationship with Susannah Bowles, a servant girl. Their son, Thomas Gibson Bowles, became a noted publisher and was the maternal grandfather of the Mitford sisters.

Milner Gibson died on board his yacht, the Resolute, at Algiers on 25 February 1884, aged 77, and was buried in St. Peter's churchyard at Theberton in Suffolk on 13 March.[4]

Notes
  1. Theberton House should not be confused with Theberton Hall

References
  1. "Gibson (post Milner-Gibson), Thomas Milner (GB823TM)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gibson, Thomas Milner". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 944.
  3. The London Gazette, 10 July 1846.
  4. "Gibson, Thomas Milner-". Dictionary of National Biography. 21: 286. 1885–1900. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
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