Person Wilmot-Horton, formerly Wilmot; Sir; Robert John (1784-1841); of Catton Hall, baronet, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1821-1828, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon 1831-1837 DS/UK/3673 Wilmot-Horton, formerly Wilmot Robert John Sir 1784-1841 of Catton Hall, baronet, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1821-1828, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon 1831-1837 Male Osmaston-by-Derby Osmaston-by-Derby Sir Robert John Wilmot, later Wilmot-Horton (1784-1841) was an assiduous correspondent and was in contact by letter with most of the important political figures of the day including George and Stratford Canning, the 14th Earl of Derby, Lord Grenville, John Gladstone, Lord Goderich, William Huskisson, Lord Palmerston and Sir Robert Peel. Wilmot-Horton's main interests were the problems of poverty and over-population and issues of political economy. Apparently much influenced by Malthus, he saw emigration as the main answer to these challenges. The relocation of surplus, chiefly pauper, populations from Britain and Ireland to the colonies of Australia and Canada was a considerable pre-occupation. Associated with this main interest were concern about reform of the poor law, taxes and currency, the management of Ireland, the Catholic question, slavery and the West Indies. Among his correspondents were Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, William Nassau Senior, Maria Edgeworth, Robert Owen, Sydney Smith, Thomas Tooke, Robert Torrens, Sir Thomas Brisbane, Francis Forbes, John Galt and William Wilberforce. DS/UK/2548 Improve Yes International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Derbyshire Record Office Collections Manual Section 7 v5.1 (May 2020) DERBYSHIRE\a7005277 16/02/2021 DERBYSHIRE\a7005277 08/09/2026 5b698d80-bbd2-4238-8112-48890e34cf64