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Entry TypePerson
SurnameWilmot-Horton, formerly Wilmot
ForenamesRobert John
Pre TitleSir
PlaceOsmaston-by-Derby
PlaceOsmaston-by-Derby
Epithetof Catton Hall, baronet, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1821-1828, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon 1831-1837
Dates1784-1841
Gender IdentityMale
BiographySir 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.
Authorised Form of NameWilmot-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

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