Background
Hugh Culling Eardley Childers was born in London on 25 June 1827, the son of the Rev. Eardley Childers (who died in 1831) and his wife, Maria Charlotte Smith.
Hugh Culling Eardley Childers was born in London on 25 June 1827, the son of the Rev. Eardley Childers (who died in 1831) and his wife, Maria Charlotte Smith.
Hugh was educated at Cheam School from 1836 until 1843, went to Wadham College, Oxford, in May 1845, and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1850.
He filled many other posts in Australia, but drifted back to Britain in 1857, determined to pursue a political career.
In 1852 he became auditor general in Australia, with an impressive salary of £1,200 per year. He drifted back to Britain in 1857, determined to pursue a political career.
Childers became Liberal M.P. for Pontefract in 1859, being elected to this two-member seat with another Liberal candidate. In the House of Commons he campaigned to end penal transportation to Australia. His efforts gained him the attention of Lord Palmerston, who made him a civil lord of the admiralty. In 1865 he was appointed financial secretary to the Treasury, a post in which he developed a friendship with William Ewart Gladstone, then chancellor of the exchequer. When Gladstone formed his first administration in 1868, Childers was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and was admitted to the Privy Council. In this capacity he introduced new regulations for promotion and retirement in 1870 and improved the management of dockyards. On health grounds, he retired from office in March 1871, although he returned as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in August 1872, also being reelected as M.P. for Pontefract the same month. However, he again retired from office in 1873 and remained out of mainstream politics until 1880, when Gladstone returned to power after the fall of Disraelis government of 1874 to 1880.
Gladstone appointed his old friend Childers secretary of war.
Childers maintained a loyal friendship with Gladstone despite the reversal, and he encouraged Gladstones advocacy of Home Rule for Ireland in 1885. Childers lost his Pontefract seat in January 1886 but won South Edinburgh and became home secretary in Gladstones brief ministry of 1886. He was elected for South Edinburgh again in June 1886; but failing health led him to seek warmer climes in Europe and in India. He retired from active politics at the 1892 general election but continued to play a role in public service until his death on 29 January 1896.
He is remembered today not as a first-rate politician but as an efficient and effective administrator.
After graduation he married Emily, third daughter of G. J. A. Walker of Norton, Worcestershire, and moved to Melbourne, Australia, to pursue a career in the colonies.