Background
He was born on 22 January 1777 in Montrose, Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom.
He was the son of a shipmaster in Montrose, Angus and apprenticed to a local surgeon.
He was born on 22 January 1777 in Montrose, Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom.
He was the son of a shipmaster in Montrose, Angus and apprenticed to a local surgeon.
He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and moved to India in 1797.
After completing his course of medical study at the university of Edinburgh he sailed in 1797 for India, where he was attached as surgeon to a regiment; and his knowledge of the native tongues and his capacity for business threw open to him the lucrative offices of interpreter and commissary-general.
In 1802, on the eve of Lord Lake's Mahratta war, his chemical knowledge enabled him to render a signal service to the administration by making available a large quantity of gunpowder which damp had spoiled.
In 1808, on the restoration of peace, he resigned all his civil appointments, and returned home in the possession of a fortune of £40, 000.
Between 1808 and 1811 he travelled much both in England and the south of Europe, and in 1812 published a blank verse translation of the Inferno.
He had joined his efforts to those of Francis Place, of Westminster, and other philanthropists, to relieve and improve the condition of the working classes, labouring especially to establish schools for them on the Lancasterian system, and promoting the formation of savings banks.
By 1818 he was a radical and represented a succession of Scottish boroughs.
In 1820 he secured the appointment of a committee to report on the expense of collecting the revenue.
He was incessantly on his legs in committee, and became a name for an opposition bandog who gave chancellors of the exchequer no peace.
He undoubtedly exercised a check on extravagance, and he did real service by helping to abolish the sinking fund.
It was he who caused the word " retrenchment " to be added to the Radical programme " peace and reform. "
He was conspicuous in the agitation raised by the so-called Orange plot to set aside King Williamin favour of the duke of Cumberland (1835 and 1836).
A Memorial of Hume was published by his son Joseph Burnley Hume (London, 1855).
When Hume returned to Parliament, he became the self-appointed guardian of the public purse by challenging and bringing to a direct vote every single item of public expenditure.
He was responsible for adding the word retrenchment to the radical “peace and reform” program.
A believer in free trade, Hume was largely responsible for the repeal of the laws prohibiting the export of machinery and of the act preventing the emigration of workmen; he also fought the Combination Acts, which made trade unionism illegal. An energetic and tireless reformer, he also protested against flogging in the army, the impressment of sailors, and imprisonment for debt; he advocated Catholic emancipation and the admission of dissenters to the universities; and he advocated the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts and parliamentary reform.
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In 1812 he purchased a seat in parliament for Weymouth and voted as a Tory.
He constantly protested against flogging in the army, the impressment of sailors and imprisonment for debt.
He took up the question of lighthouses and harbours; in the former he secured greater efficiency, in the latter he prevented useless expenditure.
Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis with Charles Adams, Richard Steward Sir John Murray, 1812–1812, Member of Parliament for Aberdeen Burghs
1818–1830, Member of Parliament for Middlesex with George Byng
1830–1837, Member of Parliament for Kilkenny City
1837–1841, Member of Parliament for Montrose Burghs 1842–1855
In 1818, soon after his marriage with Miss Burnley, the daughter of an East India director, he was returned to parliament as member for the Border burghs.
