LARPENT, Sir George Gerard de Hochepied (1786-1855), of 8 Austin Friars, London, Mdx. and Roehampton, Surr.

On his father’s side, Larpent was descended from French Huguenots, who had settled in England on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and in 1819 he was granted permission to assume the Hungarian title of Baron de Hochepied, which came through his mother’s line. A notable merchant, he entered the East India house of Cockerall and Larpent at an early age, and went on to become chairman of the East India and China Association, deputy chairman of the Katherine Docks company and director of the Royal Exchange Assurance company.1A. McConnell, ‘Larpent, Sir George Gerard, first baronet, and Baron de Hochepied in the Hungarian nobility (1786-1855)’, Oxf. DNB, http://www.oxforddnb.com. Having published two pamphlets on the negotiations between the board of control and the East India Company in 1833, his expertise later led him to give evidence to select committees on commercial relations with China, and sugar and coffee planting in the East and West Indies and Mauritius.2PP 1847 (654), v. 19; PP 1847-8 (123), xxiii. 308.

Contesting a by-election as a Liberal at Ludlow in May 1840, Larpent boasted of his part, as chairman of the City of London Mercantile Committee on Postage, in securing the penny postage scheme. Describing himself as belonging to a ‘great body of moderate, sincere, and temperate minded men’, he rejected a total repeal of the corn laws, dismissed the need for triennial parliaments, was ambiguous regarding the abolition of church rates, and lost the ensuing poll.3Morning Chronicle, 23 May 1840. Standing at a by-election at Nottingham in April 1841, Larpent appeared to abandon his previously moderate stance and supported such ‘shortening of the duration of parliament as may be required for public benefit’4The Times, 19 Apr. 1841. and the total repeal of the ‘odious and detestable’ corn laws.5Morning Chronicle, 19 Apr. 1841. In a campaign where his opponents constantly labelled him a ‘foreigner’ and ‘frenchman’, he was weakened by Chartist support for his Conservative opponent and defeated.6Morning Chronicle, 23 Apr. 1841, 28 Apr. 1841. Standing on the same platform two months later at the 1841 general election, however, Larpent topped the poll.7Morning Chronicle, 18 June 1841.

A regular attender until struck down by ‘a severe medical and surgical malady’ in March 1842, 8Hansard, 10 June 1842, vol. 63, c. 195. Larpent retained his opposition to the corn laws, backing Charles Villiers’ motion to repeal them, and voting in the minority in the subsequent divisions.9House of Commons Division Lists, 1842 session, 24 Feb., 25 Feb., 9 Mar., 14 Mar. With his only known contribution to debate being a call for the government to compensate opium merchants for stock seized at Canton,10Hansard, 17 Mar. 1842, vol. 161, cc. 774-7, 785. perhaps the most significant aspect of Larpent’s short-lived parliamentary career was the controversy surrounding his retirement. Following a succession of petitions against his return,11CJ, vol. xcvi, 25 Aug. 1841, 472-3; CJ, vol. xcvi, 6 Sept. 1841, 506; CJ, vol. xcvi, 7 Sept. 1841, 546-8. on 4 May 1842, an election committee determined that Larpent had been duly elected.12CJ, vol. xcvii, 3 May 1842, 247-8; CJ, vol. xcvii, 4 May 1842, 252. The following day, however, he took the Chiltern Hundreds, prompting ‘grave reasons for suspicions’.13Hansard, 5 May 1842, vol. 63, c. 195; Hansard, 6 May 1842, vol. 63, cc. 213, 219. An inquiry into alleged corrupt compromises later determined that an agreement had been entered into by the agents of all sides, whereby all petitions would be abandoned if one seat was vacated, £1,000 paid to the petitioners, and the defeated candidate, John Walter, returned to the vacant seat. A signed promissory note for £4,000 had also been deposited, which was to be handed to Walter if the conditions were not met.14PP 1842 (458), v. 75-81.

Following his retirement, Larpent focused his efforts on his chairmanship of the East India and China Association, corresponding on a number of occasions with Sir Robert Peel, to urge the government to maintain harmonious relations with China, and ask for a reduction in the duties on tea and sugar.15BL Add. MSS 40520, f. 90; 40524, f. 271; 40533, f. 16; 40542, f. 26; 40583, f. 249. Larpent made one attempt to return to parliament, standing for the City of London at the 1847 general election, where, stating his support for civil and religious liberty but admitting he had ‘no parliamentary experience’, he fell three votes short of election.16Morning Chronicle, 29 July 1847. Retiring from public life, he edited, in three volumes, The private journals of Francis Seymour Larpent, judge-advocate general (1853), his half-brother, and Turkey, its history and progress (1854) written by his grandfather, the diplomatist Sir James Porter, continuing it and adding a memoir.17McConnell, ‘Larpent, Sir George Gerard’. Created a baronet on 23 August 1841, Larpent died at his home in Conduit Street, Mayfair, London, on 8 March 1855, and was succeeded by his only surviving son, Albert-John.