Hugh Childers

Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (25 June 1827 – 29 January 1896) was a British and Australian Liberal statesman of the nineteenth century. He is perhaps best known for being the politician responsible for the sinking of HMS Captain and for his reforms at the Admiralty. However he had other failures. At the War Office he made budget cuts in the period before the First Boer War. As Chancellor of the Exchequer he made a failed attempt to convert Conso... more

Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (25 June 1827 – 29 January 1896) was a British and Australian Liberal statesman of the nineteenth century. He is perhaps best known for being the politician responsible for the sinking of HMS Captain and for his reforms at the Admiralty. However he had other failures. At the War Office he made budget cuts in the period before the First Boer War. As Chancellor of the Exchequer he made a failed attempt to convert Consols, and his attempt to correct a budget shortfall led to the fall of the government. Childers was born in London, the son of Reverend Eardley Childers and his wife Maria Charlotte (née Smith), and was educated at both Wadham College, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. from the latter in 1850. He then decided to seek a career in Australia and in October emigrated to Victoria. He joined the government of Victoria and served as inspector of schools and immigration agent, before becoming auditor-general in 1853. In 1852 he... less