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FAMOUS PEOPLE

THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, FIRST BARON OF ROTHLEY:
THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, Whig politician, essayist, poet and historian, is probably best known for his five volume "HISTORY OF ENGLAND", published between 1849 and 1861. He was one of the founders of what has become known as the "Whig Interpretation of History".

MACAULAY was born on October 25th 1800 at ROTHLEY TEMPLE, the house of his uncle. His father was ZACHARY MACAULAY, the son of a Presbyterian minister and former governor of Sierra Leone who was an ardent supporter of WILLIAM WILBERFORCE's fight to abolish slavery.

MACAULAY's mother was invited to stay at ROTHLEY TEMPLE for her confinement by her sister-in-law and mistress of the house, MRS BABINGTON. This explains why MACAULAY came to be born there and why he was given "BABINGTON" as his middle name. A contemporary description of the room in which he was born calls it:

"a room panelled from ceiling to floor, like every corner of the ancient mansion, with oak almost black with age".

MACAULAY grew up in Clapham but spent many holidays at ROTHLEY TEMPLE with his uncle, aunt and cousins where he became known as a precocious and studious child, with a maturity far beyond his years.

After a private school education, he studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow at the age of 24. Although called to the bar in 1826, he decided on a career in politics and became Liberal MP for Colne in 1830 and for Leeds in 1832. Several minor offices were followed in 1834 by a period in India as legal advisor to the Supreme Council, later becoming president of a commission to compile a criminal code for India.

MACAULAY returned to London in 1838 and began work on his famous "HISTORY OF ENGLAND" a year later. He returned to Parliament where he served as MP for Edinburgh until 1847 and again from 1852 to 1856. Government posts were more substantial this time and he became Secretary of State for War from 1839 to 1841 and Paymaster to the Forces in 1846 to 1847. This last post could be seen as something of a demotion after being Secretary for War, so perhaps his political career was on the wane by this point.

But his writing success was more than making up for this. His "LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME" was published in 1842 and a collection of his essays for the "EDINBURGH REVIEW" came out in 1843. The greatest success, however, was the "HISTORY OF ENGLAND", which ws published in four volumes between 1848 and 1855 and made him £20,000 in royalties world-wide. In 1857 he was created BARON MACAULAY OF ROTHLEY and died two years later on December 29th 1859. He is buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey.