The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-20 00:00:00

The New Peers.

In, the London Gazette of last evening the official
announcement appears of the elevation of the Right
Hon. Sir John Romilly and the Right Hon. Sir
Francis Thornhill Baring, Bart., to the peerage
—the former as Baron Romilly of Barry, in the
county of Glamorgan, and the latter as Baron
Northbrook of Stratton, in the county of South-
ampton.

The Right Hon. Sir John Romilly is the second
son of the late Sir Samuel Romilly. He was born
in 1802, and married a daughter of the Rev. Dr.
Otter, Bishop of Chichester ; she died in 1856. The
noble lord was educated at Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, where he graduated M.A. in 1826. He was
called to the bar at. Grey's-inn, in 1827, of which
learned society he is now a bencher. He obtained
his silk gown very early in his professional career,
and the great expectations then held out by his inti-
mate friends have been fully realised. He was
always considered in the legal profession a sound
lawyer; and, although deficient in brilliancy, was
thought a man who would by his talents occupy a
high position among the dignitaries of the bench.
Previously to his appointment as Master of the Rolls
he had filled the offices of Solicitor-General from
April, 1848 (when, as a matter of course, he was
knighted), became Attorney-General in July, 1850,
and, in 1851, was made Master of the Rolls, in suc-
cession to the late Lord.Langdale. Before attaining
the high honours of his profession he was a member
of the House of Commons from 1832 to 1835 for
Bridport, and after a petition in 1846 he sat for the
same borough. In 1847 he was returned in the
Government interest for Devonport, which consti-
tuency he continued to represent up to 1852. He
was made a Privy Councillor in 1851.
The Right Hon. Sir Francis Thornhill Baring,
Bart. (now Lord Northbrook), is the eldest son of
the late Sir Thomas Baring, second baronet, of
Stratton Park, Winchester. He was born on
the 20th April, 1796, and was educated at
Eton. He afterwards repaired to Christ Church,
Oxford, at which university he obtained a double
first-class in 1817; and graduated M.A. in 1821.
Like many other of the prominent public men, he
studied the law without adopting it as a means of
livelihood, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's-
inn in 1823. From 1826 up to the last general elec-
tion Sir Francis represented Portsmouth in the House
of Commons. Previously to the late general elec-
tion, much to the regret of his political friends in the
borough, he declined to come forward again, ex-
pressing as an excuse a desire to retire from the one-
rous duties of a member of Parliament. The new
peer was an earnest supporter of the Whig party,
and he was well rewarded-for his faithful adherence
to his party„ having been introduced into official life
as one of the Lords of the Treasury in the Earl
Grey's Administration in 1830, and in 1834 ap-
pointed one of the Joint Secretaries of the Treasury.
From April, 1835 (on the resignation of Sir Robert
Peel's first Ministry), up to 1839, he held the same
post of one of the Joint Secretaries. In the latter
year he was called to her Majesty's Privy Council.
In 1839, and up to September, 1841, he filled the
highly responsible office of Chancellor of the Exche-
quer. It is not disparaging to his talents to say that,
like many able party friends in that office, he fell
short of the mark. He was laborious and unremit-
ting in his duties, but he failed to make a name.
The Whigs were always remarkable as deficient in
filling up that important place in the Government.
In 1849 he again accepted office, and once more had
a seat in the Cabinet—this time having taken the
post of First Lord of the Admiralty. He held that
office in 'the Government from January, 1849, till
February, 1852. Since then political combinations
have been such that his services, never of a first-
class order, have not been required by his party. The
great talent of the Peelite element cast many hard
working men into the shade. Sir Francis was one
of the many of his party who had to seek official
retirement under the pressure of a superior political
talent.