James Deacon Hume

James Deacon Hume (1774 – 1842) was an English official, an economic writer and advocate of free trade.

The son of James Hume, a commissioner and afterwards secretary of the customs, he was born at Newington, Surrey, on 28 April 1774, and educated at Westminster School. In 1791 he became an indoor clerk in the custom house in Thames Street, London.

A report which Hume wrote for the commissioners attracted the notice of William Huskisson, and he was appointed as controller of the customs. In 1822 he brought up the idea of consolidating the laws of the customs, and at the end of the year the Treasury excused him from ordinary duties for three years to pursue the work. The customs laws dated from the reign of Edward I of England and comprised 1500 statutes. Hume reduced them to ten: these ten Acts of Parliament received the royal assent in July 1825. Hume edited them with notes and indices. He was rewarded for his labour by a public grant of £6,000, which he then lost by a bad investment.

Hume was, in 1828, appointed joint secretary of the Board of Trade, and became assistant to Huskisson. From Hume had been employed on preparing a parliamentary bill regulating the silk duties. In 1831 he made an official tour through England, collecting information about silk manufacture, and in March 1832 he gave evidence before a committee of the House of Commons on the silk duties. He gave further evidence before another committee in 1840, and expressed a strong opinion against protective duties. He assisted Thomas Tooke in establishing the Political Economy Club, and from its founding in 1821 until 1841 attended its meetings regularly, and spoke repeatedly on free trade. The Customs' Benevolent Fund, originated in 1816 by Charles Ogilvy, was carried out by Hume, who was the first president. He advocated life assurance, and was one of the founders of the Atlas Assurance Company in 1808, and its deputy chairman to his death. In June 1835 he gave evidence before a committee on the timber duties, which were gradually reduced.

...
Wikipedia