Lewis Sir George Cornewall

Lewis, Sir George Cornewall (1806-63), a, statesman and political writer, was born in London and educated at Eton and Oxford, and was created D.C.L. in 1857. He was called to the bar in 1831, but practised very little. In 1847 he entered Parliament as a Whig, and was soon after appointed one of the Secretaries to the Board of Control. Next year he became Under-Secretary forthe Home Department, and was from 1850 to 1852 Financial Secretary to the Treasury. On the resignation of Mr. Gladstone he became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and as such carried the Newspaper Stamps Bill through the House of Commons. In Lord Palmerston's second Ministry he was Home Secretary at first, and afterwards Secretary for War. He died while holding the latter office. His writings are of high merit, and exhibit great versatility. His Credibility of Early Reman History is incidentally a valuable treatise on historical evidence. He also wrote inter alia several works on political science.