George Ward Hunt was born on 30 July 1825 at Buckhurst, Berkshire. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating with an MA in 1851, the year in which he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple. In 1857, Hunt was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for the northern division of Northamptonshire where he served continuously for twenty years. He acted as financial secretary to the Treasury from 1866 until 1868 when he succeeded to the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, retiring later in the year when the Liberal Party won the general election. On the return of the Conservatives to power in 1874, Hunt was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, serving until his death on 29 July 1877 at Homburg.
From the guide to the George Hunt collection, 1876, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
