Note 7 — Chapter III

The late Henry Labouchere’s grandfather was, as a young man, a clerk in a bank in Somersetshire, and in receipt of a salary of about £80 a year, when he fell in love with Sir Francis Baring’s daughter. As, in ordinary circumstances, he had not the smallest chance of obtaining the consent of the lady’s father, he conceived the following ingenious plan of overcoming the difficulty.

Presenting himself before the senior partner of the bank in which he was employed, he inquired whether it would be possible for him to become a partner forthwith. The banker burst out laughing. “What, you!” he exclaimed. “Why, you are only a junior clerk. How can you ever think of such a thing? The idea is simply ridiculous.” “But supposing,” rejoined Labouchere, with perfect aplomb, “that I had already received the consent of Sir Francis Baring to marry his daughter?” “Oh, that alters the case entirely. If what you say is true, then you could, of course, easily become a partner.” Labouchere then approached Sir Francis Baring and asked him for his daughter’s hand. That important personage was even more indignant at the young man’s presumption than the banker had been, and told him what he thought of it very plainly. “But supposing,” said Labouchere, not a whit disconcerted, “that I am not what you think I am, but a partner of the bank.” The baronet’s manner changed. “If,” he answered, “you are a partner of the bank, as you tell me, I will talk the matter over with my daughter.” In the result, Labouchere married Sir Francis Baring’s daughter and became, at the same time, a partner in the Somersetshire bank. His son was created Lord Taunton, and Henry Labouchere would have been heir to the title, but, as it was only a life peerage, it did not descend to him. This anecdote was related to me by an uncle of mine by marriage, who was Clerk of the Peace for the county of Somerset. I have heard it also related by others.