1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Gibson, Thomas Milner

GIBSON, THOMAS MILNER (1806–1884), English politician, who came of a good Suffolk family, was born in Trinidad, where his father, an officer in the army, was serving. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1837 was elected to parliament as Conservative member for Ipswich, but resigned two years later, having adopted Liberal views, and became an ardent supporter of the free-trade movement. As one of Cobden’s chief allies, he was elected for Manchester in 1841, and from 1846 to 1848 he was vice-president of the board of trade in Lord John Russell’s ministry. Though defeated in Manchester in 1857, he found another seat for Ashton-under-Lyne; and he sat in the cabinets from 1859 to 1866 as president of the board of trade. He was the leading spirit in the movement for the repeal of “taxes on knowledge,” and his successful efforts on behalf of journalism and advertising were recognized by a public testimonial in 1862. He retired from political life in 1868, but he and his wife, whose salon was a great Liberal centre, were for many years very influential in society. Milner Gibson was a sportsman and a typical man of the world, who enjoyed life and behaved liberally to those connected with him.