George Gerard de Hochpied Larpent
Sir George Gerard de Hochepied Larpent, 1st Baronet (1786-1855) was a British businessman of Huguenot and Dutch descent and a Liberal Party politician.
1786 February 16th. Larpent was born in London. His elder brother inherited the Hungarian title of Baron de Hochpied, through his mother's line, in 1819. At that time he added de Hochepied to his family name, Larpent.
1830 Edward Price and Co was founded by William Wilson, and his business partners, John Studholme Brownrigg, John Cockerell and Sir George Gerard de Hochpied Larpent.
He was made a British baronet in 1841. His father was John Larpent, the inspector of plays. His mother, Anna Margaretta, assisted in this work. She kept a journal for most of her life which is now in the Huntington Library.
He was involved with trade to India, became chairman of the Oriental and China Association, and was deputy chairman of the St. Katherine's Dock company. Larpent stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at a by-election in May 1840 for Ludlow He was unsuccessful again at a by-election in April 1841 for Nottingham, but at the general election in June 1841, just prior to becoming a baronet in August, he won the seat. However, he served little more than a year as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham; he resigned from Parliament in August 1842.
At the 1847 general election he stood in the City of London, where he fell just three votes short of winning the fourth seat.
In 1847 he was Chairman of 'a Committee for promoting the extension of Steam Navigation to Australia and New Zealand', which also included the pioneer of the 'overland route' to the East, Lt. Thomas Waghorn, and another would-be improver of routes to the East, Henry Wise.
1847 Retired from Price's
He edited the Peninsular War journal of his half-brother, Frances Seymour Larpent, and a History of Turkey from papers left by his grandfather, Sir James Porter.
1855 March 8th. Died having outlived two wives and leaving three sons and a daughter