Quintin Hogg (merchant)

Quintin Hogg

For the cabinet minister, see Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone

Quintin Hogg (14 February 1845 – 17 January 1903) was an English philanthropist, remembered primarily as a benefactor of the Royal Polytechnic institution at Regent Street, London now known as the University of Westminster.

Early life

Hogg, the seventh son of Sir James Hogg, 1st Baronet, was born and spent most of his life in London. He was educated at Eton College, where he was known as "Piggy Hogg". Hogg was an accomplished sportsman and along with many Etonians he was a pioneer of Association Football. Whilst at Eton, he won the Eton Fives, was keeper of fives and in the shooting XI, as well as being a member of the Wall and Field football XIs. He showed strong religious convictions and held prayer meetings; he was also a prominent rifle volunteer.

He made 31 appearances for Wanderers F.C. (winners of the first F.A. Cup) between the 1865–66 and the 1870–71 seasons. He twice represented Scotland versus England in the unofficial internationals of 1870 and 1871. He captained the Old Etonians for seven years, during which he was never on the losing side.

He became involved in trade, particularly the commodities of tea and sugar. As a senior partner in a firm of tea merchants, he modernised sugar production in Demerara. While in Demerara he played two first-class cricket matches for the colony.

Educational reform

Having made his fortune, he became concerned with Christian-motivated philanthropy. London at the time suffered from social conditions now summarised in the single word "Dickensian". Hogg turned his energy to educational reform: in 1864 he founded York Place Ragged School. With Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird (1847–1923, later 11th Baron Kinnaird) and Thomas Henry William Pelham (1847–1916), he rented rooms in York Place (formerly of Alley), off The Strand in central London, for a boys' school, initially a day school, which subsequently began to open in the evenings. In 1882, he founded the Young Men's Christian Institute, which was renamed the Regent Street Polytechnic (incorporating the Royal Polytechnic Institution). Regent Street Polytechnic was later part of Polytechnic of Central London (PCL) and is now the University of Westminster. It is the largest provider of adult education in London, and its headquarters are still at the same location on Regent Street.

Memorial statue in Portland Place

Other

Quintin Hogg also served as alderman of the first London County Council, encouraging the founding of other polytechnics, or, as they were known then, working men's (or mechanics') institutes.

He married Alice Anna Graham, daughter of William Graham, on 16 May 1871 in the St George Hanover Square area. They had three sons and two daughters:

• Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham (1872–1950)
• Elsie Florence Hogg (1873– ? ), married Vincent Robertson Hoare (1873–1915)
• Ian Graham Hogg (1875–1914), lieutenant colonel, died September 1914 of wounds.
• Ethel Mary Hogg (1876–1970), married Herbert Frederick Wood. She wrote a biography of her father as Ethel M. Wood;
• Malcolm Nicholson Hogg (1883–1948)

Hogg was the grandfather of Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone.

He died in 1903.

Aside from the university, Hogg is commemorated by a Caribbean island (Hogg Island in Guyana), a sports team (Middlesex league QUINTIN Rugby Football Club), the statue depicted above, and a Blue Plaque on the house he occupied for many years, which abuts the university but faces onto Cavendish Square.

Principal source

• G. S. Woods, "Hogg, Quintin (1845–1903)", rev. Roger T. Stearn, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2010; accessed 11 March 2011 (subscription required for the convenience link). Material not otherwise credited will be found here.

External links

• Quintin Hogg's Gravesite
• History of Regent Street Polytechnic
• CricketArchive: Quintin Hogg