Sir Ernest Hatch, 1st Baronet

Sir Ernest Frederic George Hatch (April 12, 1859 - August 17, 1927) was a British politician.

He was the son of John William Hatch of London and Matilda Augusta Snell of Callington, Cornwall. Following a private education, he went into business as a wine merchant, and in 1894 established Hatch, Mansfield and Company."New Members of Parliament", The Times, July 23, 1895, p.4] "Sir Ernest Hatch", The Times, August 18, 1927, p. 12]

Hatch was unsuccessful Conservative parliamentary candidate for the Gorton Division of Lancashire at a byelection in 1889 and at the succeeeding general election in 1892. On his third attempt, in the 1895 election, he was elected as Gorton's MP.

Hatch remained as Conservative member for Gorton until 1904, when his disagreement with Joseph Chamberlain over free trade led to him crossing the floor to the Liberal Party.P F Clarke, "Lancashire and the New Liberalism", Cambridge, 2007] At the next general election in 1906 he had little support from Liberal activists for his candidature, and accordingly withdrew.

In 1908 he was created a baronet, "of Portland Place, in the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone". [LondonGazette |issue=28200 |date=1908-11-27 |startpage=9026 |accessdate=2008-09-26] He was appointed chairman and treasurer of University College Hospital, London

During the First World War he chaired the Government Commission on Belgian Refugees, and was made a commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown.

Ernest Hatch married Lady Constance Blanche Godolphin Osborne in 1900, aunt of John Osborne, later Duke of Leeds. They had one daughter, and the baronetcy became extinct on Sir Edward's death in 1927.

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