In a debate in the House as a Committee of supply on the sinecures paid by the crown, the radical Joseph Hume (1777–1855) raised a series of questions about the provision of salaries to clergymen abroad, consuls and vice-consuls, commissioners of public charities, and others which arose as part of the miscellaneous estimates of the House. In discussing superannuations for persons having been employed in public office and public service, Hume advanced the principle that he ‘was ready to admit any just claim of humanity, especially when attended with length of service to the public’ (col. 727). It seems likely that the discussion raised Godwin’s anxieties about the security of his own sinecure which had been awarded on 15 April 1833.

See The Times, 17 August 1833 and Hansard Third series, vol. 20, 26 July to 29 August 1833, cols. 720-731.