Ayrton practised as a solicitor in
Bombay,
British India, and was
called to the Bar,
Middle Temple, in 1853. In 1857 he was elected Member of Parliament for
Tower Hamlets, a seat he held until 1874. He held office in
William Ewart Gladstone's
first administration as
Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1868 to 1869 and as
First Commissioner of Works from 1869 to 1873 and was sworn of the
Privy Council in 1869. Ayrton is best remembered for the so-called "Ayrton controversy". In an attempt, in the early 1870s, to reduce Government spending, Ayrton (as First Commissioner of Works) encouraged a proposal that the costly scientific functions of
Kew Gardens should be transferred and that the gardens should be retained purely as a public park. This prompted a confrontation with
Joseph Dalton Hooker (Director at Kew), who enlisted the support of
Charles Darwin and
Charles Lyell, amongst other scientific luminaries. After debates in both
Houses of Parliament, Ayrton was transferred to the post of
Judge Advocate General and the proposal failed. Ayrton remained as Judge Advocate General until the Gladstone government fell in February 1874. He lost his seat in parliament in the
general election of that year and never returned to the
House of Commons. In the
Palace of Westminster the lantern at the top of the
Elizabeth Tower (commonly called
Big Ben) is called the Ayrton Light, lit when either House of Parliament is sitting after dark. It was installed in 1885 at the request of Queen Victoria so that she could see from
Buckingham Palace when the members were sitting and named after Ayrton. ==Personal life==