Hibbert was
Member of Parliament for
Oldham from 1862 to 1874, 1877 to 1886 and 1892 to 1895, when he lost his seat. He served under
William Ewart Gladstone as
Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board from 1872 to 1874 and again from 1880 to 1883, as
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department from 1883 to 1884, as
Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1884 to 1885 and as
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from February to July 1886 and under Gladstone and later
Lord Rosebery as once again Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1892 to 1895. In 1886, he was sworn of the
Privy Council. Hibbert served as
President of the second day of the second
Co-operative Congress in 1870. In 1889, Hibbert was elected as the first Chairman of the newly created
Lancashire County Council. He was later President of the
County Councils Association. In 1893 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the
Order of the Bath. He received the
honorary degree Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the
Victoria University of Manchester in February 1902, in connection with the 50th jubilee celebrations of the establishment of the university. ==Personal life==