Richard Arkwright was an English Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician.

Blake was the second son of John Arkwright, of Hampton Court, Herefordshire

Hampton Court, Herefordshire

Hampton Court is a castellated country house in the English county of Herefordshire. The house is located in the village of Hope under Dinmore, near Leominster.- History :...

. He was educated at Harrow School

Harrow School

Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

 and Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

, graduating in 1857. In 1862 he married Lady Mary Caroline Byng, daughter of the Earl of Strafford

George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford

George Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford, PC , styled Viscount Enfield between 1847 and 1860, was a British peer and Whig politician.-Background, education and military career:...

. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

 in 1859.

He was elected as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Leominster

Leominster (UK Parliament constituency)

Leominster was, until 2010, a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.From 1295 to 1868, it was a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election. Under the Reform Act 1867 its...

 at an unopposed by-election in February 1866, and held the seat until he resigned

Resignation from the British House of Commons

Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...

 from the House of Commons on 8 February 1876. He stated that his position was not opposed to every change but against any 'great organic changes being made in matters connected with Church or State'. He was Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 of Herefordshire.

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