Robert Edward Boyle was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 soldier and Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician.

Boyle was the fourth son of Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork

Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork

General Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork and Orrery KP , styled Viscount Dungarvan from 1768 to 1798, was an Irish soldier and peer. He became Earl of Cork and Orrery in 1798 on the death of Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork and was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 22 July 1835....

, and his wife Isabella Henrietta (née Poyntz). He served with the Coldstream Guards

Coldstream Guards

Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....

 and achieved the rank of Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

.

At the 1847 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1847

-Seats summary:-References:* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...

 he was elected unopposed as the 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 Frome

Frome (UK Parliament constituency)

Frome was a constituency centred on the town of Frome in Somerset. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832, until it was abolished for the 1950 general election...

. Boyle was returned unopposed in 1852

United Kingdom general election, 1852

The July 1852 United Kingdom general election was a watershed election in the formation of the modern political parties of Britain. Following 1852, the Tory/Conservative party became, more completely, the party of the rural aristocracy, while the Whig/Liberal party became the party of the rising...

, but that election was later voided after an electoral petition, because Boyle's position as Secretary of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick election was held to be an office of profit under the crown

Office of profit

An office of profit is a term used in a number of national constitutions to refer to executive appointments. A number of countries forbid members of the legislature from accepting an office of profit under the executive as a means to secure the independence of the legislature and preserve the...

. He was re-elected unopposed at the resulting by-election in March 1853, and held his seat in the House of Commons until his death the following year, aged 45.

He married Georgiana, daughter of Abraham Wildey Robarts, in 1844. They had one son and two daughters. Boyle died in September 1854, aged 45, and was succeeded as Member of Parliament for Frome by his nephew Viscount Dungarvan

Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork

Richard Edmund St Lawrence Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork KP, PC , styled Viscount Dungarvan between 1834 and 1856, was a British courtier and Liberal politician...

. His wife survived him by almost 60 years and died in 1911.

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