Robert Purvis (MP)
Encyclopedia
Sir Robert Purvis LL.D
(1844 – 23 June 1920) was an English barrister and Liberal Unionist
politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1895 to 1905 as the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Peterborough
.
.
He was educated at Marlborough
and at Downing College, Cambridge
, where he graduated with a BA
in 1880, an MA and LL.M
in 1875, and as a Doctor of law
(LL.D) in 1881.
, and practised on the North Eastern Circuit.
At the 1885 general election
he unsuccessfully contested the Abingdon division
of Berkshire as a Liberal Party
candidate. When the Liberals split over Home Rule for Ireland, the took the Unionist side, and at the 1886 election
he stood as a Liberal Unionist in Edinburgh South
.
He contested the Peterborough by-election in October 1899, but lost to the Liberal candidate Alpheus Morton. The election was fought largely on the issue of Home Rule, which Purvis asserted was opposed to the true principles of democracy, because if Ireland got Home Rule because its people wanted it, then they would also have to get separation if they demanded it. (The report in The Times
did not explain why Purvis considered separation to be opposed to democracy).
He contested the seat again in 1892
, cutting Morton's majority to 158 votes (4% of the total), down from 251 votes (7%)in 1889. Purvis won Peterborough on his third attempt,
when he defeated Morton at the 1895 general election
.
Morton had hoped to contest the seat again in 1900
, but the local Liberals declined to nominate him again, and Purvis was re-elected with a reduced majority over the Liberal candidate Halley Stewart
.
In 1903 he supported Joseph Chamberlain
's policy of Imperial Preference
, a proposed system of reciprocally-levelled tariff
s or free trade
agreements between different Dominion
s and Colonies
within the British Empire
which had caused a division in Unionist ranks.
He was knighted in 1905, in the King's Birthday Honours,
but lost his seat at the 1906 general election
to the Liberal Granville Greenwood
, who won by a large majority of 1,159 votes (21% of the total).
Purvis continued as an active Liberal Unionist, and in December 1908 he was one of several speaker at a mass meeting on tariff reform held in Stamford
. He contested Peterborough again at the January 1910 general election, but even before Parliament was dissolved on 10 January, The Times was pessimistic about his chances. The Liberal majority in 1906 was "decisive", and Greenwood had the support of most of Peterborough's railway and engineering workers made up a large proportion of the electorate. When the votes were counted, Greenwood had held the seat, although with a more modest majority of 43 votes (7%).
In 1914, he supported calls by Unionist MP Jesse Collings
for tenant farmers to become owner-occupier
s of their lands. He saw it as an alternative to encouraging he emigration of young men to take up land grants in the colonies, and as a bulwark against radical Liberal proposals to nationalise the land.
Doctor of law
Doctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.-Argentina:...
(1844 – 23 June 1920) was an English barrister and Liberal Unionist
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1895 to 1905 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 Peterborough
Peterborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Peterborough is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, formally styled The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past...
.
Early life
Purvis was the son of Joseph Purvis, from HexhamHexham
Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...
.
He was educated at Marlborough
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
and at Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1800 and currently has around 650 students.- History :...
, where he graduated with a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1880, an MA and LL.M
Master of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...
in 1875, and as a Doctor of law
Doctor of law
Doctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.-Argentina:...
(LL.D) in 1881.
Career
He was called to the bar in 1873 at the Inner TempleInner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, and practised on the North Eastern Circuit.
At the 1885 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
he unsuccessfully contested the Abingdon division
Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)
Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...
of Berkshire as a 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...
candidate. When the Liberals split over Home Rule for Ireland, the took the Unionist side, and at the 1886 election
United Kingdom general election, 1886
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
he stood as a Liberal Unionist in Edinburgh South
Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency)
Edinburgh South is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used in the general election of 1885. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
.
He contested the Peterborough by-election in October 1899, but lost to the Liberal candidate Alpheus Morton. The election was fought largely on the issue of Home Rule, which Purvis asserted was opposed to the true principles of democracy, because if Ireland got Home Rule because its people wanted it, then they would also have to get separation if they demanded it. (The report in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
did not explain why Purvis considered separation to be opposed to democracy).
He contested the seat again in 1892
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
, cutting Morton's majority to 158 votes (4% of the total), down from 251 votes (7%)in 1889. Purvis won Peterborough on his third attempt,
when he defeated Morton at the 1895 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
.
Morton had hoped to contest the seat again in 1900
United Kingdom general election, 1900
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, but the local Liberals declined to nominate him again, and Purvis was re-elected with a reduced majority over the Liberal candidate Halley Stewart
Halley Stewart
Sir Halley Stewart was an English businessman, journalist, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician who sat as an Member of Parliament from 1887 to 1895 and again from 1906 to 1910.-Family and education:...
.
In 1903 he supported Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
's policy of Imperial Preference
Imperial Preference
Imperial Preference was a proposed system of reciprocally-levelled tariffs or free trade agreements between the dominions and colonies within the British Empire...
, a proposed system of reciprocally-levelled tariff
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
s or free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
agreements between different Dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
s and Colonies
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
within the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
which had caused a division in Unionist ranks.
He was knighted in 1905, in the King's Birthday Honours,
but lost his seat at the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
to the Liberal Granville Greenwood
Granville Greenwood
Granville George Greenwood was an English lawyer, politician and strenuous advocate of the Baconian theory of Shakespearean authorship. Greenwood once played cricket for Hampshire, and was Member of Parliament for Peterborough from 1906 to 1918.-Life:Greenwood was the son of John Greenwood...
, who won by a large majority of 1,159 votes (21% of the total).
Purvis continued as an active Liberal Unionist, and in December 1908 he was one of several speaker at a mass meeting on tariff reform held in Stamford
Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...
. He contested Peterborough again at the January 1910 general election, but even before Parliament was dissolved on 10 January, The Times was pessimistic about his chances. The Liberal majority in 1906 was "decisive", and Greenwood had the support of most of Peterborough's railway and engineering workers made up a large proportion of the electorate. When the votes were counted, Greenwood had held the seat, although with a more modest majority of 43 votes (7%).
In 1914, he supported calls by Unionist MP Jesse Collings
Jesse Collings
Jesse Collings was Mayor of Birmingham, England, a Liberal member of Parliament, but was best known nationally in the UK as an advocate of educational reform and land reform.-Background:...
for tenant farmers to become owner-occupier
Owner-occupier
An owner-occupier is a person who lives in and owns the same home. It is a type of housing tenure. The home of the owner-occupier may be, for example, a house, apartment, condominium, or a housing cooperative...
s of their lands. He saw it as an alternative to encouraging he emigration of young men to take up land grants in the colonies, and as a bulwark against radical Liberal proposals to nationalise the land.