Rowland Burdon (1857–1944)
Encyclopedia
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...
Rowland Burdon DL
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....
, JP
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, VD
Volunteer Decoration
The Volunteer Officers' Decoration was created by Royal Warrant under command of Queen Victoria on 25 July 1892 to reward 'efficient and capable' officers of the Volunteer Force who had served for twenty years...
(19 June 1857 – 1 August 1944) was an English landownder and 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 from County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
. He sat in the House of Commons from 1918 to 1922.
Early life and family
Burdon was the son of the Reverend John Burdon, from Castle EdenCastle Eden
For the similarly named castle in Aberdeenshire, see Eden Castle.Castle Eden is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the south of Peterlee, Wingate, the A19 and Castle Eden Dene...
in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
.
He was educated at Repton School
Repton School
Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
, and at University College, Oxford
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
.
In 1887 he married Mary Arundell, the daughter of Wyndham Slade of Montys Court in Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
, Somerset.
Career
Burdon was Lord of the ManorLord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of both Castle Eden
Castle Eden
For the similarly named castle in Aberdeenshire, see Eden Castle.Castle Eden is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the south of Peterlee, Wingate, the A19 and Castle Eden Dene...
and Little Eden, and lived at the Castle, Castle Eden
The Castle, Castle Eden
The Castle at Castle Eden is an 18th century mansion house and a Grade II* listed building. No trace remains of the medieval castle of Robert de Brus....
. He was appointed as a 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 County Durham in 1900,
and served High Sheriff of Durham in 1907.
He was also a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(JP) for County Durham, and after serving as Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
commanding the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry
Durham Light Infantry
The Durham Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1968. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 68th Regiment of Foot and the 106th Regiment of Foot along with the militia and rifle volunteers of County Durham...
he became Honorary Colonel of the 5th Battalion in 1911.
He was awarded the Volunteer Decoration
Volunteer Decoration
The Volunteer Officers' Decoration was created by Royal Warrant under command of Queen Victoria on 25 July 1892 to reward 'efficient and capable' officers of the Volunteer Force who had served for twenty years...
in 1898.
At the December 1910 general election, Burdon unsuccesfully contested South East Durham
South East Durham (UK Parliament constituency)
South East Durham was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
,
a constituency which had been held by Liberal Unionists
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...
from 1886 to January 1910, when the sitting Liberal Unionist Frederick Lambton
Frederick Lambton, 4th Earl of Durham
Frederick William Lambton, 4th Earl of Durham was a British peer, a Liberal politician, and the son of George Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham. He inherited the Earldom from his twin brother, John Lambton, 3rd Earl of Durham, when the latter died with no legitimate children.He married Beatrix Bulteel...
was defeated by the 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 Evan Hayward
Evan Hayward
Evan Hayward was a Liberal Party politician in England.He was elected as Member of Parliament for South East Durham at the January 1910 general election, and held the seat until the constituency was abolished at the 1918 general election...
.
Burdon had been nominated for the contest by Lord Londonderry
Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry
Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry KG, GCVO, PC, DL, JP , styled Viscount Castlereagh between 1872 and 1884, was an Anglo-Irish Conservative politician, landowner and benefactor, who served in various capacities in the Conservative administrations of the late 19th and...
, who told the selection meeting of the South East Durham Conservative Association that the candidate should be "well-known, popular, and living in the constituency". Burdon accepted the nomination as a duty in a time of crisis, asserting that "a man who shirked his duty was as much a traitor to his country as the man who betrayed it in a military sense". 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...
described him as "a strong local candidate" who "may possibly recover Mr. Lambton's former seat", but the swing of 3.6% was not enough. Burdon halved Hayward's majority, to 1,182 votes (7.8% of the total), down from 15% in January 1910.
He was elected at the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
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 the Sedgefield division
Sedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)
Sedgefield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
of County Durham. Standing as a Coalition Unionist (a supporter of the coalition government led by David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
), he won the newly-created seat in a three-way contest, with a majority of 826 votes over the second-placed candidate, Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
candidate John Herriotts
John Herriotts
John Herriotts was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.He was elected as Member of Parliament for Sedgefield in County Durham at the 1922 general election, with a majority of only 689 votes...
.
He did not contest the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
, when Herriotts won the seat for Labour.
Burdon died at Catle Eden on 1 August 1944, aged 87.
In October 1947 his daughter Mrs Sclater-Booth presented the Castle Eden Vase to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, in his memory. The glass vase was a 6th century
6th century
The 6th century is the period from 501 to 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era. In the West this century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages.- Overview :...
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
"claw beaker" which had been found by a labourer working on a hedge on the Castle Eden estate in about 1775, in the time of his great-grandfather Rowland Burdon
Rowland Burdon (died 1838)
Rowland Burdon was an English landowner and Tory politician from Castle Eden in County Durham.He was elected at the 1790 general election as one of the two Members of Parliament for County Durham, and held the seat until the 1806 general election, which he did not contest.The Castle Eden Vase ...
MP.