Alexander Raphael

British politician

Alexander Raphael

Member of Parliament
for St Albans
In office
1847–1850
Preceded by| Benjamin Bond Cabbell
Succeeded by| Jacob Bell
Member of Parliament
for Carlow
In office
June 1835 – 19 August 1835
Personal details
Born| 1775
Madras, India
Died| 1850(1850-00-00) (aged 74–75)
Political party| Whig

Alexander Raphael (1775–1850) was a British politician who was the first British-Armenian to serve in the House of Commons.[1] He was returned as a Whig MP from the Irish constituency of County Carlow, at a by-election in June 1835. However the election was challenged on petition and he was unseated on 19 August 1835. Raphael succeeded in re-entering the House of Commons as a Catholic Whig from St Albans in 1847 and retained the seat until his death.

Prior to serving in Parliament, he had been Sheriff of London for 1834, where he lost the tip of his left index finger in a fight with a criminal.[2]

## Early life

[edit]

Raphael was born in Madras, India to father Edward Raphael, a founder of Carniac Bank who died in 1791, and mother Maria Stephana Manuel, who died in 1790. He was baptised as a Catholic. His father was reportedly descended from Armenians (surnamed either Gharamiants or Kharan) who moved to New Julfa, Iran in the mid-17th century and then Madras. Raphael was tutored by Father Nicholas Pusani.[3]

## Legacy

[edit]

St Raphael's Church, Surbiton

His legacy is St Raphael's Church in Surbiton, London, which he financed and had built as a family chapel. Completed in 1848, only two years before his death, it was later opened to the public as a Roman Catholic church by his nephew, Edward.[4]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Seth, Mesrovb Jacob (1937). Armenians in India: From the Earliest Times to the Present. Calcutta. p. 595\. ISBN 9788120608122. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
2. ^ David Marshall Lang.Armenia: Cradle of Civilization. George Allen and Unwin Publishers. British ISBN 0-04-956008-5
3. ^ Kennedy, David A (30 January 2018). "From Madras to Surbiton. Alexander Raphael, unbeaten champion, 1775-1850". Kingston History Research. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
4. ^ "Saint Raphael - Our Church". Official website. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2015.

* Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
* James Corbett, A History of St Albans states that Alexander Raphael was a Whig, as does F.W.S. Craig in British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885.

## External links

[edit]

* Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Alexander Raphael

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Preceded by

Thomas Kavanagh
Henry Bruen

|  Member of Parliament for County Carlow
1835
With:  Nicholas Aylward Vigors | Succeeded by

Henry Bruen
Thomas Kavanagh

Preceded by

Benjamin Bond Cabbell
George Repton

|  Member of Parliament for St Albans
1847 – 1850
With:  George Repton | Succeeded by

Jacob Bell
George Repton

Authority control databases |

* VIAF

|

This article about a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, for a constituency in Ireland between 1801 and 1922 is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

This article about a Conservative Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom representing an English constituency is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template