Charles Roberts (British politician)

British radical Liberal politician

Charles Henry Roberts

Photograph of Roberts, 1917

Member of Parliament for Derby
In office
1922–1923

Serving with J. H. Thomas

Preceded by| J. H. Thomas
Albert Green
Succeeded by| J. H. Thomas
William Raynes
Member of Parliament for Lincoln
In office
1906–1918
Preceded by| Charles Seely
Succeeded by| Alfred Davies
Comptroller of the Household
In office
1915–1916
Preceded by| The Lord Saye and Sele
Succeeded by| Sir Edwin Cornwall, Bt
Under-Secretary of State for India
In office
1914–1915
Preceded by| Edwin Montagu
Succeeded by| The Lord Islington
Personal details
Born| (1865-08-22)22 August 1865
Died| 25 June 1959(1959-06-25) (aged 93)
Political party| Liberal
Spouse|

Lady Cecilia Maude Howard

(m. 1891; died 1947)​

Children| Wilfrid Roberts
Winifred Nicholson
Education| Marlborough College
Alma mater| Balliol College, Oxford

Charles Roberts, 1910

Charles Henry Roberts (22 August 1865 – 25 June 1959) was a British radical Liberal politician.[1]

## Early life

[edit]

Roberts was the son of Reverend Albert James Roberts, Vicar of Tidebrook, Sussex and Ellen Wace of Wadhurst, Sussex and was educated at Marlborough College and Balliol College, Oxford.[2]

He was a fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, where he taught from 1889 to 1895.

## Career

[edit]

He was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate for Wednesbury in the 1895 general election and for Lincoln in 1900. He was elected to Parliament for Lincoln in the 1906 general election and reelected in both elections in 1910.

He served under H. H. Asquith as Under-Secretary of State for India 1914 to 1915. He was then made both Comptroller of the Household and Chairman of the National Health Insurance Joint Committee from 1915 to 1916.

He lost his seat in 1918 when the Coalition Government gave endorsement to his Unionist opponent, but returned briefly to the House of Commons in 1922 when he was elected for Derby. However, he lost this seat in the 1923 general election and retired from national politics.

He afterwards committed himself to work creation schemes in Cumberland, reopening collieries and starting brickworks, limeworks and quarries. He also became involved in farming. From 1938 to 1958 he was chairman of Cumberland County Council and the Cumberland branch of the National Farmers' Union. He also chaired the Aborigines' Protection Society. He was Chairman of the Cumberland War Agricultural Committee, 1939–47. He served as a Justice of the Peace in Cumberland from 1900 to 1950 and was Deputy Chairman of Cumberland Quarter Sessions until 1950.[2]

## Personal life

[edit]

On 7 April 1891, he was married Lady Cecilia Maude Howard, daughter of George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle.[3] They had one son and two daughters, including.

* Rosa Winifred Roberts (1893–1981), an artist who married the English painter Ben Nicholson.
* Wilfrid Hubert Wace Roberts (1900–1991), a Liberal MP who married three times.[4]

Lady Cecilia died in 1947.[5] Roberts died on 25 June 1959.

### Election results

[edit]

General election 1900 Lincoln[6] Electorate 8,846  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal Unionist | Charles Seely | 4,002  | 50.4  |
| Liberal | Charles Roberts | 3,935  | 49.6  |
Majority  | 67  | 0.8  |
Turnout |  |  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |
General election 1906 Lincoln[6] Electorate 10,645  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Charles Roberts | 5,110  | 51.2  | +1.6
| Liberal Unionist | Charles Seely | 3,718  | 37.2  | −3.2
| Conservative | Henry Page Croft | 1,162  | 11.6  | n/a
Majority  | 1,392  | 14.0  | 14.8
Turnout |  | 93.8  |
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +7.4  |
General election January 1910 Lincoln[6] Electorate  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Charles Roberts | 5,402  | 50.2  | −1.0
| Conservative | Robert Filmer | 3,236  | 30.1  | +18.5
| Liberal Unionist | Charles Seely | 2,129  | 19.8  | −17.4
Majority  | 2,166  | 20.1  | +6.1
Turnout | 10,767  |  |
| Liberal hold | Swing |  |
General election December 1910 Lincoln[6] Electorate  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Charles Roberts | 5,484  | 52.9  | +2.7
| Conservative | Robert Filmer | 4,878  | 47.1  | +17.0
Majority  | 606  | 5.8  | −14.3
Turnout | 10,362  |  |
| Liberal hold | Swing | -7.1  |
General election 1918: Lincoln[7] Electorate 31,365  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Unionist | Alfred Davies | 11,114  | 47.7  | +0.6
| Labour | Robert Taylor | 6,658  | 28.5  | n/a
| Liberal | Charles Roberts | 5,550  | 23.8  | −29.1
Majority  | 4,456  | 19.2  | 25.0
Turnout |  | 74.4  |
| Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +14.8  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Tanner, Duncan (13 February 2003). Political Change and the Labour Party 1900-1918. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521530538.
2. ^ a b "Obituary of Charles Henry Roberts". The Times, Friday, 26 Jun 1959. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
3. ^ "Carlisle, Earl of (E, 1661)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
4. ^ Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. Kelly's Directories. 1931. p. 188.
5. ^ 'ROBERTS, Charles Henry', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 20 Dec 2013
6. ^ a b c d British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

* Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]

## External links

[edit]

* Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Roberts

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Preceded by

Charles Seely

|  Member of Parliament for Lincoln
1906–1918  | Succeeded by

Alfred Davies

Preceded by

J. H. Thomas
Albert Green

|  Member of Parliament for Derby
1922–1923
With:  J. H. Thomas | Succeeded by

J. H. Thomas
William Raynes

Political offices
Preceded by

Edwin Montagu

|  Under-Secretary of State for India
1914–1915  | Succeeded by

The Lord Islington

Preceded by

The Lord Saye and Sele

|  Comptroller of the Household
1915–1916  | Succeeded by

Sir Edwin Cornwall, Bt

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

Other|

* SNAC

*[m.]: married