Alfred Welby

Alfred Cholmeley Earle Welby was born on 22 August 1849 in Denton, Lincolnshire, the youngest son of Sir Glynne Welby, 3rd Baronet. He received his education at Eton College,[1] and then entered the British Army in 1867, purchasing a commission in the 85th Regiment of Foot as an ensign.[2] He shortly after transferred to the 56th Foot,[3] and in 1870 purchased a promotion to lieutenant.[4] The following year he transferred to the 90th Foot.[5] He was promoted to captain in 1876,[6] and transferred to the Royal Scots Greys later that year.[7] He was raised to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1892.[8] In May 1896, he attended the coronation of Nicholas II of Russia, and two months later he retired from the army.[1]

While still serving in the army, Welby stood unsuccessfully for the Conservative Party in the 1885 general election, in his native constituency of Grantham, where his father had served as a Member of Parliament (MP). He subsequently lost two further elections in Poplar, London, in the general elections of 1886 and 1892.[1] In 1895, he was finally elected, in the Conservative stronghold of Taunton, standing unopposed.[9] The constituency was contested at the 1900 general election, in which he held his seat with a majority of 363 votes.[10] In the 1906 election, he opted to stand in Finsbury East, a seat held by the Liberals, but despite a swing towards the Conservatives, he failed to win the seat. He was later elected onto the London County Council for the same area between 1907 and 1910, and then served as secretary of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation from 1914 to 1920. He died on 18 May 1937.[1]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Alfred Welby