Robert Campbell (Liberal politician)

Robert Campbell (12 July 1811 – 1887)[1] was a British Liberal Party politician, originally from Australia.[2]

Robert Campbell
MP
Member of Parliament
for Helston
In office
1 May 1866 – 5 July 1866
Preceded byAdolphus William Young
Succeeded byWilliam Brett
Personal details
Born12 July 1811
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died15 October 1887
Berkshire
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal
SpouseAnne Orr
Children
Residence(s)Buscot Park, Berkshire

He was born in Sydney, Australia, on 12 July 1811, the son of Scottish-born merchant. entrepreneur and pastoralist Robert Campbell (1789–1851).[3] He married Anne Orr in Parramatta, New South Wales on 15 January 1835.[4] They later moved to England.

In 1859 he bought Buscot Park where he lived until his death in 1887.

He was elected MP for Helston at a by-election in May 1866 but was unseated in July 1866. The by-election had originally recorded 153 votes for both him and his rival, William Brett, but Campbell was declared elected after the Returning officer (who was the father of his election agent) cast a vote for him, after consulting a legal textbook which suggested he could make the casting vote.

A petition was lodged, and a committee decided the returning officer had no right to cast the vote and should have declared both candidates elected. However, on scrutiny one vote was taken from Campbell's total, leaving Brett elected alone. This election led to Parliament deciding that "according to the law and usage of Parliament, it is the duty of the sheriff or other returning officer in England, in the case of an equal number of votes being polled for two or more candidates at an election, to return all such candidates".[5]

In 1877, Campbell's daughter Edith married Herbert Reuter, of Reuters. Within a few days of her death in 1915, Reuter killed himself.[6]

His daughter Florence married Charles Bravo and was suspected of his murder, dying in 1878 of alcohol poisoning.[7]

Campbell's son Robert Campbell (1843–1889) went into politics in New Zealand.[8]

References
  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
  2. "Australians in the English Parliament, Dunstan Times, Dunstan Times, Issue 221, 20 July 1866". Papers Past. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  3. Steven, Margaret (1966). "Campbell junior, Robert (1789–1851)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 1. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  4. "Robert "Tertius" Campbell, of Buscot". Clan Macfarlane and associated clans genealogy. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  5. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 642. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  6. “SUICIDE OF BARON REUTER” in The Argus (Melbourne, Australia), 20 April 1915, p. 8: “He had been greatly distressed with grief at the sudden death of his wife. Her body was awaiting interment.”
  7. Adam Sherrin, “Was it the wife the lover the stableman or the maid who poisoned Charles Bravo” in The Times online edition, 11 October 2004
  8. McDonald, D. C. "Campbell, Robert". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 1 April 2012.


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