Sir John Henry Scourfield, 1st Baronet (30 January 1808 – 3 June 1876) was a Welsh

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1852 to 1876.

Life

Scourfield was born John Henry Phillips, the son of Owen Phillips of Williamstown, Pembrokeshire, Wales and his wife Ann Elizabeth Scourfield, niece of

William Henry Scourfield William Henry Scourfield (1776 – 31 January 1843) was a Welsh landowner and Tory politician. Biography Scourfield was the son of Henry Scourfield and his wife Elizabeth (daughter of Rev John Ewer of Bangor), of the Scourfield family of New Mo ...

of the Mote and Robeston Hall. He was educated at Harrow School and at Oriel College, Oxford graduating BA 3rd class in classics in 1828 and MA in 1832. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and J.P. for Pembroke and chairman of the Quarter Sessions of Pembroke. He was also

High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Pembrokeshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilitie ...

in 1833 and Lord-Lieutenant and

Custos Rotulorum ''Custos rotulorum'' (; plural: ''custodes rotulorum''; Latin for "keeper of the rolls", ) is a civic post that is recognised in the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and in Jamaica. England, Wales and Northern Ireland The ''custos rotulorum'' is t ...

of the borough of Haverfordwest. In 1862 he assumed the name of Scourfield by Royal Licence on succeeding to the estates of his maternal uncle.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1870
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Political career

At the 1852 general election Scourfield was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

and held the seat until 1868. In 1857 he narrowly held on to the seat by two votes over the Liberal candidate William Rees, in a contest characterised by accusations of intimidation. At the 1868 general election he was elected MP for Pembrokeshire and held the seat until his death aged 68 in 1876. He was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a centr ...

on 18 February 1876 but died the following May. He was against the Women's Disabilities Removal Bill, an early women's suffrage bill. He argued, in May 1872, that the novelist Jane Austen would be, too, were she alive. Scourfield argued this by using a quotation from Austen's novel ''Emma'' (1816), which was itself a quotation from Oliver Goldsmith, taken out of context. This appears to be the first time that Austen's name was referenced in official business in parliament.

Cricket

As John Philipps, he was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er with amateur status who was associated with

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) and made his first-class debut in 1830.

Works

He was the author of a number of published plays and poems.

Family

Scourfield married in 1845 Augusta Phillips, daughter of John Lort Phillips of Haverfordwest and Llawrenny Park, Pembrokeshire. They had two sons, the eldest of which, Owen, succeeded to the baronetcy (which became extinct on his death).

Notes

1808 births 1876 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Deputy Lieutenants of Pembrokeshire Lord-Lieutenants of Haverfordwest Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 High Sheriffs of Pembrokeshire English cricketers English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies A to K v L to Z cricketers {{Wales-Conservative-UK-MP-stub