Robert William Kennard JP DL (1800–1870) was a London-born merchant, financier, entrepreneur, JP and later Member of Parliament. The son of jeweller turn banker John Kennard ( Heywood, Kennards & Co, merged into Consolidated Bank Ltd), and Harriet Elizabeth Peirse, he trained as a merchant in London. Having invested in the Falkirk Iron Company in 1830, Kennard's consortia formed the Blaenavon Coal and Iron Company in 1836, which subsequently bought the

Blaenavon Ironworks Blaenavon Ironworks is a former industrial site which is now a museum in Blaenavon, Wales. The ironworks was of crucial importance in the development of the ability to use cheap, low quality, high sulphur iron ores worldwide. It was the site o ...

. There he employed his son, the noted civil engineer Thomas Kennard, and his cousin and the later photographer George Swan Nottage. Through his connections with the iron and steel industries, and access to large sums of money through his families banking connections, he became a significant financier during the railway boom of the 1830s, and also financed some of the government requirements during the

Crimea War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. Leveraging this, Kennard made his fortune as a director of several UK railway companies, and as a director of one of the largest groups promoting railroads in France and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for:

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

;

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

; and later

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. Having held the office of Deputy Lieutenant of

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

, he was appointed

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

of London and Middlesex between 1846 and 1847. He was elected as an associate member of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

, seconded by

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

and Sir William Cubitt. He was decorated with the award of Chevalier, Order of Leopold of Belgium. Kennard was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

as a

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

on 11 February 1857, representing Newport (Isle of Wight) constituency. He was not reelected in the general election in March that year, but returned to Parliament in the 1859 general election, and sat until he stepped down at the 1868 general election. Kennard married Mary Ann Challis, only child of Liberal MP and later

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

Thomas Challis, on 23 May 1823. Living in Theobalds Park, Hertfordshire, the couple had 10 children: Mary Jane Kennard; Charlotte Anne Kennard (died 24 Oct 1926); Ellen Kennard (died 5 Apr 1917); Reverend Robert Bruce Kennard (8 May 1824 – 10 Mar 1895); Thomas William Kennard (29 Aug 1825 – 10 Sep 1893); Arthur Challis Kennard (born 17 Jun 1831); Henry Martyn Kennard (born 17 Feb 1833); John Kennard (13 Apr 1836 – 24 Nov 1925); Howard John Kennard (29 Nov 1839 – 8 Aug 1896), co-founder of the

London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company The London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company was founded in 1854 by George Swan Nottage and Howard John Kennard (the son of Robert Kennard and grandfather of Jean Orr-Ewing). Known initially as the London Stereoscope Company, in 1856 it ...

; Edward Kennard (born 22 Apr 1842). He is interred in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

, in

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

with bronze door

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

References

External links

*
Robert W. Kennard @ TheyWorkForYou.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennard, Robert Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of Parliament for Newport (Isle of Wight) UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery 1800 births 1870 deaths Institution of Civil Engineers 19th-century English businesspeople