Robert Peter Laurie, (24 October 1835 – 29 July 1905) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. Laurie was educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

and entered the banking business.Planck, p. 5.

Volunteer service

When an invasion scare in 1859 led to the rise of the

Volunteer movement The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

, Laurie joined the ranks of

Queen Victoria's Rifles The 9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles) was a Territorial Army infantry battalion of the British Army. The London Regiment was formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions ...

. One of the leaders of the movement was the journalist

Alfred Bate Richards Alfred Bate Richards (1820–1876) was an English journalist and author. He turned from law to literature and was the author of a number of popular dramas, volumes of poems, and essays. He was the first editor of ''The Daily Telegraph'', and afte ...

, who personally raised a 'Workmen's Brigade' in London. This unit was adopted as the 3rd City of London Rifle Volunteer Corps, and Laurie was one of the first officers commissioned, as a Captain, dated 26 April 1861. He was promoted to Major in 1864, and when Richards retired in 1867 Laurie succeeded him as Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant

Parliamentary career

Laurie was elected as one of the two

Members 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 of ...

(MPs) for the parliamentary borough of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in May 1879, following the

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

from 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 ...

of the Conservative MP

Lewis Majendie Lewis Ashurst Majendie (1835 – 22 October 1885) was a British Conservative Party politician. Parliamentary career At the 1874 general election, Majendie was elected as one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for the parliamentary borough o ...

.Craig 1832–1885, p. 79 Laurie was re-elected at the 1880 general election, but the election was subsequently declared void and parliamentary representation from Canterbury was suspended until 1885. At the 1885 general election, Laurie contested the two-seat Bath constituency. He narrowly missed winning the second seat, polling 2,971 votes against the 2,990 of the sitting

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Edmond Wodehouse Edmond Robert Wodehouse (3 June 1835 – 14 December 1914) was an English Liberal and Liberal Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1906. Biography Wodehouse was the only child of Sir Philip Edmond Wodehouse, Gov ...

.Craig, 1885–1918, p 66. However, when Bath's Conservative MP Robert Blaine retired at the 1886 general election, Laurie was elected in his place, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1892 general election. During his Parliamentary career, Laurie was counted as a member of the 'Volunteer Interest' in the House of Commons.

Later life

Laurie was Master of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers in 1887. Laurie remained commanding officer of the 3rd London RVC until forced to retire due to ill-health in 1892, when he became its Honorary Colonel until 1904. He was awarded a CB in 1887 and was one of the first recipients of the

Volunteer Officers' Decoration The Volunteer Officers' Decoration, post-nominal letters VD, was instituted in 1892 as an award for long and meritorious service by officers of the United Kingdom's Volunteer Force. Award of the decoration was discontinued in the United Kingdom ...

when it was instituted in 1892. His son, R.M. Laurie, and cousins K.S. Laurie, Allan D. Laurie, R.A. Laurie and Maj-Gen Sir Percy Laurie, all joined the 3rd Londons, and several went on to distinguished careers during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Planck, pp. 5–6, Appendix A p. 243, Appendix G p. 258.

Notes

References

* Ian F.W. Beckett, ''Riflemen Form: A study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908'', Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, . * * * C. Digby Planck, ''The Shiny Seventh: History of the 7th (City of London) Battalion London Regiment'', London: Old Comrades' Association, 1946/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2002, . *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laurie, Robert Peter 1835 births 1905 deaths Queen Victoria's Rifles soldiers People educated at Tonbridge School Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1886–1892 Politics of Canterbury Companions of the Order of the Bath