Sir Arthur Bignold (8 July 1839 – 23 March 1915) was a

Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

politician in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

who served as the

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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Wick Burghs Wick Burghs, sometimes known as Northern Burghs, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. A similar ...

from 1900 to 1910. Bignold was third son of

Sir Samuel Bignold Sir Samuel Bignold Deputy lieutenant, DL (13 October 1791 – 2 January 1875) was a British businessman with insurances and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Background Born in Norwich, he was the third and youngest son of Thomas ...

, Secretary of the

Norwich Union Norwich Union was the name of insurance company Aviva's British arm before June 2009. It was originally established in 1797. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. On 29 April 2008, Aviva a ...

. He was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. In 1873 he was a founding member of

The Kennel Club The Kennel Club ("KC") is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to oversee various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also oper ...

. He won his seat 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. ...

at the 1900 general election, when he defeated the sitting

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

Thomas Hedderwick Thomas Charles Hunter Hedderwick (1850 – 6 February 1918) was a Liberal Party politician in Scotland who served as the member of parliament (MP) for Wick Burghs from 1896 to 1900. Life He was the son of the newspaper proprietor James Hedde ...

. Bignold was re-elected in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, a ...

, but lost his seat at the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

. He stood again in

December 1910 The following events occurred in December 1910: December 1, 1910 (Thursday) * Porfirio Diaz was inaugurated for his eighth term as President of Mexico."Record of Current Events", ''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (January 1911), pp ...

, but lost again. He was granted the freedom of the Royal burgh of

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...

in December 1902, and knighted on 5 July 1904. He was proprietor of Lochrosque and Strathbran Estates in Ross Shire, near to

Achnasheen Achnasheen ( Gaelic ''Achadh na Sìne'') is a small village in Ross-shire in the Highland council area of Scotland. The village is situated on the River Bran at the junction of two roads built by Thomas Telford. Despite the size of the village ...

and

Achanalt Achanalt (Gaelic: ''Achadh nan Allt'') is a railway halt in Strath Bran, Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish council area of Highland. It is served by a railway station on the Kyle of Lochalsh Line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh. History T ...

and served as President of the Ross and Sutherland Benevolent Society as well as a magistrate of Ross and Cromarty and Chief of the Gaelic Society. A bagpipe march Arthur Bignold of Lochrosque is named after him. In September 1914 Winston Churchill, when he was

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

was travelling past Bignold's home, Lochrosque Castle, to inspect the fleet at Loch Ewe. Churchill noticed a light on the roof used for lamping deer and assumed that it was being used to communicate with German spies. Churchill and his Police protection officer invaded the Castle and dismantled the light to the annoyance of Bignold.

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* 1839 births 1915 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 Liberal Unionist Party MPs for Scottish constituencies Knights Bachelor Politicians awarded knighthoods Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Highland constituencies {{Conservative-UK-MP-1830s-stub