Charles Townshend Murdoch (27 May 1837 – 8 July 1898) was a banker and

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 ...

politician who sat in 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 ...

between 1885 and 1898. Murdoch was the son of James Gordon Murdoch, of Ashfold, Sussex and his wife Caroline Penelope Gambier daughter of Samuel Gambier and sister of

Edward John Gambier Sir Edward John Gambier (1794–1879) was a colonial jurist and law officer, who served as a judge in British India, Chief Justice of Madras and Recorder of Penang, Singapore, Malacca. Early life Gambier was born in 1794. He was the third son ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and became a lieutenant in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

. Later he was a captain in the South Middlesex Volunteers and adjutant of the Hertfordshire Yeoman Cavalry. He became a banker and was a partner in the firm of Ransom, Bouverie & Co and a director of Imperial Fire Insurance Co and London Life Association. He was also chairman of the

Llanelly Railway The Llanelly Railway and Dock Company was an early Welsh railway system. It opened its first short line and a wet dock at Llanelli in 1834, and soon went on to build a longer line from Llanelly to serve pits in the Amman Valley, and then on to Ll ...

and a J.P. for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

living at

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

. At the 1885 general election, Murdoch was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, holding the seat until his defeat in

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

. He regained the seat in

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

, and held it until his death aged 61 in 1898. His opponents in the elections were members of the Palmer family of

Huntley & Palmers Huntley & Palmers is a British company of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global brands (chiefly led by George Palmer (businessman), George Palme ...

biscuits. Murdoch married Sophia Speke, daughter of W Speke of Ilminster, in 1862 and had several daughters and one son Charles Edward Gambier (1865-1894) who died of typhus unmarried.

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* 1837 births 1898 deaths People educated at Eton College Rifle Brigade officers Hertfordshire Yeomanry officers English bankers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1895–1900 19th-century English businesspeople {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1830s-stub