Sir Charles Eric Hambro (30 September 1872 – 28 December 1947) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

merchant banker A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commod ...

and Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Charles Eric Hambro was born on 30 September 1872. He was the eldest son of Sir

Everard Hambro Sir Everard Alexander Hambro (11 April 1842 – 26 February 1925) was a British banker and philanthropist. Early life Everard Hambro was born 11 April 1842 in Willesden, London. Charles Mosley (ed.), ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', Crans ...

, a merchant banker of

Milton Abbey Milton Abbey School is a private school for day and boarding pupils in the village of Milton Abbas, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, in South West England. It has 224 pupils , in five houses: Athelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson and Tregonwell. T ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and

Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Hay ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. 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

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

Career

He became a partner in C. J. Hambro & Son. He rose to become chairman of

Hambros Bank Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years. The bank ...

. In July 1900 he was selected as the Conservative candidate to contest the constituency of

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. He was elected unopposed 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 ...

at the general election held in September 1900. He held the seat at the next

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

in 1906, with a majority of 2,114 votes over his

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

opponent, St. George Lane Fox Pitt. In April 1907 it was announced that he would be resigning from parliament "on account of additional responsibilities which have been cast upon him in connexion with his business". He formally left parliament on appointment as

Steward of the Manor of Northstead The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead functions as a procedural device to allow a member of Parliament (MP) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As members of the House of Commons are forbidde ...

on 27 April 1907. In February 1919 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in recognition of his service at the Ministry of Information during the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Personal life

He was twice married: to Sybil Emily Smith in 1894, and following a divorce, to Estelle Elger in 1929. He had two sons and two daughters from his first marriage, including

Charles Jocelyn Hambro Air Commodore Sir Charles Jocelyn Hambro, (3 October 189728 August 1963) was a British merchant banker and intelligence officer. Life Hambro was born into a banking family of Danish Jewish origin which had settled in Dorset and the City of Lo ...

, who later became a senior intelligence officer and a merchant banker.

Death

He died at his home in Sunninghill,

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 ...

, aged 75 on 28 December 1947. He is buried at St Mary the Virgin, Bromley in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hambro, Eric Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies 1872 births 1947 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...

UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 British people of Danish descent English people of Danish descent British people of German-Jewish descent People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Danish barons