Ralph Bernal Osborne, Vanity Fair, 1870-05-28

Ralph Bernal Osborne of Newtown Anner House,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named afte ...

, MP (26 March 1808 – 4 January 1882), born and baptised with the name of Ralph Bernal, Jr., 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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

Liberal politician.

Life

He was the eldest son of London Sephardic Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Parliamentarian

Ralph Bernal Ralph Bernal (2 October 1783 ''available online to subscribers, and also in print'' or 2 October 1784 – 26 August 1854) was a British Whig politician and art collector. His parents, Jacob Israel Bernal and wife Leah da Silva, were Sephardi Je ...

, himself an MP, who died in 1854, and wife Ann Elizabeth (née White). The younger Bernal entered the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

in 1831, as an

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diff ...

of the

71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland regiment in the British Army, raised in 1777. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in 1881. Histo ...

. He later served with the 7th (

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

) Regiment of Foot, and finally left the army in 1844 with the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He had already been elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

in 1841 as a member for

Chipping Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, in the Liberal interest, and later sat for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

(1847–57),

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

(1857–59),

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...

(1859–65),

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

(1866–68), and

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

City (1870–74). In the ''Railway Times'' of 21 June 1845 he is the first person listed in the provisional committee for the Leicester, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Burton-upon-Trent and Stafford Junction Railway: Ralph R. Bernal Osborne, MP for Wycombe, address: Albemarle Street. The railway was never built. Beside being a Parliamentarian, he was also Secretary of the Admiralty. When he died, his house at Newtown Anner,

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Drogheda and Wexford. With the exception of the townland ...

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following th ...

, Ireland, was surrounded by more than of land.

Family

On 20 August 1844 he married Catherine Isabella Osborne (30 June 1819 – 20 June 1880), from an Anglo-Irish landed family , the daughter of

Sir Thomas Osborne, 9th Baronet Sir Thomas Osborne, 9th Baronet, MP (1757 – 3 June 1821) was an Irish baronet and politician. Biography He was the eldest son of Sir William Osborne, 8th Baronet and his wife Elizabeth ''née'' Christmas, daughter of Thomas Christmas ...

and Catherine Rebecca Smith, and on the same day he took her name and his name was legally changed by Royal Licence, becoming Ralph Bernal Osborne. His two daughters shared his estate. His older daughter, Edith Bernal Osborne, married Sir

Henry Arthur Blake Sir Henry Arthur Blake (; 8January 184023February 1918) was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Hong Kong from 1898 to 1903. Early life, family and career Blake was born in Limerick, Ireland. He was the son of Peter Blake of Corb ...

; His younger daughter, Grace Bernal Osborne (d. London, 18 November 1926), married William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans.Derek Beales, 'Osborne, Ralph Bernal (1808?–1882)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 28 March 2009
/ref> His grandson was Osborne Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans.

Sources

* Charles Mosley, editor, ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, USA: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 3031.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Ralph Bernal 1808 births 1882 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Waterford constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Liskeard English art collectors British people of Spanish-Jewish descent British people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Jewish British politicians Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dover