Richard Hazleton (5 December 1879 – 26 January 1943) was an Irish

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

politician of the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nati ...

. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Galway from 1906 to 1918, taking his seat 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 ...

of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

Early life

He was born at Gresham Buildings, Dollymount, Dublin, on 5 December 1879, the son of Thomas Hazleton, a draper originally from

Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

, and Bridget Rose Ryan. He was educated at

Blackrock College Blackrock College () is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 1860 as a school and later became al ...

.Obituary. R. Hazleton, ex-MP, ''Irish Times'', 27 January 1943.

Political career

He was one of the founders of the Young Ireland Branch of the

United Irish League The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...

, which included Thomas Kettle, Rory O'Connor and James Creed Meredith. He was seen as one of the Irish Party's most promising young members.Maume, Patrick: ''The long Gestation, Irish Nationalist Life 1891–1918'', Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1999, pp. 230-31. In 1901, he was elected a member of Blackrock Urban District Council and Rathdown Board of Guardians.Mr Richard Hazleton, ''Irish Independent'', 27 January 1943. At the 1906 general election, the 25-year-old Hazelton contested the

South Dublin South Dublin () is a county in Ireland, within the province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. South Dublin Cou ...

constituency, where he lost by a wide margin to the Unionist Walter Long, a former

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

. However, Thomas Higgins, the nationalist candidate in North Galway, had died the night before counting of the votes commenced and was elected posthumously, thereby creating an immediate vacancy. Hazelton was the only candidate nominated for the resulting by-election, and was therefore elected unopposed when nominations closed on 28 February. At the next general election, in January 1910, Hazelton was returned unopposed in North Galway, but also stood in North Louth, where he narrowly failed to unseat the sitting MP Tim Healy, of the

All-for-Ireland League The All-for-Ireland League (AFIL) was an Irish, Munster-based political party (1909–1918). Founded by William O'Brien Member of parliament, MP, it generated a new national movement to achieve agreement between the different parties concerned o ...

. However, at the December 1910 election, he was again returned unopposed in North Galway, but also stood again in North Louth. This time he defeated Tim Healy in a bitter contest, by 2,509 votes to 2,021,Walker, op. cit, p. 180 but the North Louth result was subsequently overturned on petition, the reason cited being corrupt and defamatory conduct. On 24 May 1914, he resigned his seat in Parliament, citing health and financial reasons. On 21 July 1914, he was re-elected to the same constituency in a by-election, in which he was the only candidate – a comeback to Parliament for the same constituency after 28 days. He was honorary secretary to the

from 1907 to 1918. He lost his seat in the 1918 general election, when he came to within a few hundred votes of retaining the Louth seat for the Irish Party. He later emigrated to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

In the 1923 British general election, he unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the

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. For example, while the political systems ...

in the

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...

constituency. He worked as an engineer and, in 1925 was secretary to the Society of Technical Engineers. From 1928 until his death, he served as general secretary of the Institution of Production Engineers.''The Times'', 27 January 1943. He was briefly engaged to the singer Margaret Burke Sheridan. He died, after an operation, in London. He was buried in St Mary's Catholic Cemetery,

Kensal Green Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington, London, North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazleton, Richard 1879 births 1943 deaths Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Galway constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Louth constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Politicians from County Dublin People educated at Blackrock College