Sir Robert Lucas Lucas-Tooth, 1st Baronet (7 December 1844 – 19 February 1915) was an Australian politician. He was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, the son of Edwin Tooth and Sarah Lucas, and 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 ...

. He returned to Australia in 1863, joining the family firm and becoming involved in the brewery business. He owned Kameruka estate, near Bega. On 2 January 1873, he married Helen Tooth, his first cousin who was a daughter of Frederick

Tooth A tooth (: teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tea ...

; they had six children. From 1875 he had built an impressive mansion,

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, in the Sydney harbour suburb of

Darling Point, New South Wales Darling Point is a harbourside Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, Australia. It is 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government area of Municipali ...

, which was designed in the

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style. From 1880 to 1884 he represented Monaro in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

In 1889, he settled in England, although he remained involved in Australian interests and visited frequently. In 1895 he ran as a

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for the

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, but he was defeated. In 1904, he took the name Lucas-Tooth and was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. In 1910, he bought Holme Lacy House from the Earl of Chesterfield and modernised it, installing electricity and sewage systems. As a philanthropist he gave: * in 1913 a gift of £50,000 to

Prince Alexander of Teck Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George; born Prince Alexander of Teck; 14 April 1874 – 16 January 1957), was a member of the extended British royal family, as a great-grandson of King Georg ...

to support the prince's fund to assist and extend facilities for the "physical and moral training of boys". His name was given to the fund and a medal named "Lucas-Tooth Boys Training Fund for Efficiency" was created to reward deserving military cadets; * the same year a donation of £1000 to the Mawson Antarctic Expedition Relief Fund, helping the "Aurora" reach

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and bring back Dr.

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

and six others who were over-wintering there after a series of calamities; * in 1914 he also contributed £10,000 to Lady Dudley's Field Hospital to help the Australian war effort. He died at Holme Lacy in 1915. Both his elder sons were killed in action within six weeks of each other in the First World War in 1914 and the youngest,

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, who had succeeded him as 2nd Baronet, also died of pneumonia on military service in 1918. Although two of his sons had married, there were no male heirs and the baronetcy thus became extinct. His wife Helen, Lady Lucas-Tooth (nee Tooth), died in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

in 1942. The baronetcy was revived in 1920 through the son of Sir Robert's daughter. Holme Lacy was sold in 1919 to R. Hadden Tebb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas-Tooth, Robert Lucas 1844 births 1915 deaths Colony of New South Wales people People educated at Eton College Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Australian brewers 19th-century Australian businesspeople