Sir Robert Purvis (5 July 1844 – 23 June 1920) was a British

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and Liberal Unionist politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1895 to 1905 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough.

Early life

Robert Purvis was born on 5 July 1844 in

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, the third son of Joseph Purvis. The family moved to

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when Purvis was small. He was educated at

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and at

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, where he graduated with a BA in 1880, an MA and LL.M in 1875, and as a Doctor of law (LL.D) in 1881.

Career

He was

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in 1873 at the Inner Temple, and practised on the North Eastern Circuit. At the 1885 general election he unsuccessfully contested the Abingdon division of Berkshire as a Liberal Party candidate. When the Liberals split over

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, they took the Unionist side, and at the 1886 election he stood as a Liberal Unionist in Edinburgh South, but lost to William Ewart Gladstone's ally and former minister, Hugh Childers, who had been defeated in his previous district the previous December. Purvis then contested the Peterborough by-election in October 1889, but lost to the Liberal candidate Alpheus Morton.Craig, page 169The Times'' did not explain why Purvis considered separation to be opposed to democracy). He contested the seat again in

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

, cutting Morton's majority to 158 votes (4% of the total), down from 251 votes (7%)in 1889. Purvis won Peterborough on his third attempt, when he defeated Morton at the 1895 general election. Morton had hoped to contest the seat again in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, but the local Liberals declined to nominate him again, and Purvis was re-elected with a reduced majority over the Liberal candidate Halley Stewart. In 1903 he supported Joseph Chamberlain's policy of Imperial Preference, a proposed system of reciprocally-levelled tariffs or free trade agreements between different Dominions and Colonies within the British Empire which had caused a division in Unionist ranks. He was knighted in 1905, in the King's Birthday Honours, but lost his seat at the

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to the Liberal Granville Greenwood, who won by a large majority of 1,159 votes (21% of the total). Purvis continued as an active Liberal Unionist, and in December 1908 he was one of several speaker at a mass meeting on tariff reform held in Stamford. He contested Peterborough again at the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

, but even before Parliament was dissolved on 10 January, ''The Times'' was pessimistic about his chances. The Liberal majority in 1906 was "decisive", and Greenwood had the support of most of Peterborough's railway and engineering workers made up a large proportion of the electorate. When the votes were counted, Greenwood had held the seat, although with a more modest majority of 43 votes (7%). In 1914, he supported calls by Unionist MP Jesse Collings for

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to become owner-occupiers of their lands. He saw it as an alternative to encouraging he emigration of young men to take up land grants in the colonies, and as a bulwark against radical Liberal proposals to nationalise the land.

Family and death

In 1874 Purvis married Elizabeth Marion Peat, eldest daughter of William Henry Peat, a merchant from London. He died on 23 June 1920.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Purvis, Robert 1844 births 1920 deaths Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Knights Bachelor Politics of Peterborough