Robert Armstrong Yerburgh, (17 January 1853 – 18 December 1916), was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician.

Early life

He was the son of the Rev. Richard Yerburgh, vicar of New Sleaford, and Susan Higgin, daughter of John Higgin of

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, and had ten full brothers and sisters; by his father's second marriage in 1863 he had two half-sisters, Annie Constance and Mabel Stanley. He was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

and

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

. He matriculated at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

in 1873, graduating B.A. at

St Alban Hall St Alban Hall, sometimes known as St Alban's Hall or Stubbins, was one of the academic halls of the University of Oxford, medieval halls of the University of Oxford, and one of the longest-surviving. It was established in the 13th century, acqu ...

in 1877. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1880.

Career

Yerburgh went the northern circuit as a barrister. In 1886, after losing the previous year to Walter Foster, he was elected 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 ...

for

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, standing for the Unionists. He lost the seat in 1906, but was elected again in 1910. In 1916 Yerburgh was intended for a peerage, but he died in December of that year, before the patent had been completed, aged 63. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and a Justice of the Peace for

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ) or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an ...

Interests

Yerburgh supported the British Produce Supply Organisation, set up in 1896 by Murray Finch-Hatton, 12th Earl of Winchilsea. He acted as president of the National Agricultural Union, and in 1901 introduced a motion in the House of Commons on the

food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...

of the United Kingdom, about which he had grave concerns. When William Lancelot Charleton of Newark set up the British Agricultural Organisation Society, in 1901, to promote

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

s on a model used already by the

Irish Agricultural Organisation Society The Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS) was an agricultural association in Ireland which advocated, and helped to organise, agricultural cooperativism, including mutual credit facilities. From its establishment by Sir Horace Plunkett ...

he became its president.

Private life

In 1888 Yerburgh married Elma Amy, a daughter of Daniel Thwaites, and the couple lived at Billinge Scar, near Blackburn, before moving to Woodfold Hall. They had two sons. Their younger son,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

, also became a Conservative politician and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Alvingham in 1929 (his older brother, Richard, having died in 1926). Elma Amy Yerburgh died in 1946.

Coat of Arms

Yerburgh’s armorial bearings were ''per pale argent and azure on a chevron between three chaplets all counterchanged an annulet for the difference and on an escutcheon of pretence the arms of Theaites namely ermine a cross engrailed sable fretty argent in the first and fourth quarter a chaplet of oak vert. The mantling is azure and argent. For a crest: on a wreath of the colours a falcon close or belled of the last preying upon a mallard proper.'' The motto “who dares wins” was sometimes used alongside the arms described here.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

External links

Yerburgh family history (1912)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yerburgh, Robert 1853 births 1916 deaths People educated at Rossall School Alumni of University College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Deputy lieutenants of Lancashire Scottish justices of the peace People educated at Harrow School