Arthur Wellesley Soames (30 November 1852 – 2 November 1934) was a British Liberal politician and architect.

Family and education

Soames was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, the son of

William Aldwin Soames William Aldwin Soames (10 July 1850 – 27 December 1916) was an English cricketer. Soames was a right-handed batsman. He was born at Brighton, Sussex, and was educated at Brighton College, which his father, William Aldwin Soames, had fou ...

. He was educated at Brighton College, the public school which his father had founded in 1845, and in 1871 he went up to Trinity College, CambridgeThe Times, 14 May 1898 where he obtained his BA in 1877 and MA in 1881.The Times, 1 July 1892 In 1876 he married Eveline, the daughter of T. Horsman Coles from Ore in

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. They had three sons and two daughters. Of the three sons, two, Gilbert and Maurice, were killed during the First World War.

Career

Soames studied architecture under Sir

Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...

who was an Associate of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. He then set up his own architectural practice between 1882 and 1898.

Politics

Soames was a Liberal in the Radical tradition. He was Chairman of the East Marylebone Liberal and Radical Association. He was adopted as the Radical candidate for Ipswich at the 1892 general election and fought the seat, without success, in

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

. However he got his opportunity to enter Parliament at a by-election in the constituency of South Norfolk held on 12 May 1898. The by-election was occasioned by the resignation on grounds of ill-health of the sitting Liberal Unionist (formerly Liberal) MP, Francis Taylor. Standing as a Radical, Soames gained 4,625 votes. His Unionist opponent, Sancroft Holmes received 3,295 giving a very healthy Liberal majority of 1,330. Soames decided not to contest his seat again at the 1918 general election, by that time aged 66 years.The Times, 21.11.18

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soames, Arthir Wellesley 1852 births 1934 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 19th-century English architects Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Architects from Brighton 19th-century male tennis players English male tennis players