Albert Kaye Rollit, Vanity Fair, 1886-10-09

Sir Albert Kaye Rollit (1842 – 12 August 1922) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

politician,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, and businessman.

Career

Born in Hull, he became a solicitor and went on to become president of the

Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...

. He later became a shipowner. He was

Mayor of Hull The position of Mayor of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England was established in 1332, being established by Edward III; the first mayor being William de la Pole. 26 June 1914 it was declared that the Chief Magistrate and Officer of the City w ...

from 1883 to 1885. In 1886, he was elected as a

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

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the South Islington constituency. In 1892 he put forward a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

in favour of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, which failed narrowly. Having opposed

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

's Tariff Reform proposals, he was defeated in the 1906 general election, and failed to get elected as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

in 1910. As a businessman he was well known on the Continent of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and acted as

consul-general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

for

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

from 1911 until his death. He was also a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, where he resided at Sutherland Grange at

Dedworth Dedworth is the most westerly area of Windsor in Berkshire, England. History The name Dedworth is formed from the words 'Dydda', a man's name, and 'Worth', a Saxon word for enclosure. An irregular quadrangula moat in Wolf Lane may be all that rem ...

, adjoining

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, with his second wife. He received the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

(LL.D.) from the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

in February 1902, in connection with the 50th jubilee celebrations of the establishment of the university. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

in 1902. In 1902, Rollit received the decoration Officer of the

Legion d'honeur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

from the French Republic in recognition of his services towards the development of commercial relations between the United Kingdom and France, and especially for his services in connection with the Universal Exhibition of 1900. In 1911 he served as a arbitrator of the massive nationwide English strikes

Personal life

Rollit married twice. His second wife was Mary,

dowager A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property—a "dower"—derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchy, monarchical and aristocracy, aristocratic Title#Aristocr ...

Duchess of Sutherland {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Duchess of Sutherland is the wife of the Duke of Sutherland, an extant title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833. Duchesses of Sutherland * Elizab ...

. He was her third husband. In 1898 her jewellery, then valued at £30,000, was stolen by international jewel-thief William Johnson, known as 'Harry the Valet'. Johnson stole the jewellery while she was travelling by train from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with her husband, (Rollit), her brother, his wife and the Duchess's footman and maid. The case was investigated by Inspectors

Walter Dew Detective Chief Inspector Walter Dew (17 April 1863 – 16 December 1947) was a British Metropolitan Police officer who was involved in the hunt for both Jack the Ripper and Dr Crippen. Early life Dew was born at Far Cotton, in Hardingstone, ...

, Walter Dinnie and

Frank Froest Superintendent Frank Castle Froest (1858, Bristol – 7 January 1930, Weston-super-Mare) was a British detective and crime writer. Froest was described by a journalist as being "...short, thick-set, full-faced, Mr. Froest in uniform looked more l ...

. He had a daughter; Emma Rollit, who married a Captain Richard Todd Ellison of the

2nd Life Guards The 2nd Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated ...

St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, is a Grade II*listed Anglican church of the Anglo-Catholic tradition located at 32a Wilton Place in Knightsbridge, London. History and architecture The church was founded in 1843, the first in London to champion ...

on 7 November 1886.Lincolnshire Chronicle, Friday 13 November 1896 - www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000354/18961113/034/0006

Honours

The Rollit steam pumping engine, built in 1883, and which formerly pumped sewage at Hull, was named in his honour. It is now preserved at

Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum Thinktank, Birmingham (formerly known as simply Thinktank) is a science museum in Birmingham, England. Opened in 2001, it is part of Birmingham Museums Trust and is located within the Millennium Point (Birmingham), Millennium Point complex on ...

, and carries a brass plaque bearing the name.

References

* * ''The Times'', 14 August 1922 1842 births 1922 deaths Politicians from Kingston upon Hull Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Businesspeople from Kingston upon Hull Presidents of the Law Society of England and Wales People from Windsor, Berkshire Mayors of Kingston upon Hull Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1840s-stub