Charles Gray Round (28 January 1797 – 1 December 1867) was a barrister and the Conservative

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 o ...

(MP) for North Essex 1837–47. He also served as

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

for

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

, and as 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 judic ...

and Deputy Lieutenant for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, as well as being a substantial local landowner and notable. Round was educated at Winchester then Felsted (1810–1814), and graduated from

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, Oxford, with first class honours in classics in 1818 (BA) and 1821 (MA); he was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1822. Round was always regarded as "a very able and intelligent lawyer", though not an eloquent pleader. He served as Chairman of the Essex Quarter Sessions, a post which he held for twenty years, and as Recorder of Colchester for nearly thirty. Round was an active magistrate for Essex and a warm supporter of most of the religious societies connected with the Church of England. He was also a founding member of the Essex Archaeological Society. Politically, he was elected unopposed to become an MP for North Essex in 1837, a seat which he held until 1847, when he stood for the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, but failed to win that, losing to

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

. Round inherited from his father (also Charles) a great deal of land in Colchester, including Birch Hall, which he rebuilt 1843–8 as "a handsome mansion in the plain Ionic order". In the same way he took possession of

Colchester Castle Colchester Castle is a Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being bui ...

and the accompanying Castle Park, originally under the ownership of Charles Gray. Round resigned his position as Recorder of Colchester in 1863. In 1838 he married his wife Emma Sarah (1819–1892); together they "promoted religion and education in the parish f Birch were diligent in charitable works, and provided some housing for estate workers." Having no children, he was succeeded as owner of Birch Hall by his nephew James Round. In his will he provided for trustees to build

sea defences The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

near

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea is a seaside town in the Tendring District in the county of Essex, England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District with a population of 56,874 (2016). The town is situated ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Round, Charles Gray 1797 births 1867 deaths UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy Lieutenants of Essex