Sir Edmund Henry Knowles Lacon, 3rd Baronet (14 August 1807 – 2 December 1888) was an English businessman and liberal

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 ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

in two periods between 1852 and 1885.

Early life

Lacon was the son of

Sir Edmund Knowles Lacon, 2nd Baronet Sir Edmund Knowles Lacon, 2nd Baronet (28 February 1780 – 3 June 1839) of Ormesby House (now Ormesby Old Hall), near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk was an English Mayor of Great Yarmouth, High Sheriff of Norfolk and Member of Parliament. He was the on ...

, and his wife Eliza Beecroft, daughter of Thomas Beecroft of Saxthorpe Hall. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

. In 1839 he inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on the death of his father.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref>''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953.

Business career

Lacon became a brewer and banker at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

. He was one of the original shareholders in the

Yarmouth & Norwich Railway The Yarmouth & Norwich Railway (Y&NR) was the earliest railway in Norfolk, England. It was formed after it became apparent that it would be a number of years before the Eastern Counties Railway would extend their railway into Norfolk. Its Act o ...

in 1842 which was Norfolk's first railway. He was later a director of the Yarmouth & Haddiscoe Railway and the East Suffolk Railway. He was also Chairman of the

Great Yarmouth & Stalham Light Railway The Eastern and Midlands Railway was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of several small railways in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk, England, including the Yarmouth and North Norfolk Railway, the Lynn and Fakenham Railw ...

which later became part of the

Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated i ...

Military career

He was appointed

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

commanding the

East Norfolk Militia The Norfolk Militia was formed under the Militia Act of 1757, replacing earlier less formal arrangements. From this date, better records were kept, and the men were selected by ballot to serve for longer periods. Proper uniforms and better weapo ...

on 16 March 1860 and of the 1st Norfolk Administrative Battalion of Artillery Volunteers on 2 December 1864. He later became Honorary Colonel of both units' successors, the 4th Battalion,

Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

and the

1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteers The 1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteers was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force raised in the County of Norfolk in 1859 as a response to a French invasion threat. It became part of the Territorial Force in 1908 and served under various designations ...

(31 December 1881).

Political career

Lacon was elected as a

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 ...

(MP) for

at the 1852 general election and held the seat until his defeat in

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Janua ...

. He regained the seat in

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final u ...

and held it until the seat was disenfranchised for corruption at the 1868 general election. At the 1868 general election he was elected instead as MP for

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer. The population at the 2011 Census was 101,149. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a ...

. He held that seat until the 1885 general election, when he did not stand again.

Public life

He was a Deputy Lieutenant and JP for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, a JP for

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

and High Steward of Yarmouth.

Family life

On 23 March 1839 Lacon married Eliza Georgiana Hammet (d. 31 March 1881), daughter of James Esdaile Hammet of Battersea, and they had six children: * Edmund Broughton Knowles Lacon (9 May 1842 – 11 August 1899), who succeeded his father as 4th Baronet * Thomas Beecroft Ussher Lacon (24 February 1845 – 28 February 1899), whose eldest son, Edmund Beecroft Francis Heathcote Lacon, succeeded as 5th Baronet, and whose third son, Harry Reginald Dunbar Lacon, married Hilda Mary Slayter, a ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

'' survivor. * Henry Sidney Hammett Lacon (December 1847–30 June 1900) * Ernest De Montesquiou Lacon (1 May 1850 – 31 May 1936) * Georgina Lacon, (d. 4 April 1933) married

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Charles Henry Gordon * Eliza Walpole Lacon (d. 22 January 1928) married Colonel Henry Goring Ravenhill Lacon died at the age of 81.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacon, Edmund 1807 births 1888 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 People educated at Eton College Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Deputy Lieutenants of Norfolk Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British Militia officers Politics of the Borough of Great Yarmouth People from Great Yarmouth