Edward Robert King-Harman (3 April 1838 – 10 June 1888) was an Irish landlord and politician. He sat in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

between 1877 and 1888 as an Irish nationalist, and later Unionist, Member of Parliament.

Early life

King-Harman was the son of Lawrence Harman King-Harman and his wife Cecilia Johnstone of Stirling. His father was the younger son of

Robert King, 1st Viscount Lorton General Robert Edward King, 1st Viscount Lorton (12 August 1773 – 20 November 1854), styled The Honourable from 1797 to 1800, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. He was notable for his strong support for anti-Catholic policies and his clos ...

and inherited from him the estates of Rockingham,

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

, and Newcastle,

Ballymahon Ballymahon () on the River Inny is a town in the southern part of County Longford, Ireland. It is located at the junction of the N55 National secondary road and the R392 regional road. History Ballymahon derives its name from the Irish lang ...

County Longford County Longford ( gle, Contae an Longfoirt) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 46,6 ...

. King-Harman was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and became a lieutenant in the 60th Rifles and captain in the Longford Militia. He inherited Rockingham which was a fine house built by John Nash, but altered in a less than sympathetic way in the late 19th century in order to provide more accommodation. He was J.P. for the counties of Sligo, Longford and Westmeath and Honorary Colonel of the 5th Battalion,

Connaught Rangers The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the ''1st Battalion'') and the 94th Regiment of Foot (which ...

. He published in the Freeman's Journal and was a member of the Arts Club from 1863 until his death.

Political career

King-Harman stood unsuccessfully as

Isaac Butt Isaac Butt (6 September 1813 – 5 May 1879) was an Irish barrister, editor, politician, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist parti ...

's Nationalist Home Rule candidate in the May 1870 rerun of the December 1869

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

by-election after the result of the first vote was overturned. In January 1877, he was elected

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

Sligo County County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local a ...

but lost the seat at the 1880 general election. He then became

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and

Custos Rotulorum ''Custos rotulorum'' (; plural: ''custodes rotulorum''; Latin for "keeper of the rolls", ) is a civic post that is recognised in the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and in Jamaica. England, Wales and Northern Ireland The ''custos rotulorum'' is t ...

of Roscommon in 1878. In 1883 he was elected MP for Dublin County, until the seat was divided under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

. He was initially a Nationalist Home Ruler but subsequently became a Unionist. As result of Gladstone's

Representation of the People Act 1884 In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3, also known informally as the Third Reform Act) and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which ...

which would extend the Irish franchise, some Orangemen were threatening violence and

T. P. O'Connor Thomas Power O'Connor (5 October 1848 – 18 November 1929), known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay (mimicking his own pronunciation of the initials ''T. P.''), was an Irish nationalist politician and journalist who served as a ...

complained in parliament of several politicians using inflammatory language. O'Connor quoted as an example King-Harman's advice to "Keep the cartridge in the rifle." In 1885 King-Harman was elected as a Unionist (Conservative) MP for the English seat of

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in anc ...

. In 1887 he was a parliamentary

Under-Secretary for Ireland The Under-Secretary for Ireland (Permanent Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) was the permanent head (or most senior civil servant) of the British administration in Ireland prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 ...

. He held the seat until his death from heart disease at Rockingham in Boyle, Ireland at the age of 49 in 1888.

Family

King-Harman married, in 1864, Emma Frances Worsley, daughter of Sir William Worsley, 1st Baronet. They had one daughter, Frances Agnes, who married

Sir Thomas Stafford, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Joseph Stafford, 1st Baronet (3 May 1857 – 11 May 1935) was an Anglo-Irish medical doctor and official in the Dublin Castle administration of Ireland. Biography Stafford was born in Portobello, County Roscommon, the second son of Joh ...

, a physician and member of the Irish Privy Council. They in turn had two sons, the younger of whom,

Cecil Stafford-King-Harman Sir Cecil William Francis Stafford-King-Harman, 2nd Baronet (6 December 1895–1987) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and soldier. He was born Cecil Stafford, the second son of Sir Thomas Stafford, 1st Baronet and his wife, Frances Agnes, daughter of ...

, inherited the baronetcy and the Rockingham estates.thepeerage.com
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King-Harmon, Edward Robert 1838 births 1888 deaths People educated at Eton College King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Lord-Lieutenants of Roscommon Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Sligo constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Dublin constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

Artists' Rifles soldiers Irish landlords 19th-century Irish landowners People from Boyle, County Roscommon Politicians from County Roscommon