Hamar Alfred Bass (30 July 1842 – 8 April 1898) was a British brewer, race horse breeder and a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

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. ...

from 1878 to 1898.

Early life

Bass was born in

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...

, the second son of brewer

Michael Thomas Bass Michael Thomas Bass, DL (6 July 1799 – 29 April 1884) was an English brewer and a Member of Parliament. Under his leadership, the Bass Brewery became the largest brewery in the world, and Bass the best known brand of beer in England. Bass r ...

and his wife Eliza Jane Arden, daughter of Major Samuel Arden of Longcrofts Hall, Stafford.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
/ref> Bass was the great-grandson of William Bass, the founder of the brewery firm of Bass & Co, and his elder brother became Lord Burton. Bass was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and became a Director of the family firm of Bass, Ratcliff, Gretton and Co., although his father barred him from brewery affairs because of Hamar's gambling problems.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', "Michael Thomas Bass"

Cricket career

Bass played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC), making a single first-class appearance for the MCC against

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in 1865. He was dismissed in the MCC's first-innings by

James Lillywhite James Lillywhite (23 February 1842 – 25 October 1929) was an English Test cricketer and an umpire. He was the first ever captain of the English cricket team in a Test match, captaining two Tests against Australia in 1876–77, losing the fir ...

, while in their second innings he was dismissed for 3 runs by George Wells. The match ended in a draw.

Militia career

He was commissioned into the part-time

King's Own (3rd Staffordshire) Rifle Militia The King's Own (3rd Staffordshire) Rifle Militia, later the 4th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment was an auxiliary regiment raised in Staffordshire in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England in 1853. Under the Cardwell Reforms, ...

on 15 June 1860 and rose to be the regiment's commanding officer, when it had become the 4th Battalion,

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battali ...

. After retirement from the command he was appointed the battalion's Honorary Colonel on 8 July 1893.

Political career

Bass was elected MP for Tamworth at a in by-election in 1878 and held the seat until 1885 when the representation was reduced to one seat 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 elected MP for West Staffordshire in the 1885 general election and held the seat until his death aged 55 in 1898 from a complex form of

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

. He was also a J.P. for

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

Bass Charity Vase

In 1889, Bass, along with Lord Burton founded the

Bass Charity Vase The Bass Charity Vase is a friendly association football tournament founded in 1889 in Burton upon Trent to raise funds for medical and hospital charities. The trophy was donated by Lord Burton and Hamar Bass the great-grandsons of William Bass, ...

- an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

competition that raised money for medical charities. As of 2021, the competition still occurs annually and continues its charitable work.

Equestrian career

Bass was a breeder at the Byrkley Stud and his horse "Love Wisely" won the

Ascot Gold Cup The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4,014 ...

in 1896. He was also for 12 years master of the Meynell Hunt.

Family life

Bass married Louisa Bagot (1853–1942), daughter of

William Bagot, 3rd Baron Bagot William Bagot, 3rd Baron Bagot DL (27 March 1811 – 19 January 1887), styled The Honourable from birth until 1856, was a British courtier and Conservative politician. Background Born at Blithfield House, he was the eldest son of William Bagot ...

, in 1879. They lived at

Byrkley Lodge Byrkley Lodge was a country house and later racing horse stud farm, located close to Burton on Trent, Staffordshire. Demolished in 1953, its former grounds are today the site of the St George's Park National Football Centre. Byrkley Park The lan ...

and Needwood House, Burton, and also at 145 Piccadilly, London.The Queen's Programme, Into Piccadilly, ''The New York Times'', June 19, 1897
/ref> After his death, Louisa married Rev Bernard Shaw. Bass's sister Emily Bass married Sir William Plowden, MP for Wolverhampton West, and his sister Alice Bass married Sir George Chetwode being the mother of Field Marshal Philip Chetwode. Bass's son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

succeeded in his uncle's baronetcy according to special remainder. Hamar Bass's daughter Sibell Lucia married Major

Berkeley John Talbot Levett Berkeley John Talbot Levett, (11 November 1863 – 1 November 1941) was a Major in the Scots Guards and later a Gentleman Usher for the Royal family. He was a witness in the Royal Baccarat Scandal of 1890 in which the future King Edward VII ...

of the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

, son of Theophilus Levett of

Wychnor Park Wychnor Hall (or Wychnor Park, ) is Grade II Listed early 18th-century country house near Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, formerly owned by the Levett Family. The hall has been converted to a Country Club. History Wychnor takes its name from th ...

, Staffordshire. Berkeley

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, no ...

served as one of the

Gentlemen Ushers Gentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders. Gentlemen Ushers as servants Historical Gentlemen Ushers were originally a class of servants foun ...

to the Royal Family from 1919 to 1937.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Hamar Alfred 1842 births 1898 deaths People educated at Harrow School English brewers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 English hunters People from Burton upon Trent English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Staffordshire Militia officers North Staffordshire Regiment officers Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies 19th-century English businesspeople