Robert Henry Hurst (1 June 1817 – 12 February 1905) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 and

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 Hastings and Rye. He was

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

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

from 1865 to 1868, and from 1875 to 1876. Hurst was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Sussex,''1871 England Census'' the only son of Robert Henry Hurst and Dorothea Breynton. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. Hurst was elected to 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. ...

on his first attempt at the 1865 general election, winning the seat previously held by his father. He was defeated at the

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

by the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate

John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in M ...

, but petitions were lodged against both candidates and Aldridge chose not to defend his claim so Hurst was declared elected in 1869. He was defeated in the 1874 general election by the Conservative

William Vesey-FitzGerald Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey-FitzGerald, GCSI, GCIE, PC (1818 – 28 June 1885), was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1858 and 1859 and as Governor o ...

, but when Vesey-FitzGerald was appointed as Chief Charity Commissioner for England and Wales in 1875, he was required by the rules at the time to seek re-election. Hurst won the resulting Horsham by-election, but after a petition the by-election result was declared void. Hurst did not stand for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

again. He married Matilda Jane Scott, daughter of James Scott of Rusper, Sussex. He was the father of judge Sir

Cecil Hurst Sir Cecil James Barrington Hurst, Order of St Michael and St George, GCMG, Order of the Bath, KCB, Queen's Counsel, QC (28 October 1870 – 27 March 1963) was a British international lawyer. He worked from 1929 to 1945 as a judge to the Permanent ...

References

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External links

* 1817 births 1905 deaths People from Brighton People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub