Sir Edmund Antrobus, 3rd Baronet, (3 September 1818 – 1 April 1899) was a British politician who sat as

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 Surrey Eastern for six years as a

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 ...

, and Wilton for 22 years as a Whig/

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

. Sir Edmund was the eldest son of Sir Edmund Antrobus, 2nd Baronet, and Anne Lindsay of

Antrobus Hall Antrobus Hall is a country house in the village of Mobberley, Cheshire, England. It was built in 1709, and a wing was added in about 1760. It was built for John Antrobus, a dissenter from Knutsford. The hall is constructed in brick, and has ...

(Cheshire) and

Amesbury Abbey Amesbury Abbey was a Benedictine abbey of women at Amesbury in Wiltshire, England, founded by Queen Ælfthryth in about the year 979 on what may have been the site of an earlier monastery. The abbey was dissolved in 1177 by Henry II, who founded ...

(Wiltshire). He was educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. The elder Sir Edmund was a slave-owner, who had a number of sugar plantations in Jamaica, British Guiana and St Kitts. At the time of emancipation in the 1830s, the British government compensated him for the ownership of over 500 slaves on eight estates in the West Indies. The younger Edmund married Marianne Georgiana Dashwood on 11 February 1847, and with her had six children: Louisa Emma, who in 1874 married

Algernon Heneage Admiral Sir Algernon Charles Fieschi Heneage (19 March 1833 – 10 June 1915) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, The Nore. Dubbed "Pompo," he was known for his immaculate dress and his white-glove inspections of the ...

; Edmund (4th Baronet), Robert Lindsay, Cosmo (5th Baronet), and two other daughters. The Antrobus estate in Wiltshire included the ancient monument of

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

. During his lifetime, Antrobus refused to allow the government agency for the preservation of ancient monuments to even look at the property. It was rumoured that an anonymous buyer wanted to buy the stones and take them to the United States; if Antrobus had accepted the offer, no-one could have stopped him. His portrait was painted by animal painter

William Barraud William Barraud (1810 – 1 October 1850) was an English animal painter and illustrator, the brother of Henry Barraud, with whom he collaborated on many works. William was born in Lambeth in London, one of 17 children of William Francis Ba ...

, who showed him hunting with the Old Surrey Fox Hounds at Addington, Surrey. Antrobus was elected as one of two Members for

East Surrey East Surrey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Claire Coutinho, a Conservative. The seat covers an affluent area in the English county of Surrey. Since its creation in 1918, East Surrey has e ...

in 1841, and won one re-election, then in 1847 both MPs were unseated by Liberal candidates. At a by-election at Wilton in March 1855, he was elected unopposed as a

Peelite The Peelites were a breakaway dissident political faction of the British Conservative Party from 1846 to 1859. Initially led by Robert Peel, the former Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846, the Peelites supported free trade whilst ...

, replacing an incumbent from the same party, Charles A'Court, who had stood down to serve as a Special Commissioner in Ireland. He was re-elected as a Peelite in 1857 and as a Liberal in 1859, 1865, and 1868, and 1874, again being unopposed at all these elections. In 1877 he stood down, prompting the 1877 Wilton by-election, at which the Conservatives gained the seat. He succeeded to the Baronetcy upon the death of his father on 4 May 1870. He was

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gov ...

in 1880. On his death the Baronetcy passed to his eldest son and namesake,

Sir Edmund Antrobus, 4th Baronet Sir Edmund Antrobus, 4th Baronet (25 December 1848 – 11 February 1915) was a British army officer and a landowner in Wiltshire. His lands included the ancient monument of Stonehenge. Biography Sir Edmund Antrobus, 4th Baronet, was born 25 Dece ...

References

Sources

thePeerage.com
* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antrobus, Edmund, 3rd Baronet 1818 births 1899 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Antrobus, Edmund, 3rd Baronet UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Deputy Lieutenants of Wiltshire High Sheriffs of Wiltshire Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge