Sir Robert Bland Bird, 2nd Baronet

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(20 September 1876 – 20 November 1960) was a

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 ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Biography

He was elected 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 ...

(MP) for Wolverhampton West at a by-election in March 1922 following the death of his father Sir Alfred, who had been the constituency's MP since January 1910. Robert Bird was re-elected at the next three general elections, but was defeated at the 1929 general election by the Labour Party candidate William Brown. Bird regained the seat in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, and held it until he stood down at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

. Bird had succeeded to his father's baronetcy, and also succeeded him as chairman of the family's business Alfred Bird and Sons, manufacturing chemists. The company had been established by his grandfather

Alfred Bird Alfred Bird (1811 – 15 December 1878) was an English food manufacturer and chemist. He was born in Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, England in 1811Baptised 25 August 1811 in Nympsfield, Gloucester, England. Parents John and Mary. International Ge ...

, who invented both

baking powder Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increase ...

and

custard powder Bird's Custard is the brand name for the original powdered, egg-free imitation custard powder, now owned by Premier Foods. Custard powder and instant custard powder are the generic product names for similar and competing products. The product ...

. He was invested as a Chevalier in the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1947 and as an Officer of the

Order of Leopold (Belgium) The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Le ...

(in recognition of services rendered to Belgian interests during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

) in 1951. In the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

in 1954, he was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE), "for political and public services". Away from politics he was a keen photographer and a member of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

from 1915 until 1960. He produced an important body of early colour photography using the autochrome process between c1915 and 1920 some of which was exhibited in the RPS's annual exhibition.Royal Photographic Society records
www.rps.org
Retrieved 23 December 2020 and paper forthcoming.

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* 1876 births 1960 deaths Bird, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1870s-stub