Sir Robert Pattinson
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Sir Robert Pattinson, JP, DL (19 February 1872 – 4 December 1954) was a British
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 ...
politician and businessman. Pattinson joined his family's railway contracting firm after finishing school and was quickly appointed to senior positions. In 1900, he became chairman of Ruskington Urban District Council and four years later joined
Kesteven County Council Kesteven County Council was the county council of Parts of Kesteven in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was based at the County Offices in Sleaford. It was amalgama ...
, eventually becoming an alderman and serving as its chairman for 20 years between 1934 and his death in 1954. He chaired the
Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...
Liberal Association (1900–18) and was nominated as the party's representative for Sleaford shortly before
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out. He contested
Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...
unsuccessfully in 1918, but was returned for the seat in 1922, serving until he was defeated in the following year's general election. Several other unsuccessful attempts at a parliamentary career followed. He chaired several bodies responsible for maintaining Lincolnshire's waterways, served as a magistrate for Kesteven and Lindsey and sat as Lincolnshire's High Sheriff in 1941. Knighted in 1934, Pattinson died aged 82 in 1954 after several years of illness.


Background

Born on 19 February 1872,"Grantham Parliamentary Division: the Candidates"
''Grantham Journal'', 7 December 1918, p. 4
Robert Pattinson was the son of a contractor and businessman, William Pattinson, JP (1833–1906), and his wife Anne (1833–1916). His father ran (and had founded with brother Samuel) the successful building company Messrs. Pattinson and Son alongside serving as chairman of Ruskington
Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...
and vice-president of the Sleaford Liberal Association."Sir Robert Pattinson dies at his home, aged 82", ''Grantham Journal'', 10 December 1954, p. 7 Robert's brother
Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
(d. 1924) was a
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 ...
Member of Parliament for
Horncastle Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains. History Romans Alt ...
(1922–24), head of Messrs Pattinson and Co. Ltd, and a prominent member of
Kesteven County Council Kesteven County Council was the county council of Parts of Kesteven in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was based at the County Offices in Sleaford. It was amalgama ...
. One of his sisters,
Emmeline Taylor Emmeline Taylor, JP (''née'' Pattinson; died 20 November 1937) was an English local politician who served as the first female county councillor for Kesteven and that council's first female alderman; she was also one of the first women to be appoi ...
(d. 1937), became the first female Kesteven county councillor and alderman,"Death of Mrs. E. Taylor"
''Lincolnshire Echo'', 20 November 1937. Retrieved via
British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London, u ...
on 14 November 2017 (subscription required).
while his other sister's husband
Richard Winfrey Sir Richard Winfrey (5 August 1858 – 18 April 1944) was a British Liberal politician, newspaper publisher and campaigner for agricultural rights. He served as Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk, 1906–1923, and for Gainsborough, 192 ...
was also a Liberal MP, for
South West Norfolk South West Norfolk is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Liz Truss, a Conservative, who was prime minister of the United Kingdom from September to October 2022. Constituency profile This is ...
(1906–23) and
Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...
(1923–24). Their eldest brother, John (d. 1939), was involved in the family business, supervising contracts in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and the south of England, before moving back to Lincolnshire; he represented
Heckington Heckington is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Sleaford and Swineshead Bridge, and south of the A17 road. Heckington, with 1,491 households, is one of the largest vill ...
and Sleaford on the County Council, became a justice of the peace and served as vice-chairman of the Sleaford Bench. Pattinson married Catherine Lucy Pratt (d. 1917), daughter of Henry Pratt of Lincoln in 1895. There were two sons and one daughter of the marriage: Henry Pattinson (died 1941), a captain in the Indian Army; William Pratt Pattinson, a solicitor and coroner for the Lincoln South District, who married Elaine Eva Higson Smith, daughter of Louis W. Smith, MP, of Lincoln; and Catherine Mary, who married, firstly, G. W. R. Russell, elder son of J. J. Russell, of Ballygasson House, High Sheriff of County Louth, and secondly, Wing Commander Colin Spencer Richardson, of
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
, son of Colonel Alan Richardson."Sir Robert Pattinson", ''The Times'', 4 December 1954


Business career

After schooling at
Carre's Grammar School Carre's Grammar School is a selective secondary school for boys in Sleaford, a market town in Lincolnshire, England. Founded on 1 September 1604 by an indenture of Robert Carre, the school was funded by rents from farmland and run by a group ...
and
Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...
, Pattinson joined his father and uncle's railway contracting firm. Two years later, he oversaw a project to widen the Great Northern Railway between
Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...
and King's Cross. The partnership became Messrs W. Pattinson and Sons, Ltd., and Pattinson became a managing director, with responsibility for many of its large projects, and he also became a director in Messrs Pattinson and Co., Ltd, a company of merchants and shippers.


Political career


Local government

Pattinson became chairman of the Ruskington Urban District Council in 1900. He was elected to
Kesteven County Council Kesteven County Council was the county council of Parts of Kesteven in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was based at the County Offices in Sleaford. It was amalgama ...
in 1904, became an
alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
in 1911 and served as its vice-chairman from 1923 until he was elected chairman in 1934, the year he was knighted. Pattinson served on the
Lincolnshire County Committee Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire an ...
for 50 years, and as chairman of the Witham and Steeping Rivers Catchment Board when it was formed in 1931; after World War II, he was appointed chairman of Lincolnshire
River Board River boards were authorities who controlled land drainage, fisheries and river pollution and had other functions relating to rivers, streams and inland waters in England and Wales between 1950 and 1965. Background Prior to the 1930s, land drain ...
, and was appointed to be one of the original members of the River Board Areas Consultative Committee and a member Central Transport Board for Great Britain, 1948–54. Pattinson also served as the first chairman of the Lincolnshire Archives Committee, as a
justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
(for Kesteven from 1900 and Lindsey from 1930), and deputy lieutenant for Lincolnshire. He was appointed
High Sheriff of Lincolnshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilitie ...
in 1941.


Parliament

In 1898, Pattinson became chairman of the
Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...
Division
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 ...
Association, serving until 1918. He was first chosen as Liberal candidate for Sleaford division in 1914. At the 1918 general election he unsuccessfully contested the Grantham division for the party. He was elected for Grantham at the 1922 general election, defeating the sitting Conservative MP,
Edmund Royds Sir Edmund Royds, OBE, DL (6 July 1860 – 31 March 1946) was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician. He practised law in London, and held a country seat in Lincolnshire, from where he was returned to the House of Commons from ...
by a majority of 425 votes. However, at the 1923 general election he was defeated by the new Conservative candidate Victor Warrender. Pattinson stood unsuccessfully for
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...
at the general election in 1929. In 1937 he was suggested as a possible National government candidate at the Holland with Boston by-election. As a well-known local man he was thought to be an acceptable candidate to both local Liberal and Conservative Associations. In fact he was reported to be the preferred candidate of the local Conservatives. The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting MP, Sir James Blindell. He had captured the seat for the Liberals in a by-election in 1929 and had later joined the Liberal Nationals. In the end
Herbert Butcher Sir Herbert Walter Butcher, 1st Baronet (12 June 1901 – 11 May 1966) was an English Conservative and National Liberal politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1937 to 1966. Butcher was the son of Frank Butcher. He was educated at Hasti ...
of Peterborough, Chairman of the East Midlands Liberal National Area Council was chosen as the National Government candidate. Pattinson himself later formally joined the Liberal Nationals.The Times, 23 June 1938, 10 December 1938 a endorsed by Coalition Government


Death

Pattinson died at his home, The Fosse House, in
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...
on 2 December 1954 at the age of 82 years.


See also

*
Sir Robert Pattinson Academy Sir Robert Pattinson Academy (formerly Robert Pattinson School) is a secondary school on the northeast side of Moor Lane in North Hykeham, Lincolnshire, England. Also known as RP, Lincoln City used the field as temporary training grounds. The ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pattinson, Robert 1872 births 1954 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1922–1923 National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) politicians People from Ruskington Councillors in Lincolnshire Politics of Grantham People educated at Carre's Grammar School High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire Knights Bachelor Members of Kesteven County Council