Vicary Gibbs (12 May 1853 – 13 January 1932) was a British barrister, merchant and

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. He 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. T ...

from 1892 to 1904. He lost his seat after his business created a conflict of interest. He was the editor of the early volumes of ''

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''; first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition rev ...

'' (second edition).

Early life and family

Gibbs came from an old

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

family. He was the third son of Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham (1819–1907), and his wife Louisa Anne, daughter of William Adams. Alban Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham, and

Herbert Gibbs, 1st Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon Herbert Cokayne Gibbs, 1st Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon (14 May 1854 – 22 May 1935), was a British businessman. Hunsdon was the fourth son of Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham, and Louisa Anne Adams, and was educated at Winchester and Trinity College ...

, were his brothers, while

George Edward Cokayne George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standa ...

was his great-uncle. His great-grandfather was Antony Gibbs, brother of Sir Vicary Gibbs who became

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the othe ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

, where he graduated in 1876 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in

Classical Moderations Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ' ...

. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

in 1880, and became a partner in the merchant and banking firm

Antony Gibbs & Sons Antony Gibbs & Sons was a British trading company, established in London in 1802, whose interests spanned trading in cloth, guano, wine and fruit, and led to it becoming involved in banking, shipping and insurance. Having been family-owned via a ...

Political career

At the 1892 general election he was returned to Parliament for St Albans division of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

. He was returned unopposed in

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

and

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, but was disqualified in February 1904. He and his brother Alban were partners in the firm

, which had organised the sale to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

of two warships which had been built in England for the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the War ...

, to avoid them being sold to a rival power when Chile did not complete the purchase. However, in so doing he was disqualified from the House of Commons, under provisions which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...

. He told his constituents on 18 January that he would resign from the Commons by taking the

Chiltern Hundreds The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three " hundreds" and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the legal fictions used to effect ...

, and then present himself for re-election. Both Gibbs and the

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 ...

candidate John Bamford Slack were by then campaigning in the constituency, but ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' newspaper reported on 20 January that the by-election was unlikely to be contested by the Liberals. However, since Gibbs was already disqualified, he did not need to take the usual step of disqualifying himself by taking the Chiltern Hundreds, and in a letter of 1 February 1904 he informed the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of the contract that "I am advised that by so doing I have, under an Act of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, vacated my seat in Parliament". His letter was read to the Commons on 2 February, and the

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

was moved the following day. In the meantime, the Liberals had decided to contest the seat, and at a meeting on 24 January they had adopted Slack as their candidate. At the resulting by-election on 12 February 1904, Slack won the seat with a majority of 132 votes (1.4% of the total). At the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting electi ...

Gibbs stood unsuccessfully in Bradford Central, campaigning as a

tariff reform The Tariff Reform League (TRL) was a protectionist British pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against what they considered to be unfair foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competitio ...

er, but never returned to the Commons. He was a member of the Tariff Commission and of the Council of the Industrial Freedom League, an organisation which opposed the involvement of the state and municipalities in trading companies.

After politics

Gibbs was also 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 s ...

for Hertfordshire, and the first co-editor of the second edition of ''

''; published beginning in 1910. While he retired well before it completed publication, his extensive notes are represented throughout the volumes. He was a director of numerous companies, and the chairman of National Provident Institution. At his seat

Aldenham House Aldenham House is a former country house in Elstree, just south-east of Aldenham village and west of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, which was the seat of the Gibbs family, who were the Barons Aldenham. The site today accommodates the Hilfi ...

near

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...

in Hertfordshire, he cultivated a garden which became notable for its flowering trees and shrubs. He won many prizes for the flowers and vegetables grown by his head gardener Edwin Beckett FRHS, including a first prize at the Franco-British Exhibition in 1908. He was a member of the Athenaeum Club and the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only. History T ...

Death

In January 1932 Gibbs died aged 78 at his London home in Upper Belgrave Street; he never married, and most of his huge plant collection at Aldenham was auctioned by Sotheby's in October that year.Harrison, H. (2012). Plant hunting for Borde Hill. ''The Plantsman'', June 2012, p.93

/ref>

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Vicary 1853 births 1932 deaths Younger sons of barons Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Vicary People from Elstree People educated at Eton College English barristers