Sir Edmund Henry Knowles Lacon, 3rd Baronet (14 August 1807 – 2 December 1888) was an English businessman and liberal

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

in two periods between 1852 and 1885.

Early life

Lacon was the son of Sir Edmund Knowles Lacon, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Eliza Beecroft, daughter of Thomas Beecroft of Saxthorpe Hall. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

. In 1839 he inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on the death of his father.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref>''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953.

Business career

Lacon became a brewer and banker at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

. He was one of the original shareholders in the

Yarmouth & Norwich Railway The Yarmouth and Norwich Railway (Y&NR) was the earliest railway in Norfolk, England. It was formed after it became apparent that it would be a number of years before the Eastern Counties Railway would extend their railway into Norfolk. Its a ...

in 1842 which was Norfolk's first railway. He was later a director of the Yarmouth & Haddiscoe Railway and the East Suffolk Railway. He was also Chairman of the Great Yarmouth & Stalham Light Railway which later became part of the

Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated i ...

Military career

He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel commanding the East Norfolk Militia on 16 March 1860 and of the 1st Norfolk Administrative Battalion of Artillery Volunteers on 2 December 1864. He later became Honorary Colonel of both units' successors, the 4th Battalion,

Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

and the

1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteers The 1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteers was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force (Great Britain), Volunteer Force raised in the County of Norfolk in 1859 as a response to a French invasion threat. It became part of the Territorial Force in 1908 and ...

(31 December 1881).

Political career

Lacon was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for

at the 1852 general election and held the seat until his defeat in

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Ja ...

. He regained the seat in

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are uni ...

and held it until the seat was disenfranchised for corruption at the 1868 general election. At the 1868 general election he was elected instead as MP for

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer, and the largest town is North Walsham. The district also includes the towns of Fakenham, Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Shering ...

. He held that seat until the 1885 general election, when he did not stand again.

Public life

He was a Deputy Lieutenant and JP for

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, a JP for

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and High Steward of Yarmouth.

Family life

On 23 March 1839 Lacon married Eliza Georgiana Hammet (d. 31 March 1881), daughter of James Esdaile Hammet of Battersea, and they had six children: * Edmund Broughton Knowles Lacon (9 May 1842 – 11 August 1899), who succeeded his father as 4th Baronet * Thomas Beecroft Ussher Lacon (24 February 1845 – 28 February 1899), whose eldest son, Edmund Beecroft Francis Heathcote Lacon, succeeded as 5th Baronet, and whose third son, Harry Reginald Dunbar Lacon, married Hilda Mary Slayter, a ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' survivor. * Henry Sidney Hammett Lacon (December 1847–30 June 1900) * Ernest De Montesquiou Lacon (1 May 1850 – 31 May 1936) * Georgina Lacon, (d. 4 April 1933) married Major-General Charles Henry Gordon * Eliza Walpole Lacon (d. 22 January 1928) married Colonel Henry Goring Ravenhill Lacon died at the age of 81.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacon, Edmund 1807 births 1888 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 People educated at Eton College Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Deputy lieutenants of Norfolk 3 British Militia officers Politics of the Borough of Great Yarmouth People from Great Yarmouth