Albert Rollit
Sir Albert Kaye Rollit (1842 – 12 August 1922) was a British politician, lawyer, and businessman.
Career
Born in Hull, he became a solicitor and went on to become president of the Law Society. He later became a shipowner. He was Mayor of Hull from 1883-1885. In 1886, he was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament for the South Islington constituency. In 1892 he put forward a private member's bill in favour of women's suffrage, which failed narrowly. Having opposed Chamberlain's Tariff Reform proposals, he was defeated in the 1906 general election, and failed to get elected as a Liberal in Epsom in 1910. As a businessman he was well known on the Continent of Europe and acted as consul-general for Romania from 1911 until his death. He was also a magistrate in Berkshire, where he resided at Sutherland Grange at Dedworth, adjoining Windsor, with his second wife.
He received the honorary degree Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the Victoria University of Manchester in February 1902, in connection with the 50th jubilee celebrations of the establishment of the university.[1] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1902.[2]
Personal life
Rollit married twice. His second wife was Mary, dowager Duchess of Sutherland. He was her third husband. In 1898 her jewellery, then valued at £30,000, was stolen by international jewel-thief William Johnson, known as 'Harry the Valet'.[3] Johnson stole the jewellery while she was travelling by train from Paris to London with her husband, (Rollit), her brother, his wife and the Duchess's footman and maid. The case was investigated by Inspectors Walter Dew, Walter Dinnie and Frank Froest.
Honours
The Rollit steam pumping engine, built in 1883, and which formerly pumped sewage at Hull, was named in his honour. It is now preserved at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, and carries a brass plaque bearing the name.
References
- ^ "University intelligence". The Times. No. 36704. London. 1 March 1902. p. 12. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36773. London. 21 May 1902. p. 9. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ Duncan Hamilton (2011). The Unreliable Life of Harry the Valet. Century. pp. 181–183. ISBN 978-1-84-605813-4.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- The Times, 14 August 1922
- 1842 births
- 1922 deaths
- Politicians from Kingston upon Hull
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1885–86
- UK MPs 1886–92
- UK MPs 1892–95
- UK MPs 1895–1900
- UK MPs 1900–06
- Businesspeople from Kingston upon Hull
- Presidents of the Law Society of England and Wales
- People from Windsor, Berkshire
- Mayors of Kingston upon Hull
- Conservative MP (UK), 1840s birth stubs
- UK MP for England stubs