Thomas Agar-Robartes

Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes (known as Tommy) (22 May 1880 – 30 September 1915) was a British Liberal politician.

Background and education

Tommy Agar-Robartes was the eldest son and heir of Thomas Agar-Robartes, 6th Viscount Clifden, and his wife Mary (née Dickenson) and was brought up at Lanhydrock House, Bodmin. He was the eldest of ten (including a twin sister).^[1] Educated at Oxford and a keen horseman, he played in the Oxford University polo team that beat Cambridge in 1903.^[2]

Public life

He was elected a Member of Parliament for Bodmin in the 1906 general election, but lost his seat in June 1906 following a controversial election petition by the defeated candidate alleging illegal payments to potential voters. He was elected to the St Austell Division of Cornwall in a by-election in 1908 and held the seat until his death.

Military career

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal 1st Devon Imperial Yeomanry on 4 June 1902.^[3] At the outbreak of World War I he joined the Royal Bucks Hussars as an officer. Tommy then joined the Coldstream Guards and was subsequently posted to France & Flanders. Captain The Honourable Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes, in command of No. 2 Coy, 1st Bn, the Coldstream Guards, was wounded in the Battle of Loos on 28 September and killed by a sniper on 30 September 1915 after rescuing a wounded comrade under heavy fire for which he was recommended for the Victoria Cross.

He is buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, near Béthune.^[4] He is commemorated by a memorial in Truro Cathedral^[5] and in stained glass at Selsey Abbey, Wimpole^[6] and Church Norton.^[7]

Agar-Robartes is commemorated on Panel 8 of the Parliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs who died during World War I to be named on that memorial.^[8]^[9] Agar-Robartes is one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber.^[10] A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style illuminated book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which included a short biographical account of the life and death of Agar-Robartes.^[11]^[12] His younger brother Francis later succeeded their father in the viscountcy.

Memorials

Headstone at Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, near Béthune^[13]
Wooden battlefield marker St Hydroc's Church, Lanhydrock, Cornwall^[14]
Granite memorial seat at Truro Road, St Austell, Cornwall^[15]
Stained glass window at St Hydroc Church, Lanhydrock, Cornwall^[16]
Stained glass window at Selsey Abbey, Sussex^[17]
Stained glass window at Wimpole, Cambridgeshire^[18]
Stained glass window at St Wilfrid's Chapel, Church Norton, West Sussex^[19]
Marble bust at Truro Cathedral
Wooden armorial shield at the House of Commons^[20]

Notes

^ "Births, Marriages, Deaths". The Cornishman. No. 99. 3 June 1880. p. 8.
^ "The Polo Monthly" (PDF). 19 January 1911: 334. Retrieved 16 October 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "No. 27439". The London Gazette. 3 June 1902. p. 3611.
^ "Casualty Details: Agar-Robartes, The Hon. Thomas Charles R." Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
^ http://ww1cemeteries.com/british_cemeteries_memorials/agar_robartes_mem_truro.htm
^ Wimpole Parish Church at www.wimpole.info
^ West Sussex County Council: Heritage at victorians.westsussex.gov.uk
^ "Recording Angel memorial Panel 8". Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
^ "List of names on the Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall" (pdf). Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
^ "Agar-Robartes". Heraldic shields to MPs, First World War. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
^ "House of Commons War Memorial: Final Volumes Unveiled by The Speaker". The Times. No. 46050. London. 6 February 1932. p. 7. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
^ Moss-Blundell, Edward Whitaker, ed. (1931). The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914–1918. E. Mathews & Marrot.
^ https://devoranwarmemorial.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/remembering-tommy-agar-robartes-30-september-1915/
^ http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/52995
^ https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/97924/
^ https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lanhydrock/features/st-hydrocs-church
^ https://upclosed.com/people/thomas-agar-robartes/
^ http://www.wimpolepast.co.uk/memorial_robartes.asp
^ http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/58472
^ http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/cultural-collections/memorials/in-the-collection/world-war-i/wars-heraldic-shields/agar-robartes/

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.^{[unreliable source]}
Wimpole War Memorial

External links

The Honourable Thomas Charles Reginald Robartes (1880-1915), MP by Richard Jack

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Lewis Molesworth	Member of Parliament for Bodmin 1906–1906	Succeeded by Freeman Freeman-Thomas
Preceded by William Alexander McArthur	Member of Parliament for St Austell 1908–1915	Succeeded by Sir Francis Layland-Barratt

[1] "Births, Marriages, Deaths". The Cornishman. No. 99. 3 June 1880. p. 8.

[2] "The Polo Monthly" (PDF). 19 January 1911: 334. Retrieved 16 October 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[3] "No. 27439". The London Gazette. 3 June 1902. p. 3611.

[CWGC-4] "Casualty Details: Agar-Robartes, The Hon. Thomas Charles R." Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.

[5] ttp://ww1cemeteries.com/british_cemeteries_memorials/agar_robartes_mem_truro.htm

[6] Wimpole Parish Church at www.wimpole.info

[7] West Sussex County Council: Heritage at victorians.westsussex.gov.uk

[8] "Recording Angel memorial Panel 8". Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[9] "List of names on the Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall" (pdf). Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[10] "Agar-Robartes". Heraldic shields to MPs, First World War. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.

[11] "House of Commons War Memorial: Final Volumes Unveiled by The Speaker". The Times. No. 46050. London. 6 February 1932. p. 7. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)

[12] Moss-Blundell, Edward Whitaker, ed. (1931). The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914–1918. E. Mathews & Marrot.

[13] ttps://devoranwarmemorial.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/remembering-tommy-agar-robartes-30-september-1915/

[14] ttp://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/52995

[15] ttps://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/97924/

[16] ttps://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lanhydrock/features/st-hydrocs-church

[17] ttps://upclosed.com/people/thomas-agar-robartes/

[18] ttp://www.wimpolepast.co.uk/memorial_robartes.asp

[19] ttp://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/58472

[20] ttp://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/cultural-collections/memorials/in-the-collection/world-war-i/wars-heraldic-shields/agar-robartes/

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