Charles Conybeare (Liberal politician)

Charles Augustus Vansittart Conybeare (1 June 1853 – 18 February 1919) was an English barrister and a radical Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1895.

Background

Conybeare was born at Kew, London, the son of John Conybeare, a wealthy barrister, and Katherine Vansittart.[1] He was educated at Tonbridge School and Christ Church, Oxford where he won the Lothian Prize with a study on The Place of Iceland in the History of European Institutions. He was assistant master at Manchester Grammar School from 1877 to 1878 and was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1881.[2] He married Florence Annie Strauss, the daughter of a Bohemian glass merchant, on 15 October 1896, at the Theistic Church in Piccadilly, London. She was an active member of the Women's Suffragette Movement.[3] The couple began their married life in a spacious apartment at 3 Carlyle Gardens, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London. Charles Conybeare owned or leased Tregullow House, a country pile in Scorrier, Cornwall,[4] that had been passed down through the Williams family, a well-known local family that had made their fortune in the mining of tin and copper.

Marriage settlement

Charles and Florence Conybeare were the co-beneficial owners of a property known as the Tregullow Offices, which Charles Conybeare bought in 1889 from the Williams family (mining moguls), and which he mortgaged in 1891 to raise some capital required for a marriage settlement. The financing of this marriage settlement, which effectively entitled Florence to half the value of the property in the event of desertion or divorce, was managed by Isaac Seligman, a wealthy and prominent German-born merchant banker based in London. The couple sold the property in 1902 to a Charles Rule Williams (no relation to the Williams mining mogul family), a retired mining engineer who renamed it Zimapan Villa [note 1]

Oakfield Park

Conybeare owned Oakfield Park (the house) until the death of his wife Florence Annie in February 1916. Conybeare bought or leased the property which was situated within the grounds and estate of Oakfield Park.[5]

Political career

In 1885, Conybeare was elected as MP for Camborne.[6] Although he was a Liberal, he was not the official Liberal candidate, but once elected, took the Liberal whip in the House of Commons. He was a member of the London School Board (Finsbury), from 1888 to 1890.[7] While MP for Camborne, Conybeare, who was nicknamed the "Miners' Friend",[8] proposed changes to mining legislation including: (a) changes to the Stannaries Act, aimed at ending the system whereby miners had their pay shared out in a public house, and at protecting miners from mine agents who randomly broke contracts of employment, (b) renewal of China-clay leases and (c) the introduction of a mines' inspector drawn from working miners, aimed at reducing the mortality in Cornish mines, which was higher among Cornish miners due to "unsanitary conditions".[9] In 1889, Conybeare was imprisoned in Derry Jail for helping to distribute bread to destitute, evicted Irish tenants at Falcarragh, Donegal, which was regarded then as a criminal act under the Irish Coercion Act of 1887.[10] He lost his seat in 1895 and failed in his attempt to be elected at St Helens in 1900. Conybeare was interested in women's suffrage and was a member of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage.[11] In 1910 he made another unsuccessful attempt to re-enter parliament, standing as Liberal candidate at Horncastle.[12] In 1914 he was chosen as Liberal candidate for Wells for the general election expected to take place in 1915, however, the outbreak of war postponed the elections and he never stood for parliament again.

Electoral record
General election 1885: Camborne[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent Liberal Charles Conybeare 2,926 53.2 n/a
Liberal Arthur Vivian 2,577 46.8 n/a
Majority 349 6.4 n/a
Turnout 77.1 n/a
Independent Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Camborne[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Charles Conybeare 3,156 61.6 n/a
Liberal Unionist J D Gay 1,969 38.4 n/a
Majority 1,187 23.2 +16.8
Turnout 71.8 -5.3
Liberal hold Swing n/a
General election 1900: St Helens[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Henry Seton-Karr 5,300 60.9 +7.4
Liberal Charles Conybeare 3,402 39.1 -7.4
Majority 1,898 21.8 +14.8
Turnout 80.9 -7.5
Conservative hold Swing +7.4
General election January 1910: Horncastle[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Lord Willoughby de Eresby 5,162 54.6 +3.7
Liberal Charles Conybeare 4,292 45.4 -3.7
Majority 870 9.2 +7.4
Turnout 90.0 +3.4
Conservative hold Swing +3.7

Death

Conybeare moved away from Dartford to live in Bexley, Kent, after the death of his wife. He died in Brogueswood, Biddenden, Kent, 44 miles from Bexley, on 18 February, aged 65[17] He was buried in the cemetery of St Mary the Virgin Church, Fryerning, near Ingatestone, Essex, close to his parents, but in the same tomb-memorial he had erected for Florence three years earlier.

Endnotes
  1. The 1902 Indenture in which the "Tregullow Offices" (later Zimapan Villa) are sold by Conybeare and his wife on 21 July 1902: copy of document on www.zimapanners.com by Peter King Smith.
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References
  1. Debrett's Guide to the House of Commons 1886
  2. Tonbridge School Register p 139
  3. Marriage Certificate; The Zimapanners: the history of a Cornish mine office and includes biographies of its owners, former occupiers and those who had a legal interest in it, by Peter King Smith.
  4. The 1891 England Census: www.zimapanners.com by Peter King Smith.
  5. Conybeare's obituary in the Dartford Chronicle, 1919, www.zimapanners.com by Peter King Smith.
  6. Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Augustus Vansittart Conybeare
  7. 'CONYBEARE, Charles Augustus Vansittart', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 17 May 2016
  8. Redruth Town Trail http://www.chycor.co.uk/redruth/page3.htm
  9. The West Briton & Cornwall Advertiser (a) 26 May 1887 (b) 14 July 1887 (c) 17 February 1887: www.zimapanners.com, by Peter King Smith.
  10. The Times, 1889
  11. Elizabeth Crawford The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928 UCL Press, 1999 p. 121.
  12. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
  13. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
  14. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
  15. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
  16. British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 (Craig)
  17. Death certificate, www.zimapanners.com, by Peter King Smith.

Publications
  • The Place of Iceland in The History of European Institutions Parker 1877
  • Married Women's Property Acts with Andrews 1883.
  • Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act 1884
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Camborne
1885 – 1895		 Succeeded by
Arthur Strauss
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