Edmund Royds
Encyclopedia
Sir Edmund Royds OBE
, DL
(6 July 1860 – 31 March 1946) was an English solicitor
and Conservative Party
politician. He practised law in London
, and held a country seat in Lincolnshire
, from where he was returned to the House of Commons from 1910 to 1922, and held numerous local offices.
and Canon of Chester
. His mother was Cornelia Frances née Blomfield, daughter of Canon G. B. Blomfield of Mollington Hall in Cheshire.
He was educated at Haileybury
, and admitted as a solicitor in 1882.
, London. He was also a director of the Lukwah Tea Company, and of the Life Association of Scotland. He joined the Lincolnshire Yeomanry
in as a Lieutenant
in 1903, and became a Major in 1910. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Lincolnshire Volunteers
, becoming Lieutenant-Colonel and County Commandant of the Lincolnshire Regiment of the Territorial Force
in 1917.
(MP) for the Sleaford division
of Lincolnshire
, defeating the sitting Liberal
MP Arnold Lupton
on a swing of 8.5%. Royds was returned unopposed in December 1910, and held the seat until the division was abolished in boundary changes in 1918.
In his early years in Parliament, Royds was noted for his activism in opposition to the land tax valuation provisions which had been introduced in the 1909 "People's budget" by David Lloyd George
. He was a member of the council of the Land Union, which had been founded in 1910 by Ernest Pretyman
to unite "for mutual protection all those whose property or businesses are based on land in any form". Royds was chairman of the Land Union's legal committee,
and in the Commons he repeatedly challenged the valuation process. In June 1912 he sought to reduce the budget of the Land Valuation Office, claiming that its imposed a heavy burden on land-owners and was producing valuations which include improvements rather than, as required, reflect the site value. He pressed his points on motions for the adjournment and questioned where the government was seeking a true valuation of the land. In 1913 he claimed that the valuation process had restricted the availability of credit to land-owners, resulting in a reduction in the number of small houses and cottages built for labourers. He claimed that government figures showed the number of new houses having fallen from an average of 107,000 a year under the previous government to 80,000 after 1906, and only 10,000 in 1910–11, but the government responded that such falls were common after revaluations.
In March 1913 he moved an amendment to the King's Speech
, calling for the valuation methods to be brought into line with those promised in 1909–10.
, Royds was elected as a Coalition Conservative for the Stamford division
of Lincolnshire, and made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1919, but at the 1922 general election
he faced a tougher contest.
Lincolnshire was a predominantly agricultural county, and Royds was chairman of the Lincolnshire Chamber of Agriculture, but the county's farmers were dissatisfied; The Times
newspaper reported their stance as a "Farmer's Revolt" after promises made at the previous election had been broken.
They had ploughed up grazing land to grow crops, but the guaranteed prices had not materialised, while ex-servicemen who had been allocated land after World War I
found their holdings too small. The local National Farmers Union were not satisfied with the answers which Royds gave to their questions, and pledged their support to the Liberal candidate Robert Pattinson
, whom Royds had beaten in 1918. Pattinson won the seat, with a majority of 428 votes (1.6%), and Royds did not stand for Parliament again.
of Lincolnshire in 1922,
and served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire
in 1931. He wrote letters to The Times on agricultural matters, and remained as chair of the Chamber of Agriculture. In 1932 he described the development of canning
as offering a "new vista" for farmers, noting that the county's canning factories were doubling their output every year.
In July 1939 it was announced in the King's Birthday Honours in 1939 that he was to be knight
ed, "for political and public services in Lincolnshire".
The knighthood was conferred at St James's Palace on 17 July 1939.
(near Newark-on-Trent
) on the border of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, from the estate of Sir Ralph Wilmont, Bt. The estate had a long history, having belonged to the Heron family from 1789 to 1854, and the 17th-century hall was extensively rebuilt in the early 19th-century by Sir Robert Heron, 2nd Baronet
, the MP for Great Grimsby
. Royds set about his own big programme of repairs and alterations.
He enjoyed fox hunting
, and the Belvoir Hunt met regularly at Stubton Hall in the 1920s and 1930s.
When he was 81, Royds placed the house for sale, but it remained unsold on his death and was subsequently acquired by Lincolnshire County Council, who turned it into a school.
The building was bought in the early 2000s by an American couple, who turned it into a wedding venue. In 2009 the restoration was he subject of a Channel 4
television programme in the series Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue
.
. Lady Royds died on 18 December 1943 at Stubton Hall, and their son, Anthony Fane Royds, died in 1945. Sir Edmund died on 31 March 1946, aged 85, at Stubton Hall. His funeral took place in Stubton
, and a memorial service was held at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square
, London.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
(6 July 1860 – 31 March 1946) was an English solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
and Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician. He practised law in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and held a country seat in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, from where he was returned to the House of Commons from 1910 to 1922, and held numerous local offices.
Early life
Royds was the son of the Reverend Francis Coulman Royds, who had been rector of CoddingtonCoddington, Cheshire
Coddington is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.Coddington is home to descendants of the Great Richard Yeoward, who practically made Tenerife become know single handedly for its brilliant shipping and tasty...
and Canon of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
. His mother was Cornelia Frances née Blomfield, daughter of Canon G. B. Blomfield of Mollington Hall in Cheshire.
He was educated at Haileybury
Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Haileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
, and admitted as a solicitor in 1882.
Career
Royds became a partners in the solicitors firm of Royds, Rawstone & Co, of 46 Bedford SquareBedford Square
Bedford Square is a square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England.Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the sqare has had many distinguished residents, including Lord Eldon, one of Britain's longest serving and most celebrated Lord...
, London. He was also a director of the Lukwah Tea Company, and of the Life Association of Scotland. He joined the Lincolnshire Yeomanry
Lincolnshire Yeomanry
The Lincolnshire Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry unit of the British Army from 1794–1920.-Boer War:On 13 December 1899, the decision to allow volunteer forces serve in the Second Boer War was made...
in as a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1903, and became a Major in 1910. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Lincolnshire Volunteers
Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the...
, becoming Lieutenant-Colonel and County Commandant of the Lincolnshire Regiment of the Territorial Force
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
in 1917.
Sleaford
At the January 1910 general election he was elected as the Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for the Sleaford division
Sleaford (UK Parliament constituency)
Sleaford was a county constituency in Lincolnshire, centred on the town of Sleaford. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, defeating the sitting Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MP Arnold Lupton
Arnold Lupton
Arnold Lupton was a British Liberal Party politician.He was elected at the 1906 as the Member of Parliament for the Sleaford division of Lincolnshire, defeating the Conservative MP Henry Chaplin who had represented Sleaford and its predecessor seat since 1868...
on a swing of 8.5%. Royds was returned unopposed in December 1910, and held the seat until the division was abolished in boundary changes in 1918.
In his early years in Parliament, Royds was noted for his activism in opposition to the land tax valuation provisions which had been introduced in the 1909 "People's budget" by David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
. He was a member of the council of the Land Union, which had been founded in 1910 by Ernest Pretyman
Ernest George Pretyman
Ernest George Pretyman PC, JP, DL , known as E. G. Pretyman, was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Background and education:...
to unite "for mutual protection all those whose property or businesses are based on land in any form". Royds was chairman of the Land Union's legal committee,
and in the Commons he repeatedly challenged the valuation process. In June 1912 he sought to reduce the budget of the Land Valuation Office, claiming that its imposed a heavy burden on land-owners and was producing valuations which include improvements rather than, as required, reflect the site value. He pressed his points on motions for the adjournment and questioned where the government was seeking a true valuation of the land. In 1913 he claimed that the valuation process had restricted the availability of credit to land-owners, resulting in a reduction in the number of small houses and cottages built for labourers. He claimed that government figures showed the number of new houses having fallen from an average of 107,000 a year under the previous government to 80,000 after 1906, and only 10,000 in 1910–11, but the government responded that such falls were common after revaluations.
In March 1913 he moved an amendment to the King's Speech
Speech from the Throne
A speech from the throne is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign reads a prepared speech to a complete session of parliament, outlining the government's agenda for the coming session...
, calling for the valuation methods to be brought into line with those promised in 1909–10.
Grantham
At the 1918 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
, Royds was elected as a Coalition Conservative for the Stamford division
Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)
Stamford was a constituency in the county of Lincolnshire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...
of Lincolnshire, and made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1919, but at the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
he faced a tougher contest.
Lincolnshire was a predominantly agricultural county, and Royds was chairman of the Lincolnshire Chamber of Agriculture, but the county's farmers were dissatisfied; The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper reported their stance as a "Farmer's Revolt" after promises made at the previous election had been broken.
They had ploughed up grazing land to grow crops, but the guaranteed prices had not materialised, while ex-servicemen who had been allocated land after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
found their holdings too small. The local National Farmers Union were not satisfied with the answers which Royds gave to their questions, and pledged their support to the Liberal candidate Robert Pattinson
Sir Robert Pattinson
Sir Robert Pattinson was the Chairman of Kesteven County Council for 20 years and briefly a Liberal MP.-Family and education:...
, whom Royds had beaten in 1918. Pattinson won the seat, with a majority of 428 votes (1.6%), and Royds did not stand for Parliament again.
Retirement
Outside Parliament, Royds remained active in public life in Lincolnshire, becoming a Deputy LieutenantDeputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of Lincolnshire in 1922,
and served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire
High Sheriff of Lincolnshire
This is a list of High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...
in 1931. He wrote letters to The Times on agricultural matters, and remained as chair of the Chamber of Agriculture. In 1932 he described the development of canning
Canning
Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances a freeze-dried canned product, such as canned, dried lentils, can last as...
as offering a "new vista" for farmers, noting that the county's canning factories were doubling their output every year.
In July 1939 it was announced in the King's Birthday Honours in 1939 that he was to be knight
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
ed, "for political and public services in Lincolnshire".
The knighthood was conferred at St James's Palace on 17 July 1939.
Stubton Hall
In 1918 Royds had purchased Stubton Hall, a large estate at StubtonStubton
Stubton is a small village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The nearest town is Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, which is 7 miles away.Adjacent villages include Claypole, Dry Doddington, Beckingham and Brandon....
(near Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
) on the border of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, from the estate of Sir Ralph Wilmont, Bt. The estate had a long history, having belonged to the Heron family from 1789 to 1854, and the 17th-century hall was extensively rebuilt in the early 19th-century by Sir Robert Heron, 2nd Baronet
Sir Robert Heron, 2nd Baronet
Sir Robert Heron, 2nd Baronet was a British Whig politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1812 to 1847, with a break in 1818–1819.-Early life:...
, the MP for Great Grimsby
Great Grimsby (UK Parliament constituency)
Great Grimsby is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, consisting of the town of Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
. Royds set about his own big programme of repairs and alterations.
He enjoyed fox hunting
Fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
, and the Belvoir Hunt met regularly at Stubton Hall in the 1920s and 1930s.
When he was 81, Royds placed the house for sale, but it remained unsold on his death and was subsequently acquired by Lincolnshire County Council, who turned it into a school.
The building was bought in the early 2000s by an American couple, who turned it into a wedding venue. In 2009 the restoration was he subject of a Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television programme in the series Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue
Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue
Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue is an observational documentary television series which aired on British terrestrial television channel, Channel 4 in 2009....
.
Family
In 1889, Royds married Rachel Louisa Fane, (born 30 January 1869) daughter of Colonel Francis Fane of FulbeckFulbeck
Fulbeck is a small village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the A607, north from Grantham and north-west from Sleaford. To the north is Leadenham, and to the south is Caythorpe.-Toponymy:...
. Lady Royds died on 18 December 1943 at Stubton Hall, and their son, Anthony Fane Royds, died in 1945. Sir Edmund died on 31 March 1946, aged 85, at Stubton Hall. His funeral took place in Stubton
Stubton
Stubton is a small village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The nearest town is Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, which is 7 miles away.Adjacent villages include Claypole, Dry Doddington, Beckingham and Brandon....
, and a memorial service was held at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square
Eaton Square
Eaton Square is a residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is one of the three garden squares built by the Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia in the 19th century, and is named after Eaton Hall, the Grosvenor country house in Cheshire...
, London.