John Roberts was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 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...

 politician.

Roberts was the son of David Roberts. His father, who was born in Llanrwst

Llanrwst

Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....

 Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, moved to Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 at an early age, where he built up a successful timber business, and later settled in Abergele

Abergele

Abergele is a community and old Roman trading town, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on the Irish Sea coast and is known for its beach, where it is claimed by some that a ghost ship...

. Roberts was educated at Brighton. He was a magistrate for Denbighshire and constructed the mansion of Bryngwenallt in Abergele.

In a by-election in 1878, Roberts was elected Member of Parliament

Member 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,...

 in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 for Flint. He held the seat until 1892.

Roberts died two years later at the age of 58.

Roberts married Katharine Tudor Hughes, daughter of Rev. John Hughes, of Liverpool. Their son John

John Roberts, 1st Baron Clwyd

John Herbert Roberts, 1st Baron Clwyd , known as Sir John Roberts, 1st Baronet, from 1903 to 1919, was a Welsh Liberal politician....

 became a 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...

 politician and was created Baron Clwyd

Baron Clwyd

Baron Clwyd, of Abergele in the County of Denbigh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the Liberal politician Sir John Roberts, 1st Baronet, who had previously represented Denbighshire West in the House of Commons. He had already been created a Baronet, of...

in 1919.