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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal 1st Devon Imperial Yeomanry on 13 May 1902.^[3]^[4] 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.

Memorials[edit]

Agar-Robartes is buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, near Béthune.^[5] He is commemorated by a memorial in Truro Cathedral^[6] and in stained glass at Selsey Abbey, Wimpole^[7] and Church Norton.^[8]

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.^[9]^[10] Agar-Robartes is one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber.^[11] 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.^[12]^[13] As Agar-Robartes never married and had no children, his younger brother Francis later succeeded their father in the viscountcy.

List of memorials[edit]

Headstone at Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, near Béthune^[14]
Wooden battlefield marker St Hydroc's Church, Lanhydrock, Cornwall^[15]
Granite memorial seat at Truro Road, St Austell, Cornwall^[16]
Stained glass window at St Hydroc Church, Lanhydrock, Cornwall^[17]
Stained glass window at Selsey Abbey, Sussex^{[citation needed]}
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]
Brass plaque in Holy Trinity Church, St Austell^[21]

Notes[edit]

^ "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)^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "No. 27439". The London Gazette. 3 June 1902. p. 3611.
^ "No. 27516". The London Gazette. 16 January 1903. p. 310.
^ "Casualty Details: Agar-Robartes, The Hon. Thomas Charles R." Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
^ "Captain the Hon. Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes Memorial, Truro Cathedral, Cornwall". Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
^ Wimpole Parish Church at www.wimpole.info
^ West Sussex County Council: Heritage^{[permanent dead link]} 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.
^ Moss-Blundell, Edward Whitaker, ed. (1931). The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914–1918. E. Mathews & Marrot.
^ "Remembering Tommy Agar Robartes 30 September 1915". 30 September 2015.
^ "Captain T C Agar Robartes". Imperial War Museums.
^ "CAPT THE HON T C R AGAR ROBARTES - War Memorials Online". www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk.
^ "St Hydroc's Church". National Trust.
^ "Redirect Page". www.wimpolepast.co.uk.
^ "Captain J Wingfield and Captain The Honourable T Agar Robartes". Imperial War Museums.
^ "Agar-Robartes". UK Parliament.
^ "Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes - War Memorials Online". www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk.

References[edit]

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

External links[edit]

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)^{[permanent dead link]}

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

[4] "No. 27516". The London Gazette. 16 January 1903. p. 310.

[CWGC-5] "Casualty Details: Agar-Robartes, The Hon. Thomas Charles R." Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.

[6] "Captain the Hon. Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes Memorial, Truro Cathedral, Cornwall". Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2008.

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

[8] West Sussex County Council: Heritage^{[permanent dead link]} at victorians.westsussex.gov.uk

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

[10] "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.

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

[12] "House of Commons War Memorial: Final Volumes Unveiled by The Speaker". The Times. No. 46050. London. 6 February 1932. p. 7.

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

[14] "Remembering Tommy Agar Robartes 30 September 1915". 30 September 2015.

[15] "Captain T C Agar Robartes". Imperial War Museums.

[16] "CAPT THE HON T C R AGAR ROBARTES - War Memorials Online". www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk.

[17] "St Hydroc's Church". National Trust.

[18] "Redirect Page". www.wimpolepast.co.uk.

[19] "Captain J Wingfield and Captain The Honourable T Agar Robartes". Imperial War Museums.

[20] "Agar-Robartes". UK Parliament.

[21] "Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes - War Memorials Online". www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk.

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