Benjamin St John Ackers

Benjamin St John Ackers (6 November 1839 – 18 April 1915) was a British Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons in 1885.

At the 1880 general election he stood unsuccessfully in the borough of Gloucester.[1] A petition was lodged against the election of the two Liberal Party candidates, which led to one of the two returns being voided. However, the writ was suspended, and no by-election was held.[1]

In 1885, a vacancy arose in the Western division of Gloucestershire, when the Liberal MP Robert Kingscote was appointed as Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues.[2] Ackers was selected as the Conservative candidate for the resulting by-election, which was held on 12 March 1885. He won the seat with a majority of 411 votes (4.4% of the total) over his Liberal opponent.[2]

Constituencies were radically revised by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and at the general election in November 1885 Ackers contested the new Thornbury division.[3] He was defeated by a margin of 145 votes by the Liberal Stafford Howard.[3]

Ackers was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Gloucestershire in 1903.[4]

References

1. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 133. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
2. Craig, British parliamentary election results 1832–1885, page 392
3. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 287. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
4. "No. 27624". The London Gazette. 8 December 1903. p. 8117.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Benjamin St John Ackers
• Works written by or about Benjamin St John Ackers at Wikisource