Thomas Agar-Robartes, 6th Viscount Clifden

Thomas Charles Agar-Robartes, 6th Viscount Clifden (1 January 1844 – 19 July 1930), styled The Honourable Thomas Agar-Robartes between 1869 and 1882 and known as The Lord Robartes from 1882 to 1899, was a British landowner and Liberal politician.

The Right Honourable The Viscount Clifden
Lord Clifden by Walter William Ouless, 1887.
Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire
In office 1906–1915
Monarch	Edward VII George V
Preceded by	Alexander Peckover
Succeeded by	Charles Adeane
Personal details
Born	1 January 1844 Grosvenor Place, London
Died	19 July 1930 (aged 86)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Mary Dickenson (died 1921)
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

Background and education

Agar-Robartes was born at Grosvenor Place, London, the son of Thomas Agar-Robartes, 1st Baron Robartes,[1] and Juliana Pole-Carew, daughter of Reginald Pole-Carew, of East Antony, Cornwall.[2] He was educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1870.[1]

On the death of his father in 1882 he inherited the Lanhydrock estate in Cornwall and arranged for Lanhydrock House to be rebuilt following a fire in 1881 that had killed his mother. He and his family were to live there from 1885.

Public life

In 1880 Agar-Robartes was returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for Cornwall East, a seat he held until 1882, when he succeeded his father in the barony and entered the House of Lords.[1][3] On 10 September 1899 he also succeeded his kinsman as sixth Viscount Clifden.

In 1891, as chairman of the Agar-Robartes Bank he took over the ownership of Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire from Charles Yorke, 5th Earl of Hardwicke in payment of debts. After a few years it was leased out. He later served as Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire from 1906 to 1915.[1]

Family

Lanhydrock House

Lord Clifden married Mary Dickinson, daughter of Francis Henry Dickinson, of Kingweston House, Somerset, in 1878. They had ten children, of whom one died in infancy. Their eldest son the Honourable Thomas Agar-Robartes (had a twin sister[4]) was also a Liberal politician, killed in World War I.

Lady Clifden died in January 1921. Lord Clifden survived her by nine years and died in July 1930, aged 86. He was buried at Lanhydrock House, Cornwall. He was succeeded in his titles by his second but eldest surviving son Francis.[1]

References

1. thepeerage.com Thomas Charles Agar-Robartes, 6th Viscount Clifden of Gowran
2. cracroftspeerage.co.uk Clifden, Viscount (I, 1781 - 1974) Archived 2 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)
4. "Births, Marriages, Deaths". The Cornishman (99). 3 June 1880. p. 8.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Clifden