Henry Selwin-Ibbetson, 1st Baron Rookwood

The Right Honourable
The Lord Rookwood
Under-Secretary of State
for the Home Department
In office
25 February 1874 – 2 April 1878
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by Henry Winterbotham
Succeeded by Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bt
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office
2 April 1878 – 21 April 1880
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister The Earl of Beaconsfield
Preceded by Hon. Frederick Stanley
Succeeded by Lord Frederick Cavendish
Personal details
Born 26 September 1826 (1826-09-26)
Died 15 January 1902 (1902-01-16)
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) (1) Hon. Sarah Copley
(d. 1865)
(2) Eden Thackrah
(d. 1899)
(3) Sophia Lawrell
Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge

Henry John Selwin-Ibbetson, 1st Baron Rookwood (26 September 1826-15 January 1902), known as Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson, Bt, from 1869 to 1892, was a British Conservative politician. He served under Benjamin Disraeli as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department between 1874 and 1878 and as Financial Secretary to the Treasury between 1878 and 1880.

Contents

Background and education

Born Henry John Selwin, Rookwood was the only son of Sir John Thomas Selwin, 6th Baronet, and his wife Isabella, daughter of General John Leveson-Gower, and was educated at home[1] and at St John's College, Cambridge.[1][2]

Political career

Selwin-Ibbetson unsuccessfully contested Ipswich in 1857 and 1859[1] but in 1865 he was successfully returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for Essex South.[1][3] He later represented Essex West from 1868 to 1885[1][3] and Epping from 1885 to 1892.[1][3] In 1867 he resumed by Royal license the original family surname of Ibbetson in addition to that of Selwin and the following year he succeeded his father in the baronetcy.

When the Conservatives came to power in 1874 under Benjamin Disraeli Rookwood refused the office of Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons). Disraeli instead appointed him Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, a position he held until 1878, and was then Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1878 to 1880. In 1879 he declined to become Governor of New South Wales. He was later Second Church Estate Commissioner between 1885 to 1886 and 1886 to 1892.[1] On his retirement from the House of Commons in 1892 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Rookwood, of Rookwood Hall and Down Hall, both in the County of Essex.[4]

Family

Lord Rookwood married firstly the Hon. Sarah Elizabeth, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Lord Chancellor John Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst, in 1850. After her death in 1865 he married secondly Eden, daughter of George Thackrah and widow of his first cousin Sir Charles Henry Ibbetson, 5th Baronet, in 1867. After her death in 1899 he married thirdly Sophia Harriet, daughter of Digby Lawrell, in 1900. There were no children from the three marriages. Lord Rookwood died in January 1902, aged 75, when the baronetcy and barony both became extinct.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Lee, Sir Sidney (editor). The Dictionary of National Biography. Supplement: January 1901-December 1911. Oxford University Press.
  2. ^ Selwin (or Selwin-Ibbetson), Henry John in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
  3. ^ a b c leighrayment.com House of Commons: Elginshire to Eye
  4. ^ London Gazette: no. 26298. p. 3513. 17 June 1892.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Thomas William Bramston
John Watlington
Member of Parliament for Essex South
18651868
With: Lord Eustace Cecil
Succeeded by
Richard Baker Wingfield-Baker
Andrew Johnston
New constituency Member of Parliament for Essex West
18681885
With: Lord Eustace Cecil
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Epping
18851892
Succeeded by
Amelius Lockwood
Political offices
Preceded by
Henry Winterbotham
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
1874–1878
Succeeded by
Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bt
Preceded by
Hon. Frederick Stanley
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1878–1880
Succeeded by
Lord Frederick Cavendish
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by
John Thomas Selwin
Baronet
1869 – 1902
Extinct
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Rookwood
1892 – 1902
Extinct