Alexander Asher

Alexander Asher K.C.
Portrait of Alexander Asher, as published in the Black & White Parliamentary Album, 1895
Member of Parliament for Elgin Burghs
In office 13 July 1881 – 27 January 1905
Preceded by	M. E. Grant Duff
Succeeded by	John Sutherland
Personal details
Born	(1834-01-27)January 27, 1834
Died	August 5, 1905(1905-08-05) (aged 71) Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Liberal Party
Residence	Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Alexander Asher (27 January 1834 – 5 August 1905) was a Scottish politician and lawyer, who was elected as Member of Parliament for the Elgin Burghs constituency from 1881 until his death in 1905. He was also Solicitor General for Scotland on three occasions, and was Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.

Early life

Asher was educated at both King's College, Aberdeen and at Edinburgh University,^[1] he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1861 and was appointed an Advocate Depute in 1870. He became Solicitor General for Scotland on three occasions during his legal career, an office which overlapped with his membership of Parliament.^[1]

Political career

In 1881, following the resignation of M. E. Grant Duff from the Elgin Burghs constituency, Asher was chosen to represent the Liberal Party. He was elected unopposed on 13 July.^[2] In December that year, he was appointed to the Queen's Counsel of Queen Victoria.^[3] He was awarded honorary degrees of LLD by Aberdeen and Edinburgh in 1891.^[1] He stood again at the United Kingdom general election, 1892, and was again victorious but this time opposed with a majority of 541.^[4]

In 1895, he was unanimously chosen as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, following the resignation of Charles Pearson when he was appointed as Lord Advocate.^[5] Shortly prior to the 1895 general election, Asher was rumoured to be the Government nominee for the position of Speaker of the House of Commons.^[6] Although he was not chosen as the Speaker, he retained his seat with a margin of 1,853 votes against the tally of 1,161 gained by C.O. Gordon.^[7]

There were rumours that the Conservative Party might put forward a candidate to oppose Asher in the 1900 general election.^[8] But as of five days before the election, Asher remained unopposed.^[9] John Moffat stepped forward shortly before the election on behalf of the Liberal Unionist Party, but was defeated by Asher, 1187 votes to 1744.^[10]

Death

Asher fell ill while in London as he was leaving the House of Commons from an evening sitting in July 1905. He remained in bed for the following month, and following a worsening of his condition on 31 July, Asher became eager to return home to Scotland.^[1] He returned to his home in Murrayfield, Edinburgh on 4 August. He died at his residence the following day. At the time of his death, the media described him as "one of the most eminent advocates from the Scottish bar".^[11] He left personal estates in the United Kingdom worth £39,378, of which £17,189 was in Scotland.^[12] He left no public bequests, but instead granted legacies to a number of his former servants.^[13]

References

Further reading

• G. W. T. Omond, Asher, Alexander (1834–1905), rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 18 Aug 2008

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Alexander Asher