Charles Warton

Charles Warton

Charles Nicholas Warton (1832 – 31 July 1900) was a barrister and politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a Conservative from 1880 to 1885. He later emigrated to Western Australia, becoming a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council.

Biography

Warton was the son of Charles Warton of Burwash, Sussex and his wife Maria. He attended University College School in London from 1845 to 1847, and was admitted to Clare College, Cambridge in 1851, but did not graduate. He was at Lincoln's Inn from 1857 until 1861, when he was called to the Bar of the English South-Eastern Circuit.^[1] For the next 25 years, he worked as a barrister and resided at Clapham.

"Hear! Hear!! Hear!!! Hear!!!!"
Warton as caricatured by Ape (Carlo Pellegrini) in Vanity Fair, May 1884

In 1880, Warton was elected to the House of Commons as Member for Bridport.^[2] He held the seat until 1885, during which time he gained a reputation for insisting on the enforcement of procedural rules, thereby hindering the passage of otherwise unopposed bills.

In 1886, Warton emigrated to Western Australia, arriving in November. The following month he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council and immediately appointed Attorney-General. With the exception of a two-month gap in early 1888, he held these appointments until the advent of responsible government in October 1890. The following year he retired to England. He died at Hampstead, London, at the age of 68.

Warton married Agnes Wood, daughter of G H Wood, on 24 August 1864 and had at least one son.

References

• Black, David and Bolton, Geoffrey (2001). Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia, Volume One, 1870–1930 (Revised Edition ed.). Parliament House: Parliament of Western Australia. ISBN 0730738140. 

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Warton