Charles Tottenham (1807–1886)

Charles Tottenham (14 November 1807 – 1 June 1886)[1] was an Irish Conservative and Tory politician.[2][3][4][5]

Charles Tottenham
Member of Parliament
for New Ross
In office
18 March 1856 – 8 June 1863
Preceded byCharles Gavan Duffy
Succeeded byCharles George Tottenham
In office
7 May 1831 – 9 July 1831
Preceded byCharles Powell Leslie
Succeeded byWilliam Wigram
Personal details
Born14 November 1807
Died1 June 1886(1886-06-01) (aged 78)
NationalityIrish
Political partyConservative/Tory
Spouse
Isabella Catherine Airey
(m. 1833; died 1863)
ChildrenFive, including Charles George Tottenham
Parent(s)Charles Tottenham
Catherine Wigram

Early life and family

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Tottenham was the first son of his namesake Charles Tottenham and Catherine, daughter of Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1825 before, in 1833, marrying Isabella Catherine, daughter of Sir George Airey and Catherine née Talbot, with whom he had three sons, including Charles George Tottenham, and two daughters.[3][4]

Political career

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Tottenham was first elected Tory MP for New Ross at the 1831 general election, following in the footsteps of his father and his uncle, Ponsonby Tottenham, who had been MPs for the seat between 1802 and 1805, and 1805 and 1806 respectively. At the 1831 election, it was his father's turn to nominate, and Tottenham was returned unopposed with the support of his father as well as County Wexford Whig MP Henry Lambert, who Tottenham had subscribed £100 towards for the 1830 general election.[3][5]

At the time of his election, the local press assumed Tottenham had been sent to parliament for the "avowed purpose" of supporting the Grey Ministry's reform bill, which he later supported at its second reading. Shortly after, he resigned his seat, accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, a move blamed on his father wanting a "thorough-going Tory" in the seat.[3][5]

While Tottenham sought to return to Parliament for the same seat—standing unsuccessfully at the 1835 general election—it was another 21 years before this happened. Between these times, he was High Sheriff of Wicklow in 1845 and 1846, and High Sheriff of Wexford in 1846 and 1847.[3]

Standing as a Conservative at a by-election in 1856—caused by the resignation of Charles Gavan Duffy—he held the seat until 1863 when he again resigned through the Chiltern Hundreds office in order to allow for his son, Charles George Tottenham to take the seat.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ Rayment, Leigh (13 June 2017). "The House of Commons: Constituencies beginning with "N"". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 306. ISBN 978-0901714121.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Salmon, Philip. Fisher, D. R. (ed.). "TOTTENHAM, Charles (1807–1886), of Ballycurry, co. Wicklow and New Ross, co. Wexford". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b Lundy, Darryl (15 May 2015). "Charles Tottenham". The Peerage. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 239. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via Google Books.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for New Ross
May 1831Aug 1831
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for New Ross
18561863
Succeeded by
Civic offices
Preceded by
William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Hume
High Sheriff of Wicklow
1845
Succeeded by
Robert Craven Wade
Preceded by
Patrick W. Redmond
High Sheriff of Wexford
1846
Succeeded by
Harry Alcock