Thomas Agar-Robartes

{{about||the British landowner and politician|Thomas Agar-Robartes, 6th Viscount Clifden|the British politician|Thomas Agar-Robartes, 1st Baron Robartes}}

File:1906 Thomas Agar-Robartes MP.jpg

Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes (known as Tommy) (22 May 1880 – 30 September 1915) was a British Liberal politician.

Background and education

Tommy Agar-Robartes was the eldest son and heir of Thomas Agar-Robartes, 6th Viscount Clifden, and his wife Mary (née Dickenson) and was brought up at Lanhydrock House, Bodmin. He was the eldest of ten (including a twin sister).{{cite news|title=Births, Marriages, Deaths|work=The Cornishman|issue=99|date=3 June 1880|page=8}} Educated at Oxford and a keen horseman, he played in the Oxford University polo team that beat Cambridge in 1903.{{cite journal|title=The Polo Monthly|date=19 January 1911|page=334|url=http://www.hpamembers.co.uk/document_archive/yearbooks/1910%20Sep%20-%201911%20Feb.pdf|access-date=16 October 2015}}{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

File:Memorial to Thomas Agar-Robartes in Truro Cathedral.JPG]]

File:Upper Norton MMB 17 Selsey Abbey.jpg]]

Public life

He was elected a Member of Parliament for Bodmin in the 1906 general election, but lost his seat in June 1906 following a controversial election petition by the defeated candidate alleging illegal payments to potential voters. He was elected to the St Austell Division of Cornwall in a by-election in 1908 and held the seat until his death.

Military career

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal 1st Devon Imperial Yeomanry on 13 May 1902.{{London Gazette |issue=27439 |date=3 June 1902|page=3611}}{{London Gazette |issue=27516 |date=16 January 1903 |page=310 }} At the outbreak of World War I he joined the Royal Bucks Hussars as an officer. Tommy then joined the Coldstream Guards and was subsequently posted to France & Flanders. Captain The Honourable Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes, in command of No. 2 Coy, 1st Bn, the Coldstream Guards, was wounded in the Battle of Loos on 28 September and killed by a sniper on 30 September 1915 after rescuing a wounded comrade under heavy fire for which he was recommended for the Victoria Cross.

Memorials

Agar-Robartes is buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, near Béthune.{{CWGC|id=53707|name=Agar-Robartes, The Hon. Thomas Charles R.|access-date=30 August 2016}} He is commemorated by a memorial in Truro Cathedral{{cite web |url=http://ww1cemeteries.com/british_cemeteries_memorials/agar_robartes_mem_truro.htm |title=Captain the Hon. Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes Memorial, Truro Cathedral, Cornwall |access-date=2008-01-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013120104/http://ww1cemeteries.com/british_cemeteries_memorials/agar_robartes_mem_truro.htm |archive-date=13 October 2007 |df=dmy-all }} and in stained glass at Selsey Abbey, Wimpole[http://www.armingford.net/wimpole/church.htm Wimpole Parish Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304215020/http://www.armingford.net/wimpole/church.htm |date=4 March 2016 }} at www.wimpole.info and Church Norton.[http://victorians.westsussex.gov.uk/theme/wscc-theme-2/ccm/content/environment/the-west-sussex-countryside/the-coastal-plain/pagham-harbour-local-nature-reserve/harbour-views-newsletter/features/heritage.en;jsessionid=ampfuslcnAO5 West Sussex County Council: Heritage]{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }} at victorians.westsussex.gov.uk

File:Agar-Robartes memorial seat unveiling.jpg, Cornwall, commemorating Agar-Robartes. This photograph shows Sir Clifford Cory MP speaking before the unveiling]]

Agar-Robartes is commemorated on Panel 8 of the Parliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs who died during World War I to be named on that memorial.{{cite web|title=Recording Angel memorial Panel 8|publisher=UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk)|website=Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/cultural-collections/memorials/in-the-collection/world-war-i/wwi-angel-memorial/recording-angel-panel8/|access-date=31 August 2016}}{{cite web|title=List of names on the Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall|publisher=UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk)|website=Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall|url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/War-Memorial-Lists/War-Memorial-Westminster-Hall-WW1.pdf|access-date=31 August 2016}} Agar-Robartes is one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber.{{cite web|title=Agar-Robartes|publisher=UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk)|website=Heraldic shields to MPs, First World War|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/cultural-collections/memorials/in-the-collection/world-war-i/wars-heraldic-shields/agar-robartes/|access-date=31 August 2016}} A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style illuminated book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which included a short biographical account of the life and death of Agar-Robartes.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=House of Commons War Memorial: Final Volumes Unveiled by The Speaker|date=6 February 1932 |page=7|issue=46050}}{{cite book|editor-last=Moss-Blundell|editor-first=Edward Whitaker|title=The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914–1918|publisher=E. Mathews & Marrot|year=1931}} As Agar-Robartes never married and had no children, his younger brother Francis later succeeded their father in the viscountcy.

List of memorials

File:Capt Agar Roberts Memorial Seat.jpg ]]

File:Plaque at Luxulyan Institute - geograph.org.uk - 196438.jpg

Headstone at Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, near Béthune{{Cite web|url=https://devoranwarmemorial.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/remembering-tommy-agar-robartes-30-september-1915/|title=Remembering Tommy Agar Robartes 30 September 1915|date=30 September 2015}}
Wooden battlefield marker St Hydroc's Church, Lanhydrock, Cornwall{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/52995|title=Captain T C Agar Robartes|website=Imperial War Museums}}
Granite memorial seat at Truro Road, St Austell, Cornwall{{Cite web|url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/97924/|title=CAPT THE HON T C R AGAR ROBARTES - War Memorials Online|website=www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk}}
Stained glass window at St Hydroc Church, Lanhydrock, Cornwall{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lanhydrock/features/st-hydrocs-church|title=St Hydroc's Church|website=National Trust}}
Stained glass window at Selsey Abbey, Sussex{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
Stained glass window at St Andrew's Church, Wimpole, Cambridgeshire{{Cite web|url=http://www.wimpolepast.co.uk/memorial_robartes.asp|title=Redirect Page|website=www.wimpolepast.co.uk}}
Stained glass window at St Wilfrid's Chapel, Church Norton, West Sussex{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/58472|title=Captain J Wingfield and Captain The Honourable T Agar Robartes|website=Imperial War Museums}}
Marble bust at Truro Cathedral
Wooden armorial shield at the House of Commons{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/cultural-collections/memorials/in-the-collection/world-war-i/wars-heraldic-shields/agar-robartes/|title=Agar-Robartes|website=UK Parliament}}
Brass plaque in Holy Trinity Church, St Austell{{Cite web|url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/258906|title=Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes - War Memorials Online|website=www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk}}

Notes

References

{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}
{{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/info.htm |title=FAQ |publisher= The Peerage}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=February 2013}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080828024402/http://www.arrington.org.uk/commemorations_one.asp#robartes Wimpole War Memorial]