Edward Glover (politician)

Edward Auchmuty Glover
Member of Parliament
for Beverley
In office
28 March 1857 – 9 August 1857
Serving with William Denison
Preceded byArthur Hamilton-Gordon
William Wells
Succeeded byHenry Edwards
William Denison
Personal details
Bornc. 1816
Died17 March 1862
NationalityIrish
Political partyIndependent Conservative
Other political
affiliations		Radical
Parent(s)James Glover
Ellen Power

Edward Auchmuty Glover (c. 1816 – 17 March 1862)[1] was an Irish Independent Conservative politician and barrister.[2]

The eldest son of James Glover and Ellen Power, Glover was a practising barrister and a Justice of the Peace.[3][4]

Although he contested the 1852 general election as an Independent Conservative,[5] Glover was only elected an Independent Conservative MP for Beverley at the 1857 general election. His political views were, however, more complex, as between the two elections he had contested at several places, "professing any political creed that might happen to favour his success". Indeed, while he contested Canterbury as a Radical at a by-election in 1854,[6][7] when he contested Beverley again in 1857, he stood as a Conservative despite losing the support of the local party. He then held the seat for just a few months.[8][1][9][2][10]

In August 1857, Glover was unseated after an Election Petition Committee found that he did not meet the required property qualification–owning property worth £300 a year for a borough seat–at the time of his election, meaning he was not entitled to be elected an MP. However, he had previously declared he met the qualification requirements—these properties he had no interest in.[1][9][2][10]

After his case was referred to the Attorney-General, Glover was arrested on 23 December 1857, and he was later found guilty, by the Old Bailey of making a false declaration regarding this qualification. In April 1858, he was sentenced to four months in Newgate Prison, and transferred to the Queen's Bench Prison.[11] The property qualification was later that year abolished.[1][9][2][10]

Glover again contested the seat at the 1859 general election, as an independent candidate, but was unsuccessful, ending votes last in the poll.[8][12]

  1. ^ a b c d Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
  2. ^ a b c d Rix, Kathryn (13 December 2012). "Christmas at Newgate: Edward Glover MP and the abolition of the property qualification". The Victorian Commons. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Edward Auchmuty Glover". The Peerage. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Pedigree of Glover of Mount Glover (now Mount Corbett)" (PDF). Cork Past and Present. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Beverley". The Morning Chronicle. 7 July 1852. p. 20. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  6. ^ "The elections for the five delinquent and suspended boroughs". The Spectator. 19 August 1854. p. 3. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  7. ^ "The Forthcoming Elections". Newcastle Guardian and Tyne Mercury. 19 August 1854. p. 3. Retrieved 22 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ a b Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  9. ^ a b c Rix, Kathryn (13 April 2013). "MPs at the Old Bailey". The Victorian Commons. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b c Porritt, Edward; Porritt, Annie G. (1903). "Property Qualifications for Members". The Unreformed House of Commons: Parliamentary Representation Before 1832; Volume 1: England and Wales. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 177. ISBN 9781107640047. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  11. ^ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (accessed 9 April 2018), Trial of Edward Auchmuty Glover. (t18580405-441, 5 April 1858).
  12. ^ "Beverley". John Bull. 2 May 1859. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 10 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.