Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett 1849 - 1902
Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett , eldest son. Sir Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett was born in Brooklyn in 1849, of American parents. He was educated at Torquay and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with 1st class honours in Law and Modern History in 1872 and was President of the Union, defeating H.H. Asquith in a famous contest. He was an examiner of the Education Department, 1874-80. He was called to the bar in 1877. In the same year he founded the Patriotic Association, which aimed to counter pro-Russian feeling in the country. His obituary in the Times (20 Jan 1902) reported that he was a fine orator and attracted large crowds - for a time his popularity "with provincial audiences" was second only to that of Lord Randolph Churchill - though his style was not so suited to the House of Commons, where he was often regarded as an eccentric figure. He was MP (Con) for Suffolk (Eye) - a seat in the gift of Lord Beaconsfield - from 1880 to 1885, and for Ecclesall Division, Sheffield, from 1885 until his death in 1902. He was Civil Lord of the Admiralty in Lord Salisbury's governments in 1885-86 and 1886-1892 and was knighted in 1892. Throughout Sir Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett's political career his main theme was Britain's imperial role; he believed that Turkey's security was crucial to the Empire and was well known as a supporter of Turkish interests. Another long-term concern was that Swaziland should become a British, rather than Boer, territory. In 1880 he began to publish a weekly newspaper, England, which lasted until 1898 but was never very successful - its demise led to bankruptcy proceedings that were only settled in 1901. In April-May 1897 he travelled to Greece and Turkey with his son (see below) as a guest of the Sultan; he observed events in the Graeco-Turkish War, and described them in The Battlefields of Thessaly (1897). Who Was Who 1897-1915 (London, 1935) records that he served in the South African war in 1900, but it was his son who served there in the Bedfordshire Regiment, though Sir Ellis was at one time a Lieutenant in the West Yorkshire Regiment, a militia unit. He did, however, visit South Africa and Swaziland (where he had been negotiating with rulers) in 1900-01, meeting his son by chance in Bloemfontein's main street (A/2/1/71). He died on 18 January 1902. Publications: Shall England keep India? (W. H. Allen & Co.: London, 1886); Union or Separation ... Also an Analysis of Mr. Gladstone's "Home Rule" Bill (7ed., National Union: London, 1893); British, Natives & Boers in the Transvaal ... The appeal of the Swazi people (McCorquodale & Co.: London, 1894); The Transvaal Crisis. The case for the British-Uitlander-residents in the Transvaal (3ed., Patriotic Association: London, 1896); The Battlefields of Thessaly. With personal experiences in Turkey and Greece, etc. (John Murray: London, 1897).
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| Born: Philadelphia, , Penn., USA 1849 | Baptised:
| | Died: 18th Jan 1902 | Buried:
| | Family: Bartlett |
Timeline
| 1849 | Born (birth) Philadelphia, Penn., USA | | 18th Jan 1902 | Died (death) |
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