Robert William Hanbury
Robert William Hanbury PC was a British Conservative politician. He served as President of the Board of Agriculture from 1900 to 1903.
Background and education
Hanbury was the only son of Robert Hanbury, of Bodehall House, Tamworth, Staffordshire, and his wife Mary, daughter of Major T. B. Bamford, of Wilnecote Hall, Warwickshire. The Hanbury family were landowners but mainly derived their wealth from collieries. He was orphaned at an early age and was later educated at Rugby and Corpus Christi College, Oxford.Political career
In 1872 he was elected to the House of Commons as one of two representatives for Tamworth, a seat he held until 1878, and then sat for Staffordshire North until 1880, when he lost his seat. He unsuccessfully contested Preston in 1882, but won the seat in 1885. During the Liberal stay in power from 1892 to 1895 Hanbury was a vigorous critic of William Ewart Gladstone's Second Home Rule Bill from a financial perspective. When the Conservatives came to power in 1895 under Lord Salisbury, he was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury and sworn of the Privy Council. After the 1900 general election he was promoted to President of the Board of Agriculture, with a seat in the cabinet, by Salisbury. He held this post until his death three years later, the last year under the premiership of Arthur Balfour.In August 1901 he received the Freedom of the City of Glasgow for services rendered in connection with the effort to obtain a licence to establish a municipal telephone exchange. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society in November 1902.