Vicary Gibbs (12 May 1853 – 13 January 1932) [1] was a British barrister, merchant and Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1892 to 1904. He lost his seat after his business created a conflict of interest. He was the editor of the early volumes of The Complete Peerage (second edition).
Gibbs came from an old Devon family. [2] He was the third son of Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham (1819–1907), and his wife Louisa Anne, daughter of William Adams. [3]
Alban Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham, and Herbert Gibbs, 1st Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, were his brothers, while George Edward Cokayne was his great-uncle. His great-grandfather was Antony Gibbs, brother of Sir Vicary Gibbs who became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. [2]
He was educated at Eton College and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1876 with a Bachelor of Arts degree [3] in Classical Moderations. [2] He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1880, and became a partner in the merchant and banking firm Antony Gibbs & Sons. [3]
At the 1892 general election he was returned to Parliament for St Albans division of Hertfordshire. [4]
He was returned unopposed in 1895 and 1900, [5] but was disqualified in February 1904. He and his brother Alban were partners in the firm Antony Gibbs & Sons, [6] which had organised the sale to the Admiralty of two warships which had been built in England for the Chilean Navy, to avoid them being sold to a rival power when Chile did not complete the purchase. [7] However, in so doing he was disqualified from the House of Commons, under provisions which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from the Crown. He told his constituents on 18 January that he would resign from the Commons by taking the Chiltern Hundreds, and then present himself for re-election. [7] Both Gibbs and the Liberal Party candidate John Bamford Slack were by then campaigning in the constituency, [8] but The Times newspaper reported on 20 January that the by-election was unlikely to be contested by the Liberals. [9] However, since Gibbs was already disqualified, he did not need to take the usual step of disqualifying himself by taking the Chiltern Hundreds, and in a letter of 1 February 1904 he informed the Speaker of the contract that "I am advised that by so doing I have, under an Act of George III, vacated my seat in Parliament". [6]
His letter was read to the Commons on 2 February, [6] and the writ was moved the following day. [10]
In the meantime, the Liberals had decided to contest the seat, and at a meeting on 24 January they had adopted Slack as their candidate. [11]
At the resulting by-election on 12 February 1904, Slack won the seat with a majority of 132 votes (1.4% of the total). [5] At the 1906 general election Gibbs stood unsuccessfully in Bradford Central, [12] campaigning as a tariff reformer, [13] but never returned to the Commons. He was a member of the Tariff Commission [14] and of the Council of the Industrial Freedom League, an organisation which opposed the involvement of the state and municipalities in trading companies. [15]
Gibbs was also a Justice of the Peace for Hertfordshire, [3] and the first co-editor of the second edition of The Complete Peerage ; published beginning in 1910. While he retired well before it completed publication, his extensive notes are represented throughout the volumes. [2] He was a director of numerous companies, and the chairman of National Provident Institution. [16] [17]
At his seat Aldenham House near Elstree in Hertfordshire, he cultivated a garden which became notable for its flowering trees and shrubs. [2] He won many prizes for the flowers and vegetables grown by his head gardener Edwin Beckett FRHS, [18] including a first prize at the Franco-British Exhibition in 1908. [19]
He was a member of the Athenaeum Club and the Carlton Club. [20]
In January 1932 Gibbs died aged 78 at his London home in Upper Belgrave Street; he never married, [2] and most of his huge plant collection at Aldenham was auctioned by Sotheby's in October that year. [21]
Baron Wraxall, of Clyst St George in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1928 for the Conservative politician George Gibbs. As of 2017, the title is held by his grandson, the fourth Baron, who succeeded his father, a former diplomat, in that year. The Barons Wraxall are related to the Barons Aldenham and Barons Hunsdon of Hunsdon. The first Baron's grandfather William Gibbs was the younger brother of George Henry Gibbs, the father of Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham, whose fourth son was Herbert Gibbs, 1st Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon.
Baron Hunsdon is a title that has been created three times.
Baron Aldenham, of Aldenham in the county of Hertfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was created on 31 January 1896 for the businessman Hucks Gibbs. He was head of the family firm of Antony Gibbs & Sons and a director and Governor of the Bank of England. Gibbs also briefly sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament for the City of London. His fourth son Herbert Cokayne Gibbs was created Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon in 1923.
George Abraham Gibbs, 1st Baron Wraxall, was a British Conservative politician.
Vicary Tyser Gibbs, 6th Baron Aldenham, 4th Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, is a British peer, the son of Antony Gibbs, 5th Baron Aldenham. He succeeded to the titles Baron Aldenham and Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon on 25 January 1986.
Antony Durant Gibbs, 5th Baron Aldenham, 3rd Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, was a British peer, the son of Walter Durant Gibbs, 4th Baron Aldenham. He succeeded to the titles 3rd Baron Hunsdon, and 5th Baron Aldenham on 30 May 1969.
Captain Walter Durant Gibbs, 4th Baron Aldenham, 2nd Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, was a British peer, the son of Herbert Cokayne Gibbs, 1st Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon. He succeeded to the title 2nd Baron Hunsdon on 22 May 1935. He succeeded to the title 4th Baron Aldenham on 21 March 1939, on the death of his cousin, the 3rd Baron, who died without male issue. He served in the Hertfordshire Yeomanry.
Alban George Henry Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham, was a British Conservative Party politician and peer, the son of Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham.
Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham MA BA FGS FSA was a British banker, businessman and Conservative Party politician.
The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the title of Sheriff of Hertfordshire was retitled High Sheriff of Hertfordshire. The High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown in England and Wales, their purpose being to represent the monarch at a local level, historically in the shires.
Herbert Cokayne Gibbs, 1st Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon, was a British businessman.
Sir John Bamford Slack was a British politician, member of the Liberal Party and Methodist lay preacher.
The February 1906 City of London by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 February 1906 for the British House of Commons constituency of City of London, which covered the "Square Mile" which was the United Kingdom's traditional financial district.
Sir Robert Purvis was a British barrister and Liberal Unionist politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1895 to 1905 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough.
Thomson Hankey was a British merchant, a banker and a Liberal Party politician.
The 1904 St Albans by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England in February 1904 for the House of Commons. It elected a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of St Albans, a county division of Hertfordshire.
The 1904 City of London by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 9 February 1904 for the House of Commons constituency of City of London.
The 1897 Walthamstow by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 3 February 1897 for the House of Commons constituency of Walthamstow. The area was then a division of Essex, and is now part of Greater London.
The 1895 Liverpool East Toxteth by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 29 November 1895 for the House of Commons constituency of Liverpool East Toxteth.
Antony Gibbs & Sons was a British trading company, established in London in 1802, whose interests spanned trading in cloth, guano, wine and fruit, and led to it becoming involved in banking, shipping and insurance. Having been family-owned via a partnership from its foundation, by the turn of the 20th century it was focused on banking and insurance. Floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1973, it was bought by HSBC in 1981 and formed the basis of its insurance broking arm, now part of global insurance company Marsh & McLennan.
 | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2021) |
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Art research institutes | |
| Scientific databases | |
| Other | |
