View source for Abraham Robarts (MP for Worcester)

{{Short description|English banker and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{infobox officeholder
| name         =
| image        =
| caption      =
| office       = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Worcester (UK Parliament constituency)|Worcester]]
| term_start   = 1796
| term_end     = 1816
| predecessor  = [[Edmund Lechmere (Worcester MP)|Edmund Lechmere]]<br>[[Edmund Wigley]]
| alongside    = [[Edmund Wigley]], [[Sir Joseph Scott, 1st Baronet|Joseph Scott]], [[Henry Bromley (died 1837)|Henry Bromley]], [[William Duff-Gordon|William Gordon]]
| successor    = [[William Duff-Gordon|William Gordon]]<br>[[George Coventry, 8th Earl of Coventry|Viscount Deehurst]]
| birth_date   = {{birthdate|1745|09|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place  =
| death_date   = {{dda|1816|11|26|1745|09|27|df=yes}}
| death_place  =
| parents      = Abraham Robarts<br>Elizabeth Wildey
| spouse       = {{marriage|Sabine Tierney<br>|16 June 1774|1816|reason=died}}
| children     = 9, including [[Abraham Wildey Robarts|Abraham]], [[James Thomas Robarts|James]], [[William Tierney Robarts|William]], [[George James Robarts|George]]
| relations    =
}}
'''Abraham Robarts''' (27 September 1745 – 26 November 1816) was an English banker and politician. He was a factor in the West Indies trade, and a director of the [[East India Company]].<ref name="HoP">{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Lawrence |title=ROBARTS, Abraham (1745-1816), of Finsbury Square, Moorfields, London and North End, Hampstead, Mdx. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/robarts-abraham-1745-1816 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=[[History of Parliament Online]] |access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref>
==Early life==
Robarts was born on 27 September 1745, a son of Capt. Abraham Robarts of [[Stepney]], [[Middlesex]], by the former Elizabeth Wildey (daughter and heiress of Samuel Wildey of Stepney).<ref name="HoP"/>
==Career==
Early in his career he was a partner with James Tierney in the firm of Tierney, Lilly and Robarts, Spanish merchants.<ref name="HoP"/>
He became a Director of the [[Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation|Royal Exchange Insurance Company]] from 1781 to 1786 and then served as a director of the [[East India Company]] six times between 1786 and 1815, normally for three years each time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12812986.pdf|title=The Directors of the East India Company, 1754-1790|accessdate=6 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112154011/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12812986.pdf|archive-date=12 November 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 1792, he became a city banker in partnership with Sir William Curtis in the firm of Robarts, Curtis, Were, Hornyold and Berwick, of Cornhill.<ref name="HoP"/>
Robarts went into politics first in 1784, as an unsuccessful candidate in {{constlk|Wootton Bassett}}. He established himself as Member of Parliament at {{constlk|Worcester}} in 1796, when his local banking associate [[Edmund Lechmere (MP for Worcester)|Edmund Lechmere]] {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MP}} (1747–1798) got into financial difficulties and had to give up the seat. Robarts was an uncontested candidate, and won successive terms, sitting until his death in 1816.<ref name="HoP"/>
==Personal life==
[[File:Mrs Charles Thellusson,.jpg|thumb|''Mrs Charles Thellusson'' (the former Sabine Robarts), portrait by [[Thomas Lawrence]]]]
On 16 June 1774, Robarts was married to Sabine Tierney (1752–1833), a daughter of Thomas Tierney and sister of [[George Tierney]]. Together, they had four sons and five daughters, including:<ref name="HoP"/>
* Sabine Robarts (1775–1814),<ref name="artuk">{{cite web |title=Mrs Charles Thellusson, née Sabine Robarts (1775–1814), and Her Son, Charles Thellusson (1797–1856) |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/mrs-charles-thellusson-nee-sabine-robarts-17751814-and-her-son-charles-thellusson-17971856-68587 |website=artuk.org |publisher=[[Art UK]] |access-date=22 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref> who married [[Charles Thellusson]], MP for {{constlk|Worcester}} and son of merchant [[Peter Thellusson]], in 1795.<ref name="CThop">{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=David R. |title=THELLUSSON, Charles (1770-1815), of Finsbury Square, London and Brodsworth, Yorks. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/thellusson-charles-1770-1815 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=[[History of Parliament Online]] |access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref>
* [[Abraham Wildey Robarts]] (1779–1858), MP for {{constlk|Maidstone}} who married Charlotte Anne Wilkinson in 1808.<ref name="AWRhop">{{cite web |last1=Farrell |first1=Stephen |title=ROBARTS, Abraham Wildey (1779-1858), of 15 Lombard Street, London; 26 Hill Street, Berkeley Square, Mdx., and Roehampton, Surr. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/robarts-abraham-1779-1858 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=[[History of Parliament Online]] |access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="AWR">{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/10067|title=Summary of Individual Abraham Wildey Robarts, Legacies of British Slave-ownership|accessdate=15 November 2017}}</ref>
* Sophia Charlotte Robarts (1781–1855), who died unmarried.
* [[George James Robarts]] (1782–1829), MP for {{constlk|Wallingford}}.<ref name="GJRhop">{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=David R. |title=ROBARTS, George James (?1782-1829), of Grosvenor Street, Mdx. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/robarts-george-1782-1829 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=[[History of Parliament Online]] |access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref>
* Sidney Robarts (1788-1852), who married [[John Edward Madocks]], MP for {{constlk|Denbigh Boroughs}} and nephew of [[William Madocks]], in 1817.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sir Bernard Burke|title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H65CAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA870|year=1871|publisher=Harrison|page=870}}</ref>
* [[James Thomas Robarts]] (1784–1825), of the East India Company who married Charlotte Llyod in 1825. After his death she married Robert Dent Esq. in 1826.<ref name="AWR"/>
* [[William Tierney Robarts]] (1786–1820),<ref name="AWR"/> MP for {{constlk|St. Albans}} who died unmarried.<ref name="WTRhop">{{cite web |last1=Thorne |first1=R. G. |title=ROBARTS, William Tierney (c.1786-1820), of 49 Lower Grosvenor Street, Mdx. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/robarts-william-tierney-1786-1820 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=[[History of Parliament Online]] |access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref>
* Marianne Jane Roberts (1787–1842).<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Kassler|title=The Music Trade in Georgian England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OxB81IX72noC&pg=PA469|year=2011|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-6065-1|pages=469, 499}}</ref>
Robarts died a wealthy man upon his death on 26 November 1816.<ref name="HoP"/>
===Descendants===
Through his son Abraham, he was a grandfather of banker Abraham George Robarts, who married Elizabeth Sarah Smyth (daughter of [[John Henry Smyth]] and Lady Elizabeth [[George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton|FitzRoy]] of [[Heath Hall, Heath, West Yorkshire|Heath Hall]]).<ref name="Burke1871">{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland |date=1871 |publisher=Harrison |page=1171 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Genealogical_and_Heraldic_History_of_t/H65CAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1171 |access-date=22 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Their son, Abraham John Robarts of Robarts, Lubbock & Co., married Hon. Edith Barrington (a daughter of the [[Percy Barrington, 8th Viscount Barrington|8th Viscount Barrington]]) and were the parents of banker [[Gerald Robarts]].<ref name="Burke1900">{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain |date=1900 |publisher=Harrison & Sons |page=1348 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Genealogical_and_Heraldic_History_of_t/mIRLct95aMEC&pg=PA1348 |access-date=22 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
Through his daughter Sidney, he was a grandfather of [[Henry Robarts Madocks]] ({{circa|1825}}–1902), who married Hon. Amelia Napier (daughter of [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier]]).<ref name="Mosley1999">Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes.'' Crans, [[Switzerland]]: [[Burke's Peerage]] (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999, volume 1, page 175; volume 2, page 2856.</ref> Among their children were Ermine Mary Katherine Murray (née Madocks), Viscountess Elibank (wife of the [[Gideon Oliphant-Murray, 2nd Viscount Elibank|2nd Viscount Elibank]]).<ref name="npg">{{cite web |title=Ermine Mary Katherine Murray (née Madocks), Viscountess Elibank |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw190131/Ermine-Mary-Katherine-Murray-ne-Madocks-Viscountess-Elibank? |website=www.npg.org.uk |publisher=[[National Portrait Gallery, London]] |access-date=22 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG203394 Abraham Robarts] at the [[British Museum]]
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Edmund Lechmere (Worcester MP)|Edmund Lechmere]]
|before2= [[Edmund Wigley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Worcester (UK Parliament constituency)|Worcester]]
|with   = [[Edmund Wigley]] (1796–1802)
|with2  = [[Sir Joseph Scott, 1st Baronet|Joseph Scott]] (1802–1806)
|with3  = [[Henry Bromley (died 1837)|Henry Bromley]] (1806–1807)
|with4  = [[William Duff-Gordon|William Gordon]] (1807–1816)
|years  = [[1796 British general election|1796]]–1816}}
{{s-aft|after  = [[William Duff-Gordon|William Gordon]]
|after2 = [[George Coventry, 8th Earl of Coventry|Viscount Deehurst]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robarts, Abraham}}
[[Category:1745 births]]
[[Category:1816 deaths]]
[[Category:Robarts family|Abraham]]
[[Category:English bankers]]
[[Category:Directors of the British East India Company]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:British MPs 1796–1800]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1801–1802]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1802–1806]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1806–1807]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1807–1812]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1812–1818]]