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Robert Hermon-Hodge, 1st Baron Wyfold

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Robert Trotter Hermon-Hodge, 1st Baron Wyfold, DL (23 September 1851 – 3 June 1937) was a British Conservative politician.[1]

Hermon-Hodge
"Accrington"
Hermon-Hodge as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, June 1892

Born Robert Trotter Hodge, he was the son of G W Hodge of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was educated at Clifton College and Worcester College, Oxford. In 1877 he married Frances Caroline Hermon, only daughter of Edward Hermon, Member of Parliament (MP) for Preston. In 1903 he added her surname to his own to become "Hermon-Hodge".

Parliamentary career

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He entered politics in 1884, when he was adopted as Conservative candidate for the Wallingford seat. The seat was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, when he contested the new seat of Accrington in Lancashire, winning it first on the next general election, called in 1886, his first return to the Commons. He served one term losing the seat at the next election in 1892,[1] and narrowly failing to be re-elected in an 1893 by-election.[2]

Hodge gained his longest spell in the Commons from the 1895 general election as MP for the Southern or Henley Division of Oxfordshire.[3] He held the seat in 1900 and was defeated in the Liberal landslide of 1906. His 10+1⁄2 years for this seat proved longer than the 9+1⁄4 total years he served in three separate chunks at other times.[4][5] It was announced that he would receive a baronetcy in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation of King Edward VII,[6] and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Wyfold Court in the Parish of Checkendon in the county of Oxford.[7]

He returned to the Commons for a third time when he won a by-election in March 1909 at Croydon.[8] Re-elected at the ensuing poll in January 1910, he stood down for the election in December of the same year.[9][10]

In May 1917, Valentine Fleming, the sitting MP for Henley, was killed fighting on the Western Front. An election was announced and Hermon-Hodge was returned unopposed for his old seat at the by-election in June.[11] He retired from parliament at the post-war general election in 1918. In May 1919 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Wyfold, of Accrington in the County Palatine of Lancaster and participated in the Lords 34 times, all before 1931. His son did so 13 times all in the 1937-1938 period.[12][13][14]

Life outside parliament

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He enjoyed the life of a country gentleman at the family estate of Wyfold Court, near Reading, Berkshire. He was an enthusiastic sportsman, being a member of various hunts in Berkshire and South Oxfordshire. He also participated in deer-stalking, shooting and fishing. He attended the Henley Regatta each year, and is remembered in the name of the Wyfold Challenge Cup. He was also a leading freemason and was for thirty years a member of the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars.

He was in command of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry during the Second Boer War. He was placed under orders to proceed to South Africa, but was forbidden by his medical advisers to undertake any active service.[15] He remained honorary colonel of the regiment at the time of his death.[1]

He had seven sons, two of whom died in the First World War, and one daughter. His wife died in 1929, and Lord Wyfold died in June 1937, aged 85.[1]

Arms

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Coat of arms of Robert Hermon-Hodge, 1st Baron Wyfold
 
 
Crest
An Eagle wings addorsed and inverted Or supporting with the dexter claw an Increscent Argent and looking at the Rays of the Sun issuant from Clouds proper
Escutcheon
Sable a Lion couchant Erminois holding between the paws a Bale of Cotton proper
Supporters
On either side a Trooper of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Oxford Hussars)
Motto
Praemium Virtutis Gloria (Glory is the reward of valour)[16]

References

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Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

  1. ^ a b c d "Obituary: Lord Wyfold". The Times. 5 June 1937. p. 16.
  2. ^ The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 147 (171 in web page), Lancashire North East
  3. ^ "New Members of Parliament". The Times. 29 July 1895. p. 13.
  4. ^ "The New Parliament". The Times. 15 October 1900. p. 12.
  5. ^ "The General Election". The Times. 22 January 1906. p. 10.
  6. ^ "The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
  7. ^ "No. 27457". The London Gazette. 25 July 1902. p. 4738.
  8. ^ "The Polling". The Times. 30 March 1909. p. 10.
  9. ^ "The New Parliament". The Times. 20 January 1910. p. 7.
  10. ^ "The Constituencies". The Times. 19 November 1910. p. 11.
  11. ^ "By-Election Candidates". The Times. 18 June 1917. p. 10.
  12. ^ "Lord Wyfold of Accrington". The Times. 10 May 1919. p. 9.
  13. ^ "No. 31348". The London Gazette. 20 May 1919. p. 6247.
  14. ^ "Mr Robert Hermon-Hodge". Hansard. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Our London Correspondence". The Manchester Guardian. 14 February 1900. p. 5.
  16. ^ "Baron Wyfold". Cracrofts Peerage. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Accrington
1886–1892 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Henley
1895–1906 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Croydon
1909–1910 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Henley
1917–1918 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Wyfold Court)
1902–1937 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Wyfold
1919–1937 		Succeeded by
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