Sir John Jardine, 1st Baronet

Sir John Jardine, 1st Baronet, KCIE (27 September 1844 – 26 April 1919)[1] was a British Liberal Party politician and colonial civil servant in India.

John Jardine

Biography

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Early life and career in India

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Jardine was the son of William Jardine of Bedford (but originally of Dumfriesshire, Scotland) and was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he won the Chancellor's Gold Medal for English Verse in 1864.

He joined the Bombay Civil Service in 1864, and was Political Officer in Native States of Kattywar in 1871, Secretary for the trial of the Gaekwar of Baroda in 1875, Secretary to Treaty with Portugal and Law Officer to Government of India in 1877; Judicial Commissioner of Burma in 1878, President of the Burma School Board in 1881, and Chief Secretary to Bombay Government, holding the Political, Secret, Educational, Persian, and Judicial portfolios in 1885.

Jardine was elected Fellow of the University of Bombay in 1872, and was sometime the University's Dean of Arts and Dean of Law. In 1895 he was appointed its Vice-Chancellor. He was also president of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1895 until his retirement, having been elected to its membership in 1878.[2]

Jardine was appointed a Judge of the Bombay High Court in 1885;, serving as acting Chief Justice in 1895. He retired from Indian service in 1897 and returned to the United Kingdom. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours.[3]

Political career

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On his return to the United Kingdom, Jardine unsuccessfully contested Roxburghshire as a Liberal in 1900, before being elected to the seat in 1906, serving until 1918. He was made a Baronet of Godalming on 20 January 1916.[4]

He was a businessman on the world stage. For instance in 1901 he gave his address as 34 Lancaster Gate, Middlesex (the heart of London) and was funding railway building in North Borneo.[5] He was one of the many Jardine Baronets.

Personal life

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Jardine married Minnie Dunbar Hogg, the daughter of Jabez Hogg, [when?] and was succeeded in turn by his sons, Sir John Eric Birdwood Jardine, 2nd Baronet and Sir Colin Arthur Jardine, 3rd Baronet.

Sir John Jardine, 1st Baronet, died in 1919.

Election results

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General election 1900: Roxburghshire [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Earl of Dalkeith 2,682
Liberal John Jardine 2,323
General election 1906: Roxburghshire [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Jardine 2,829 52.9
Conservative Sir Richard John Waldie-Griffith 2,514 47.1
General election Jan 1910: Roxburghshire [8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Jardine 2,943
Conservative Lord Henry Francis Montagu-Douglas-Scott 2,626
General election Dec 1910: Roxburghshire [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Jardine 2,908
Conservative Neil James Kennedy Cochran-Patrick 2,704

References

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  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)
  2. ^ Ireland, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and (1834). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society.
  3. ^ "No. 26864". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 June 1897. p. 3440.
  4. ^ "No. 29483". The London Gazette. 22 February 1916. p. 1946.
  5. ^ North Borneo Philately reproduction of indenture displayed at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=247854508713069&set=a.226918870806633.1073741828.223297214502132&type=1&theater (accessed on 16 January 2014)
  6. ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
  7. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
  8. ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
  9. ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Roxburghshire
1906 – 1918
Constituency abolished
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Godalming)
1916–1919
Succeeded by
John Jardine