Arthur Wellesley Soames

Arthur Wellesley Soames (30 November 1852 – 2 November 1934) was a British Liberal politician and architect.

Family and education Soames was born in Brighton, the son of William Aldwin Soames. He was educated at Brighton College, the public school which his father had founded in 1845, and in 1871 he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge where he obtained his BA in 1877 and MA in 1881. In 1876 he married Eveline, the daughter of T. Horsman Coles from Ore in East Sussex. They had three sons and two daughters. Of the three sons, two, Gilbert and Maurice, were killed during the First World War.

Career Soames studied architecture under Sir Arthur Blomfield who was an Associate of the Royal Academy. Standing as a Radical, Soames gained 4,625 votes. His Unionist opponent, Sancroft Holmes received 3,295 giving a very healthy Liberal majority of 1,330.