John Arthur Roebuck

John Arthur Roebuck (28 December 1802 – 30 November 1879), English politician, was born at Madras, in India. He was raised in Canada, and moved to England in 1824, and became intimate with the leading radical and utilitarian reformers. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath from 1832 to 1847, and MP for the Sheffield constituency from 1849. He took up a general attitude of hostility to the government of the day, whatever it was, which he retained throughout his life. He twice came to public prominence: in 1838, when, although at the time without a seat in parliament, he appeared at the bar of the Commons to protest, in the name of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, against the suspension of the constitution of Lower Canada; and in 1855, when, having overthrown Lord Aberdeen's ministry by carrying a resolution for the appointment of a committee of inquiry into the mismanagement in the Crimean War, he presided over its proceedings.

Life John Arthur Roebuck was born at Madras in 1801, was fifth son of Ebenezer Roebuck, a civil servant in India, and a grandson of the inventor John Roebuck. He was taken to England in 1807 following the death of his father. His mother remarried, to John Simpson, and the family emigrated to Lower Canada, where he was educated. His step-father was active in politics, being a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada and later of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

Roebuck returned to England in 1824, and was entered at the Inner Temple, and called to the bar in 1831. In 1834, he married Henrietta Falconer, a daughter of Thomas Falconer. In 1835 he became the agent in England for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada during the dispute between the executive government and the Legislative Assembly. In 1838, although at the time without a seat in Parliament, he appeared at the bar of the Commons to protest, in the name of the Lower Canada Assembly, against the suspension of the constitution of Lower Canada. In 1843 he was appointed Queen's Counsel, and was elected a bencher of his inn. Roebuck later dropped the motion under pressure from the Government. Roebuck also defended Austrian rule in Italy.

In his latter years his political opinions became greatly modified. A speech at Salisbury in 1862, in which he alleged that working men were spendthrifts and wife-beaters, made him unpopular for a time. He strongly denounced the trade unionist Sheffield Outrages of 1867. These uncompromising attitudes led to Roebuck's rejection by Sheffield voters at the election of 1868. He regained the seat in 1874. In 1878 he was made a privy councillor by the Tory government. He died at Westminster, in 1879. He was survived by his wife and a daughter.

Works Remarks on the Proposed Union of the Canadas, 1822 Debate in the House of Commons, on 15 April 1834, on Mr. Roebuck's Motion for "a Select Committee to inquire the means of remedying the evils which exist in the form of the governments now existing in Upper and Lower Canada", 1834 The Canadas and Their Grievances, 1835 Existing Difficulties in the Government of the Canadas, 1836 The Colonies of England : A Plan for the Government of Portion of Our Colonial Possessions, 1849 History of the Whig Ministry of 1830, to the Passing of the Reform Bill, 1852