Laurence Oliphant

Laurence Oliphant, 8th of Condie and 30th Chief of Clan Oliphant, (1791 – May 1862) was the member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Perth between 1832 and 1837. He was a Whig and his strong views on reform caused controversy.

Family background Laurence was the eldest son (of seven children) of Ebenezer Oliphant, 7th of Condie, and Mary, third daughter of Sir William Stirling of Ardoch.

He was also a direct descendant of the sister of Laurence Oliphant the elder Jacobite Laird of Gask. Laurence was christened at Forgandenny, 22 June 1791 married 1stly, on 22 April 1814, to Eliza, 2nd daughter of Hercules Ross, of Rossie Castle, co. Forfar. Eliza died in 1820. He married 2ndly, 23 August 1825, to Margaret Gilles Barrett, widow of Samuel Barrett, of Jamaica, and 3rdly, 19 August 1841, Marianne, eldest daughter of James Stuart Oliphant, of Rossie. Lt. Col James Oliphant was Chairman of the Honourable East India Company and the English words to "Men of Harlech".

Political career Oliphant was a Member of Parliament, elected both before and then again after the change in the electoral system introduced by the Reform Act 1832. Oliphant introduced petitions to Parliament for establishing District Courts in Scotland and another against the System of Church Patronage in Scotland and one for the return of all offices abolished by the recommendation of the Select Committee on Sinecure Offices, in 1810, 1811, and 1812, and of the Finance Committee in 1817. He was also one of the MPs who presented a petition for the better observance of the Sabbath. In 1834 he petitioned Parliament for the Repeal of the Stamp Duty on Receipts. It was not until 1964, some 131 years later that this finally came into effect.

Provost Wright nominated Lord James Stuart as a candidate to stand against Oliphant but on the day of the election polling was stopped as Oliphant had 458 votes to Lord James Stuart's 205 votes out of a possible 780 votes. So hostile were the sentiments of some members of Perth Burgh that Robert Smyth of Methven tried to block the use of the City Hall for a dinner organised for Oliphant in November 1833. The event finally went ahead in the December of the same year. In the general election of 1837 Arthur Kinnaird, 10th Lord Kinnaird stood as a Whig candidate in direct competition to Oliphant. This would have split the Whig vote and so Oliphant withdrew.

Other appointments Oliphant was also a Justice of the Peace for Perthshire and worked with the Perth Harbour Commission to improve facilities for access to Perth Harbour. He was also on the board of the Scottish Central Railway. Laurence was given the Freedom of the City of Perth in November, 1833 "for his independent behaviour at London".

Personal life Laurence 8th of Condie is most remembered for his part in the claim for the Gask inheritance. It was a legal battle which was to last for twenty years. In 1847 James Blair Oliphant, 10th and last laird of Gask (in the male line) died. In 1848 Laurence Oliphant of Condie obtained a decree of service in absence as heir male to the estate. However his claim was contested as insufficient evidence was provided. In February 1862 the decree of service was reversed and Laurence died very shortly afterwards in May of the same year. The case was continued on behalf of his only son and heir (Laurence James Oliphant, 9th of Condie) who was a minor. The 8th Condie was 55 years old when his son was born (by his third marriage); up until that point, Laurence Oliphant the author (8th Condie's nephew) was the heir male to the Condie estate (after his father, Sir Anthony Oliphant). In 1867 Laurence James Oliphant, 9th of Condie reached the age of 21 and immediately withdrew from the contest.