Robert John Dickson Burnie

Robert John Dickson Burnie (8 April 1842 – 6 March 1908) was a Liberal politician who served as MP for the Swansea Town constituency from 1892 to 1895. He was regarded as being on the radical wing of the party and was popular with working-class electors. Defeated by Sir John Llewelyn in 1895 he was rejected as a candidate for the constituency in 1900 due to his opposition to the South African War.

Early life Burnie was born in 1842 at Dawlish in South Devon where his father, John Dickson Burnie, was a builder and contractor. The family came originally from Dumfriesshire. As a young man, Burnie worked in the railway trade and came to Swansea in 1870 when Shacklefgord, Ford & Co., the works at Cheltenham, where he was general manager, were re-located.

Political career By the 1890s, Burnie was building a political reputation beyond his adopted town. In 1890 he was nominated to be Liberal candidate for the vacancy in East Carmarthenshire following the death of David Pugh but he withdrew before the selection conference. He became treasurer of the Welsh Farmer's Defence Fund, which was formed in light of tithe agitation, and in early 1892 he made a tour through the counties of South Wales where protests had taken place.

Having been defeated in 1895, Burnie was again adopted as candidate in 1900. However, he withdrew over his opposition to the South African War.