Robert Milligan

Robert Milligan (10 October 1786 – 1 July 1862) was a Liberal Party politician and the first mayor of Bradford.

He was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford in West Yorkshire at a by-election in October 1851, and held the seat until the 1857 general election.

Biography

Robert Milligan was born at Dunnance, Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland on 10 October 1786 to John Milligan (1740–1819). John Milligan was a tenant farmer who married his second wife Elizabeth Charters(1739–1831) in 1783. The couple had five children of which Robert was the second child.

Robert Milligan moved to Cross Hills in Craven in about 1802 as a "Travelling Scotchman" working as a door to door salesman. He married Phoebe Briggs (1796–1868) at Guiseley in 1818. They had no children but adopted Susan (1813–1886), the daughter of Robert's brother, John jnr. By 1810 he had opened a drapers shop in Westgate, Bradford He was later Liberal MP for the borough in three successive Parliaments from 1851–1857. and held strong views on parliamentary reform.

Death

Milligan died at his Acacia estate in Rawdon on 1 July 1862. He is buried under an impressive pillar in Undercliffe Cemetery, whose very existence is at least partly due to Milligan as a member of The Bradford Cemetery Company. The flattering inscription reads: