Edmund Lechmere

Sir Edmund Lechmere 3rd Baronet
"St John of Jerusalem". Caricature by T published in Vanity Fair in 1883.
Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Tewkesbury
In office 1866–1868
Preceded by	John Reginald Yorke and William Edward Dowdeswell
Succeeded by	William Edwin Price
Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for West Worcestershire
In office 1876–1885
Preceded by	Fredrick Knight and William Edward Dowdeswell
Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Bewdley
In office 1885–1892
Preceded by	Enoch Baldwin
Succeeded by	Alfred Baldwin
Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Evesham
In office 1892–1895
Preceded by	Sir Richard Temple, Bt
Succeeded by	Charles Wigram Long

The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital first annual report 1883

Sir Edmund Anthony Harley Lechmere, 3rd Baronet (8 December 1826 – 18 December 1894) was a British Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1866 and 1895. He was a pioneer of the Red Cross.^[1]

Lechmere was the son of Sir Edmund Hungerford Lechmere, 2nd Baronet of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire and his wife Maria Clara Murray, daughter of Hon. Murray. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1852 he inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father. He was a senior partner in the Worcester Old Bank. In 1862 he was High Sheriff of Worcestershire.^[2]

In March 1866 Lechmere was elected at a by-election as one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for Tewkesbury,^[3] but when the borough's representation was reduced to one seat at the 1868 general election, he was defeated by the Liberal Party candidate William Edwin Price.^[3] He contested Tewkesbury again in 1874, without success,^[3] but in July 1876 he was elected at a by-election as MP for Western Worcestershire.^[4] After the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, he was elected at the 1885 general election as MP for Bewdley.^[5] He held the seat until the 1892 general election,^[6] when he was elected as MP for Evesham.^[7] He held that seat until his death.^[8]

Lechmere gave an annual prize for history at the Oxford Military College in Cowley and Oxford Oxfordshire from 1876-1896.

Lechmere and his wife were among the founders of Venerable Order of St John. They had travelled several times to Jerusalem and were involved in the establishment of The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital.^[9]

Lechmere married Louisa Katherine Haigh (1837-), only daughter and heiress of John or Joseph Haigh of Whitwell Hall at York, on 30 September 1858.^[2] Her father, the son of a wealthy textile merchant with origins in Golcar, was born at Spring Grove, Huddersfield in 1805. (See here for Haigh's will.)

References

1. National Portrait Gallery
2. Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
3. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 303–304. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
4. Craig, Election results 1832–1885, page 487
5. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 419. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
7. Craig, Election results 1885–1918, page 422
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
9. VADS The National Inventory of Continental European Paintings

• the Peerage.com

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Edmund Lechmere