Robert Burrows (politician)

Sir Robert Abraham Burrows KBE JP (17 March 1884 – 14 August 1964), was a British industrialist who served as High Sheriff of Cheshire (for 1940/41).[1]

Family background

Green Hall, Atherton, where Sir Robert Burrows was born

Scion of an ancient East Anglian family (variously spelled Burgh, Burroughes, Burrowes), his grandfather Alderman Abraham Burrows JP (1827–1901)[2] moved from Great Yarmouth to south Lancashire where he prospered in coal mining and logistics, later becoming seated at the Green Hall, Atherton.[3] His second son, Miles Formby Burrows JP (1856–1943)[4] married Gertrude née Dawbarn in 1882, having three sons, Robert, Walter (a Major) and Miles (a Captain in the Army).

Educated at the Leys School, Cambridge, Robert Burrows joined the family firm of Fletcher, Burrows and Company in 1904. In 1911, he married Eleanor Doris Bainbridge (1891–1975), great-granddaughter of Bainbridge's founder Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge.

Sir Robert and Lady Burrows had two sons and two daughters.[5] Their younger son, (Robert) David Burrows JP (1929–1993) married Susan Arnot Heath (who married secondly Colonel Greville Wyndham Tufnell CVO DL),[6] having two daughters:

Life and career

A director of Fletcher, Burrows and Company which merged in 1929 with Manchester Collieries Ltd, he was appointed Chairman of Lancashire Associated Collieries. Founding President of the Lancashire and Cheshire Coal Research Association (1918–28), Burrows also served as a member of the Fuel Research Board (1923–27).[11]

Chairman of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (1946-47), Sir Robert presented a flower bouquet in the shape of a large heart as a "personal tribute" wishing farewell to Princess Elizabeth and her fiancé Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in the presence of King George VI, his wife Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, before the Royal Train departed Crewe for Scotland in July 1947.[12]

KBE breast star

Burrows was seated at Bonis Hall, near Prestbury, Cheshire, where in the 1930s house guests included HRH the Duke of York (the future George VI), who became a friend through their mutual involvement with the National Association of Boys' Clubs.[13][14] In 1945 Sir Robert became Chairman of Remploy Ltd.[15]

Knighted in the 1937 New Year Honours, Burrows served as a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire,[16] and as High Sheriff of Cheshire for 1940/41.[17]

Appointed CStJ in 1948,[18] Sir Robert was advanced KBE in the 1952 New Year Honours "for services to the disabled".

Politics

Following his family's Liberal tradition, Burrows stood as the Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate for the Leigh Division of Lancashire at the 1923 General Election. Hoping to regain a seat lost to Labour in 1922 when the predecessor Liberal candidate finished third, Burrows increased the Liberal Party's vote with a 10% swing but finished second by 4,000 votes. He did not seek election to Parliament again.[19]

Electoral record

General Election 1923: Leigh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Joseph Tinker 13,989 43.0 −2.0
Liberal Robert Abraham Burrows 9,854 30.3 +9.2
Unionist Captain Herbert Metcalfe 8,664 26.7 −7.2
Majority 4,135 12.7 +1.6
Turnout 86.5 −3.4
Labour hold Swing -5.6

Honours and arms

Among other distinctions and appointments, Sir Robert Burrows received the following honours:

Coat of arms of Sir Robert Burrows
Adopted
Grant (Heralds' College, London), 1906
Crest
In front of a Cross patée Gules an Eagle's Head erased Proper
Helm
That of a Knight
Escutcheon
Gules a Fesse Vaire in chief two Lions rampant Or and in base a Stag's Head cabossed Argent attired Or
Motto
Semper fidelis (Latin)
Orders
Surrounding the Shield the circlet of the Order of the British Empire (post-1952); (pre-1952) the circlet of the Order of Saint John:
Other versions
As heraldic heiresses, his son, David Burrows' two daughters may marshal his arms in an escutcheon of pretence on their respective husband's family arms, viz. Mapelli Mozzi (whilst married) and Wiggin, whose children and descendants quarter the patrilineal arms with those of Burrows.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ www.cheshirearchives.org.uk
  2. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry (of Great Britain) 1952, 17th edn, ed. L. G. Pine, BURROWS formerly of Bonis Hall, p. 319
  3. ^ www.wigan.gov.uk
  4. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles. "Armorial families : a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour (Volume 1)". Edinburgh : T.C. & E.C. Jack. p. 73. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Burrows, Sir Robert (Abraham), (17 March 1884–14 Aug. 1964), JP; Director: District Bank, Ltd (formerly Deputy Chairman); National Boiler and General Insurance Co. Ltd (Chairman); Alliance Assurance Co. Ltd; Yorkshire Bank (formerly Chairman)". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  6. ^ "Burke's Peerage & Baronetage". Burke's Peerage. Retrieved 18 July 2020. ...p. 2693 - BURROWS, Sir Robert Abraham, K.B.E. (1952) ... Robert David, b. 12 May 1929...
  7. ^ Ball, Elliot (21 September 2021). "Who is Princess Beatrice's husband? The story behind Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi". The Herald (Plymouth). Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  8. ^ www.markwiggin.co.uk
  9. ^ www.downtonhall.co.uk
  10. ^ www.kingscollections.org
  11. ^ www.nnl.co.uk
  12. ^ "Queen Elizabeth had to receive attention from Eye Specialist". The Canberra Times. 16 July 1947. p. Front page. Retrieved 19 July 2018. The heart was a personal tribute from Sir Robert Burrows, chairman of the London Midland-Scottish Railway Company... Their Majesties each had a special coach on the train...
  13. ^ Salter, David (2012). Breaking Ranks: The True Story Behind the HMAS Voyager Scandal. Random House Australia. ISBN 9781742748177. Retrieved 21 July 2020. Through the latter he had direct contact and friendship with the Duke of York, soon to become King George VI, and the Duke had stayed with the Burrows at Bonis Hall as a guest on two weekends.
  14. ^ Davies, Alan (2014). Locomotives of the Lancashire Central Coalfield: The Walkden Yard Connection. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445635040. Retrieved 20 July 2020. (page viii)...the Duke of York occasionally staying with him [Burrows] at his Bonis Hall home in Prestbury, Cheshire
  15. ^ www.gov.uk
  16. ^ 'BURROWS, Sir Robert (Abraham)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 7 Feb 2016
  17. ^ "No. 34807". The London Gazette. 8 March 1940. p. 1381.
  18. ^ www.thegazette.co.uk
  19. ^ British parliamentary election results 1918-1973, Craig, F.W.S.
  20. ^ www.college-of-arms.gov.uk
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.