- 2nd Baronet Adair
- 1st & Last Baron Waveney
- 1847-1852 /1854-57: Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Cambridge
- Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim
- Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty Queen Victoria of England
Biography
Sir Robert Alexander Shafto Adair, Baron Waveney was born 25 August 1811 in Suffolk, England, United Kingdom to Robert Shafto Adair (1786-1869) and Elizabeth Maria Strode (1792-1853) and died 5 February 1886 England, United Kingdom of unspecified causes. He married Theodosia Meade (1811-1871) 7 June 1836 in Saint Mary Marylebone, Marylebone, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom.
He married Theodosia Meade (1811-1871), daughter of General Hon. Robert Meade and Anne Louise Dalling, on 11 June 1836.1 He died on 5 February 1886 at age 74.1 He was a British Liberal Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridge for 8 of the years from 1847 to 1857.
He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Cambridge between 1847 and 1852.2 He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Cambridge between 1854 and 1857.2 He succeeded as the 2nd Baronet Adair [U.K., 1838] on 24 February 1869.2 He held the office of Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty Queen Victoria of England.2 He was created 1st Baron Waveney, of South Elmham, co. Suffolk [U.K.] on 10 April 1873.2 He held the office of Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim.
Life
Born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland,[1] he was the older of the two sons of Sir Robert Shafto Adair, 1st Baronet, and his first wife Elizabeth Maria Strode.[2] He married Theodosia Meade in 1836; they had no children.[3]
Adair first stood for election to Parliament in April 1843, when he was the runner-up at a by-election for the Eastern division of Suffolk. He was unsuccessful again at a by-election for the borough of Cambridge in July 1845,[4] but at the 1847 general election he was elected as one of Cambridge's two MPs.[4] He was defeated at the 1852 general election, but that result was overturned on petition and he was returned to the House of Commons at the resulting by-election in August 1854. He was unseated again in 1857 general election, and, at the 1859 general election, again unsuccessfully contested East Suffolk.[4] He stood again one more time, in Canterbury at the 1865 general election, but did not win a seat.[5] He was appointed High Sheriff of Antrim in 1853.[6]
A Fellow of the Royal Society, he succeeded to the baronetcy in 1869, on the death of his father. He was ennobled on 10 April 1873, as Baron Waveney, of South Elmham in the County of Suffolk.[7] He was Provincial Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England Masonic province of Suffolk at the time of his death.[8] He served as Lord Lieutenant of Antrim from 1884 until his death in 1886,[7][9] aged 74, when the peerage became extinct and he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother Hugh (1815–1902), who had been MP for Ipswich from 1847 to 1874.
Ballymena
The Adair family owned extensive estates in Ballymena, and have been described as the "founding fathers" of the town.[10] The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles 1 in 1626, on the provision that the town holds two annual fairs and a free Saturday market in perpetuity.[11]
In 1865 Adair began the construction in the demesne of Ballymena Castle, a substantial family residence in the Scottish baronial style.[12] The castle was not completed until 1887,[13] and was demolished in 1957 after having lain empty for some years and being vandalised; the site is now a car park, where said Saturday market is held. In 1870, Adair donated The People's Park to Ballymena, engaging fifty labourers to work for six months landscaping it.[14]
Adair Baronets
Adair Baronetcy, of Flixton Hall in the County of Suffolk, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom given to a distinguished branch of the Adair Family.[15] It was created on 2 August 1838 for Robert Shafto Adair (1786-1869).
He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baronet, Robert who sat as Member of Parliament for Cambridge. In 1873 he was created Baron Waveney, of South Elmham in the County of Suffolk, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom for services rendered as Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim and Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty Queen Victoria of England.[16] The barony became extinct on his death in 1886 while he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother, Hugh Adair, the third Baronet. The latter had earlier represented Ipswich in Parliament. Two of his sons, the fourth and fifth Baronets, both succeeded in the title. The fifth Baronet's son, the sixth Baronet, was a Major-General in the British Army during World War II. The title became extinct on the latter's death in 1988.
- See Also Adair Family Ancestry.
- See Also Ballymena Castle - primary family estate in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Robert Alexander Shafto Adair (1811-1886) | 25 August 1811 Suffolk, England, United Kingdom | 5 February 1886 England, United Kingdom | Theodosia Meade (1811-1871) |
| Hugh Edward Adair (1815-1902) | 26 December 1815 Suffolk, England, United Kingdom | 2 March 1902 Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, United Kingdom | Harriet Camilla Adair (1838-1909) |
Residences
References
- ^ "Adair, Robert Alexander Shafto". Dictionary of Ulster Biography. http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/dictionary/biogsA.htm.
- ^ Lundy, Darryl. "Sir Robert Shafto Adair, 1st Bt.". ThePeerage.com. http://www.thepeerage.com/p3555.htm#i35541.
- ^ Lundy, Darryl. "Robert Alexander Shafto Adair, 1st and last Baron Waveney". ThePeerage.com. http://www.thepeerage.com/p3554.htm#i35540.
- ^ a b c Craig, op. cit., pages 76–77
- ^ Craig, op. cit., page 79
- ^ "Fellows of the Royal Society who are or were Freemasons, listed alphabetically". http://www.freemasonry.london.museum/os/wp-content/resources/frs_freemasons_complete_jan2012.pdf.
- ^ a b "Peerages: W, part 1". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. http://www.leighrayment.com/peers/peersW1.htm.
- ^ (1886) "Freemasonry in Suffolk". The Freemason's Chronicle XXIII (57, Saturday 10 April 1886): 225–226.
- ^ "Fellows of the Royal Society who are or were Freemasons, listed alphabetically". http://www.freemasonry.london.museum/os/wp-content/resources/frs_freemasons_complete_jan2012.pdf.
- ^ "History". Ballymena Borough Council website. http://www.ballymena.gov.uk/history.asp.
- ^ "Brief History of Ballymena". Ballee Baptist Church website. http://www.balleebaptist.org/historybmena.htm.
- ^ "Ballymena Historic Timeline". Ballymena Borough Council website. http://www.ballymena.gov.uk/timeline.asp.
- ^ "History of the People's Park". Ballymena Borough Council website. http://www.ballymena.gov.uk/seventowers/peoplesparkhistory.asp.
- ^ London Gazette #19631 - 03-Jul-1838, pg 1488
- ^ London Gazette #23964 - 04-Apr-1873, Pg 1822
- (1) Townend, Peter. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 105th edition. London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1970.
- (2) Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Robert Adair
- Portraits of Robert Alexander Shafto Adair, Baron Waveney at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Adair family archives, at the National Archives
See Also
- Robert Adair
- Adair Family
- Adair Family Ancestry
- Adair in Cambridgeshire
- Adair in County Antrim
- wikipedia:en:Robert Adair, 1st Baron Waveney
- Sir Hugh Edward Adair, 3rd Bt at thePeerage
- Sir Robert Adair, Baron Waveney - Geni.com
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hon. John Manners-Sutton Fitzroy Kelly |
Member of Parliament for Cambridge 1847 – 1852 With: Hon. William Campbell |
Succeeded by Kenneth Macaulay John Harvey Astell |
| Preceded by Kenneth Macaulay John Harvey Astell |
Member of Parliament for Cambridge 1854 – 1857 With: Francis Mowatt |
Succeeded by Kenneth Macaulay Andrew Steuart |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Robert Shafto Adair (1786-1869) |
Baronet Adair (of Flixton Hall, Suffolk) 1869–1886 |
Succeeded by Hugh Edward Adair (1815-1902) |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Waveney 1873–1886 |
Extinct |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by The Marquess of Donegall |
Lord Lieutenant of Antrim 1884–1886 |
Succeeded by Sir Edward Porter Cowan |