Sir Cuthbert Quilter, 1st Baronet

"in Society and a Member of Parliament"
Quilter as caricatured by Liborio Prosperi in Vanity Fair, February 1889

Sir William Cuthbert Quilter, 1st Baronet (29 January 1841 – 18 November 1911) was an English stock broker, art collector and Liberal/Liberal Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1906.

Sir Cuthbert in 1906 or earlier

Life

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Quilter was born at Finsbury, the son of William Quilter (1808–1888) and his wife Elizabeth Harriet Cuthbert. His father was a prominent accountant with the firm of Quilter, Ball & Co and was instrumental in the foundation of the Institute of Accountants.[1]

Quilter was educated privately. He became a stockbroker and would eventually head the firm of Quilter Balfour & Co.[2] He was an art collector,[3] and one of the founders of the National Telephone Company.[4] He was commodore of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club and a member of the council of the Yacht Racing Association.[2]

In the 1885 general election, Quilter was elected Member of Parliament for Sudbury as a Liberal, and was returned in 1886 as a Liberal Unionist.[3] In 1886, he introduced a bill 'for better securing the Purity of Beer'.[5] He held the seat until 1906.

Quilter built Bawdsey Manor in 1886[6] and established a steam powered chain ferry (Bawdsey Ferry) in 1894 to cross the River Deben and provide access to Felixstowe railway station which ran until 1931.[7] He enlarged the manor house in 1895.[6] He also owned Hintlesham Hall. Quilter was created a baronet on 13 September 1897.[8]

Quilter married Mary Ann Bevington in 1867. Their eldest son Cuthbert succeeded to the baronetcy and was also MP for Sudbury.[9] His second son, Lt. Col. John Arnold Cuthbert Quilter served in the Royal Naval Division in World War 1, and was killed at Gallipoli on 6 May 1915. Quilter's battalion had included the poet Rupert Brooke, who had died of illness on 23 April. Another son Roger Quilter was a composer.[4] Quilter's younger brother Harry was an eminent art critic.[10] Quilter died at the age of 70.

References

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  1. ^ Institute of Chartered Accountants
  2. ^ a b Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
  3. ^ a b Morse Jones, Kimberly (2004). "Quilter, Sir William Cuthbert, first baronet (1841–1911)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35643. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ a b "QUILTER: Songs (English Song, Vol. 5)". Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  5. ^ Burnett, John (1999). Liquid Pleasures: A Social History of Drinks in Modern Britain. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415131810.
  6. ^ a b "RAF Bawdsey Chain Home Radar Station". Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  7. ^ "Felixstowe Ferry-Bawdsey". Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  8. ^ "No. 26893". The London Gazette. 21 September 1897. p. 5213.
  9. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  10. ^ Roberts, William; Morse Jones, Kimberly (2004). "Quilter, Harry (1851–1907)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35641. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Sudbury
1885–1906 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Bawdsey Manor)
1897–1911 		Succeeded by


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