John Arthur Roebuck

John Arthur Roebuck was born at Madras in 1801, was fifth son of Ebenezer Roebuck, a civil servant in India, and a grandson of the inventor John Roebuck. He was taken to England in 1807 following the death of his father. His mother remarried, to John Simpson, and the family emigrated to Lower Canada, where he was educated. His step-father was active in politics, being a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada and later of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. Roebuck returned to England in 1824, and was entered at the Inner Temple, and called to the bar in 1831. In 1834, he married Henrietta Falconer, a daughter of Thomas Falconer. In 1835 he became the agent in England for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada during the dispute between the executive government and the Legislative Assembly. In 1838, although at the time without a seat in Parliament, he appeared at the bar of the Commons to protest, in the name of the Lower Canada Assembly, against the suspension of the constitution of Lower Canada. In 1843 he was appointed Queen's Counsel, and was elected a bencher of his inn. Roebuck later dropped the motion under pressure from the Government. Roebuck also defended Austrian rule in Italy. In his latter years his political opinions became greatly modified. A speech at Salisbury in 1862, in which he alleged that working men were spendthrifts and wife-beaters, made him unpopular for a time. He strongly denounced the trade unionist Sheffield Outrages of 1867. These uncompromising attitudes led to Roebuck's rejection by Sheffield voters at the election of 1868. He regained the seat in 1874. In 1878 he was made a privy councillor by the Tory government. He died at Westminster, in 1879. He was survived by his wife and a daughter. == Works ==