Robert Farquharson (politician)

Robert Farquharson (21 June 1836 – 8 June 1918)[1] was a Scottish doctor and Liberal politician.

"West Aberdeenshire"
Farquharson as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, May 1895

Biography
Dr. Robert Farquharson of Finzean (1875-1899), John Singer Sargent, 1881

Farquharson was the son of Francis Farquharson of Finzean. He received his medical education at the University of Edinburgh where he graduated with and MD in 1858, presenting the thesis "On the parasite diseases of the scalp".[2] He became and assistant surgeon in the Coldstream Guards. He was also physician to St Mary's Hospital, London, lecturer on Materia Medica, and physician to Belgrave Hospital for Children. He became Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London in 1877. He was a Justice of the peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for Aberdeenshire.[3]

He was strongly opposed to granting the right to vote to women.[4]

At the 1880 general election he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Aberdeenshire.[5] In 1884, he was a guest at Haddo House for a dinner hosted by John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair in honour of William Ewart Gladstone on his tour of Scotland.[6] He held the West Aberdeenshire seat until 1906,[7] although his majority in 1886 was down to 80.[7] In 1905 he decided to stand down at the following election.

Farquharson and his younger brother Joseph Farquharson looked after the estate at Finzean. Aboyne. Aberdeenshire. His brother was an artist and through this connection, he had his portrait painted by the American artist John Singer Sargent.[8]

Farquharson was the author of numerous books including his autobiographical My First Election, from In and Out of Parliament.

References
  1. "Robert Farquharson | RCP Museum". history.rcplondon.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  2. Farquharson, Robert (1858). "On the parasite diseases of the scalp". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
  4. Gareth Russell, The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2020), p. 117
  5. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 569. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  6. Emslie, Alfred Edward. "Dinner at Haddo House, 1884". National Portrait Gallery, London.
  7. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 526. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  8. John Singer Sargent's Dr. Robert Farquharson of Finzean
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Lord Douglas Gordon		 Member of Parliament for West Aberdeenshire
1880 – 1906		 Succeeded by
John McDonald Henderson


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