Thomas Roe, 1st Baron Roe

Thomas Roe, 1st Baron Roe (13 July 1832 – 7 June 1923), known as Sir Thomas Roe between 1894 and 1917, was a British businessman and Liberal politician, particularly associated with the town of Derby.

Thomas Roe

Background and early life

Of a modest background, Roe was the son of Thomas Roe, a timber merchant and Mayor of Derby, and his wife Deborah, daughter of Absalom Oakley.[1] He began to work in the office of his father's company, Messr Roe & Sons, timber merchants, at the age of fourteen and became a partner at the age of twenty-two.[2]

"The Late Lord Roe" by Ernest Townsend

Political career

At the age of 26 he became a member of the Derby Town Council and served as Mayor of Derby from 1864 to 1865. He was particularly interested in education, and was one of the original members of the Derby School Board in 1870 and later served as Chairman of the Education Committee of the town council.[2] He entered Parliament for Derby in an 1883 by-election, a seat he held until he was defeated at the 1895 general election.[1][3] Roe was again Mayor of Derby from 1896 to 1897 and returned to the House of Commons at the 1900 general election, when he was once again elected for Derby.[1][3] Mayor of Derby for a third time from 1910 to 1911[1][2] he retired from the House of Commons in 1916.[1][3] He was knighted in 1894[4] and in 1917 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Roe, of the Borough of Derby.[5]

Personal life

Lord Roe married, at the age of 71, Emily, daughter of Matthew Kirtley, in 1903. The marriage was childless and she died in July 1909. Roe survived her by fourteen years and died in June 1923, aged 90, when the barony became extinct.[1]

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Michael Thomas Bass
Sir William Harcourt
Member of Parliament for Derby
1883–1895
With: Sir William Harcourt
Succeeded by
Sir Henry Bemrose
Geoffrey Drage
Preceded by
Sir Henry Howe Bemrose
Geoffrey Drage
Member of Parliament for Derby
1900–1916
With: Richard Bell 1900–1910
J. H. Thomas 1910–1916
Succeeded by
J. H. Thomas
William Collins
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Roe
1917–1923
Title extinct

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