Constituency : Nottingham 1870-74
Auberon chalked up another Liberal gain when he took Nottingham after the Tory MP resigned through ill health. He restored some philosophical firepower to the Liberal benches after the defeat of Mill but like him wasn't in Parliament for long.
Auberon was a brother of the Earl of Carnarvon. He was educated at Eton and Oxford then joined the 7th Queen's Own Hussars for three years serving in India. In 1862 he returned to Oxford and became a lecturer in history and jurisprudence. In 1864 he visited the Dano- Prussian War as an observer but actually took part in rescuing wounded Danish soldiers. He subsequently witnessed the Seige of Richmond in the American Civil War. At this point Auberon was a Conservative and stood for them at the Isle of Wight in 1865. He became private secretary to Stafford Northcote at the Board of Trade from 1866-8. He then stood for Berkshire as a Liberal in 1868. He presided over the fourth day of the first Co-Operative Congress in 1869. In 1870 he observed events in Paris.
Auberon supported the idea of secular education, allowing the "freest play" in religious discussion. He also backed Dilke's inquiry into the civil list and went further in declaring himself a republican. He was a vegetarian and helped get the Protection of Wild Birds Act passed in 1872. He backed Joseph Arch and spoke at the mass meeting when the Agricultural Labourer's Union was formed. In Parliament Auberon tended to follow the lead of Henry Fawcett.
Although Auberon , increasingly at odds with his parliamentary colleagues over franchise extension, open competition and progressive taxation, retired at the next election, he took an active part in the Eastern Question agitation organising a large demonstration in Hyde Park against the prospect of war with Russia. He was also an enthusiastic backer of Charles Bradlaugh. He divided his time between farming and writing.
Auberon's views were influenced by Herbert Spencer ; he backed voluntaryism to the point of voluntary taxation. In 1884 A Politician In Trouble About His Soul discussed his objections to the party system. He wrote that "When you strive for power , you may form a temporary , fleeting alliance with the great principles, if they happen to serve your purpose of the moment, but the hour soon comes ... when they will not only cease to be serviceable to you but are likely to prove highly inconvenient and embarrassing ".In 1890 he founded the magazine Free Life to propound his ideas on voluntaryism . He believed government should be "strictly limited to its legitimate duties in defence of self-ownership and individual rights ". Under his plans the franchise would be limited to those who paid the voluntary tax.
On his death Benjamin Tucker wrote "He was a true anarchist in everything but name. How much better ( and how much rarer ) to be an anarchist in everything but name than to be an anarchist in name only". Auberon himself rejected the term. Hobson, in an essay in Humanitarian in 1898 entitled A Rich Man's Anarchism , critiqued his "first come first served" approach to private property.
He died in 1906 aged 68.
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