729 Sir John Lubbock

Constituency : Maidstone  1870-80; London University  1880-1900  ( from  1886 Liberal  Unionist )

Sir  John  took  over  at  Maidstone  after  Charles  Buxton  stepped  down.

Sir  John  was  a  banker's  son  from  Kent  and   in  his  childhood   a  neighbour  of  Charles  Darwin  who  stimulated  his  passion  for  science. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  then  went  into  his  father's  bank.   He  created  the  clearing  system  for  cheques. In  1860  he  took  part  in  the  famous  evolution   debate  at  Oxford. In  1864  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  X  Club  an  elite  dining  club  for  Darwin  supporters. In  1865  he published  Pre-Historic Times  which  was  the  standard   archaeology  textbook  for  the  next  fifty  years.  He  invented  the  terms  "Palaeolithic"  and  "Neolithic". When  Darwin  died  in  1882  it  was  Sir  John's  suggestion  that  he  be  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey  and  he  was  one  of  the  pallbearers. He  stood  unsuccessfully  in  West  Kent  in  1865  and  1868.

As  an  MP  Sir  John  put  his  weight  behind  four  main  causes :  scientific  education, free  trade, protection  of  ancient  monuments  and  shorter  hours. He  scored  triumphs  with  the  Bank  Holidays  Act  of  1871  and Ancient  Monuments  Act  of  1882.

In  1879  Sir  John  became  the  first  president  of  the  Institute  of  Banking. He  formed  a  company  to  introduce  Edison's  system  of  electric  lighting  to  Britain.

Sir  John  was  defeated  at  Maidstone  in  1880  but  switched  to  London  University  when  Robert  Lowe  received  a  viscountcy.

In  1884  Sir  John  founded  the Proportional  Representation  Society  which  later  became  the  Electoral  Reform  Society. He  tried  to  incorporate  the  Single  Transferable  Vote  in  the  Third  Reform  Act.

In  1886  Sir  John  went  with  the  Liberal  Unionists.  That  same  year  he  supported   the  Tithe Rent-Charge  Redemption  Bill. He  also  introduced  a  bill  to  regulate  the  hours  of  youngsters  apprenticed  to  shopkeepers.

Sir  John  was  a  philanthropist  and  founded  the  Bank Clerks  Orphanage  in  1883.

As  part  of  his  scientific  interests  Sir  John  kept  a  pet  wasp  and  tried  to  teach  his  dog  how  to  read.

From  1890  to  1892  he  was  chairman  of  the  London  County  Council.

In  1900  Sir  John  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Avebury  after  the  Iron  Age  fort  he  had  bought  to  preserve, He  also  became  President  of  the  Royal  Statistical  Society  that  year.

In  1905  Sir  John  helped  found  the  Anglo-German  Friendship  Committee.

Sir  John  died  in  1913  aged  79. He was  the  grandfather  of  the  Orpington  by-election  winner  Eric  Lubbock.