751 Henry Villiers-Stuart

Constituency  : County  Waterford  1873-4, 1880-85

Henry  also  managed  to  retain  an  Irish  seat  for  the  Liberals , succeeding  Edmonde  la  Poer  who  resigned  the  seat. He  was  unopposed..

Henry  was  the  son  of  Baron  Stuart  de  Decies (  a  former  MP  for  the  seat )  and  a  descendant  of  the  former  Prime  Minister  the  Earl  of  Bute.  His  mother was  an  Austrian  aristocrat  and  he  served  in  the  Austrian  army  from  1844  to  1846  before  transferring  to  the  British  Army. He  then  became  a  vicar  serving  two  parishes  between 1852  and  1871  before  deciding  he  wanted  a  political  career  instead. He  was  an  Irish  landlord  who  took  government  loans  to  provide  employment.

Henry  did  not  contest  the seat  in  1874  believing  he  would  succeed  his  father  who  died  a  fortnight  before  the  poll. However  his  claim  to  the  barony  was  denied  by  a  court  who  found  that  his  mother  had  not  been  free  to  marry  his  father  although  the  marriage  was  valid  under  Scottish  law.

Henry  was  elected  again  in  1880. In  1882  he  went  to  Egypt  on  a  diplomatic  mission  to  report  on  the  state  of  the  country  after  the  occupation.  This  also  led  to  him  publishing  some  books  on  Egypt. He  also  introduced  the  Labourer's  Cottages  and  Allotments  ( Ireland )  Bill  which  passed  in  1882.

In  1891 he  travelled  in  South  America.

He  died  in  1895  after  falling  off  a  boat  near  his  home  in  Waterford. He  was  68.