929 Richard Causton

Constituency : Colchester  1880-85,  Southwark  West  1888-1910

Richard  was  one  of  two  Liberal  victors  in  Colchester.

Richard  was  the  son  of  a  London  stationer  and  alderman. He  became  a  partner  in  the  family  firm. He  first  contested  Colchester  in  1874.

Richard  was  defeated  in  1885  by  166  votes  and   in 1886.  He  returned  to  Parliament  in  a  by-election  at  Southwark  West  in  1888.

Richard  became  a  whip  in  Gladstone's  last  administration  and  remained  a  Liberal  whip  until  1905. That  year  Campbell-Bannerman  made  him  Paymaster- General.

Richard  gave  a  hand  press  to  the  explorer  Ernest  Shackleton  to  help  him  produce  the  first  book  to  be  printed  in  Antarctica , Aurora  Australis .

Richard  lost  his  seat  in  the  January  1910  election  and  was  made  Baron  Southwark. In  1913  he  was  President  of  the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce.

In  later  years  Richard  was  chairman  of  the  Royal  School  for  the  Blind  at  Leatherhead.

He  died  in  1929  aged  85.