1468 Ernest Soares

Constituency : Barnstaple  1900-11

Ernest  unseated  the  Liberal  Unionist  William  Gull  at  Barnstaple.

Ernest  was  the  son  of  a  Liverpool  merchant  who  originally  came  from  Goa. The  family  converted  from  Hinduism  to  Christianity. He  was  educated  at  Cambridge  and  became  a  solicitor. He  was  a  Charity  Commissioner.

Ernest  supported  the  Land  Tenure Bill  in  1901.

Ernest was  another  anti-automobile  MP  who  referred  to  motorists  as  "statutory  trespassers  on  the  road."

In  1908  Ernest  drew  attention  to  the  lack  of  coastguards  on  the North  Devon  coast.

Ernest  was  appointed  a  whip  in  1910  but  the  following  year  he  resigned  both  the  post  and  his  seat  for  health  reasons.

Ernest  was  knighted  in  1911. He  became  Assistant  Comptroller  for  the Reduction  of  the  National  Debt. He  also  assisted  the  Home  Secretary  on  a  voluntary  basis.

He  died  in  1926  aged  61.