Constituency : Carmarthen Boroughs 1876-8, 1886-92
Emile reclaimed Carmarthen Boroughs , which had been held by his father prior to 1874, when the Conservative victor retired. The Tories did not contest the by-election.
Emile was a baronet's son educated at Eton. His father held substantial land in Carmarthenshire. Emile became a clerk at the Foreign Office. He accompanied LOrd Clarendon
Almost as soon as he was elected Emile abandoned his wife and newborn daughter for a life of travel and adventure abroad. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1877, his elder brother having died. He resigned his seat in 1878 but stood again in 1886 and was elected. He never spoke in the Commons; in fact he hardly set foot in the place.
Emile had a mixed reputation locally. He was known to be an unrelenting rent collector but also a generous benefactor to schools, libraries and the local Mechanics Institute.
Emile acquired estates in Australia and Canada. He eventually became a US citizen and transferred the management of his Welsh estates to his daughter who married the East Cumberland MP Edward Howard. He got a divorce in Idaho in 1901. Because this had no force in English law, his wife got a judicial separation in 1903.
In 1909 Emile travelled to Yuma, Arizona in search of a rare butterfly. He was discovered dead at the station. He was 75.
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