Saturday, 5 March 2016

1141 Edmund Verney


Constituency : Buckingham  1885-6, 1889-91

Edmund  took  over  from  his  father  Harry  Verney  at  Buckingham.

Edmund  was  educated  at  Harrow  then  joined  the  Royal  Navy  at  thirteen  in  1851. Edmund  served  in  the  Crimean  War  and  during  the  Indian  Mutiny.  He  eventually  reached  the  rank  of  captain.  In  1877  he  was  injured  in  a  shooting  accident  on  his  estates  and  moved  to  the  coastguard  service  in  Liverpool.He  retired  in  1884. Edmund  had  unsuccessful  contests  at  Great  Marlow  in  1868, Anglesey  in  1874  and  Portsmouth  in  1880. He  served on the  Isle  of  Anglesy  County  Council  and  later  London  County  Council.

Edmund's  maiden  speech  was  on  the  Collings  amendment  in  1886. He  often  spoke  on  naval  matters.  He  supported  the  lowering  of  the  property  qualification  for  Poor  Law  Guardians  in  Ireland.  He  disliked  Home  Rule  but  stayed  loyal  to  Gladstone  after  concessions.

Edmund  was  defeated  in  1886  but  won  back  the  seat  in  a  by-election  three  years  later.

Edmund  sat  until  1891  when  he  was  expelled  for   his  conviction  for  procuring  a  girl  aged  19  for  immoral  purposes.  His  assignation  had  been  in  Paris  under  the  assumed  name  iof  "Wilson"  but  the  girl  later  recognised  him  in  the  street. He  received  a  one  year  prison  sentence. After  his  release  he  confined  himself  to  collecting  bibles

Edmund  wrote  a  number  of  books  including  The  Last  Four  Days  of  the  Eurydice.   He  built  a  branch  line  to  link  the  family  estates  to  the  Great  Northern  Railway.

Edmund  inherited  his  father's  baronetcy  in  1894

He  died  in  1910  aged  72.


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