{{Short description|Canadian politician (1830–78)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Francis James Roscoe | honorific_suffix = | image = Francis James Roscoe.jpg | image_size = | constituency_MP = Victoria | parliament = Canadian | alongside = Amor De Cosmos | predecessor = Henry Nathan, Jr.<br />Amor De Cosmos | successor = John A. Macdonald<br />Amor De Cosmos | term_start = 1874 | term_end = 1878 | birth_date = December 28, 1830 | birth_place = Liverpool, England | death_date = December 20, 1878 (aged 47) | death_place = Victoria, British Columbia | spouse = Anna Letitia Le Breton | party = Independent Liberal | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = }} '''Francis James Roscoe''' (December 28, 1830 – December 20, 1878) was a Canadian entrepreneur and Member of Parliament.<ref name="parl">{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=5186|nolist=yes}}</ref>
Francis Roscoe was born in Liverpool, England,<ref name="parl"/> the son of W.S. Roscoe. He was educated at University College and the University of London and came to the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1862,<ref name="johnson">{{cite book |title=The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967 |last=Johnson |first=J.K. |year=1968 |publisher=Public Archives of Canada}}</ref> settling in the Ross Bay area of Victoria. He was the younger brother of poet William Caldwell Roscoe and the grandson of English historian and writer William Roscoe.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KikAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA598 |title=A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland .. |year=1838 |page=598 |volume=4 |access-date=2009-09-21|last1=Burke |first1=John }}</ref> In 1864, he married Anna Letitia Le Breton, the daughter of Charles Rochemont Aikin. Roscoe was a partner in several hardware and ironware ventures. In 1870, he became the Commissioner of Savings Banks for the British Columbia colony.<ref name="johnson"/> Roscoe stood for election as an Independent Liberal candidate in the Canadian federal election in 1874 in the two-member Victoria riding. He placed second in a close three-way race and was elected along with Liberal incumbent Amor De Cosmos.<ref name="parl"/> thumb|left|Ross Bay Villa Roscoe did not stand for re-election in 1878<ref name="parl"/> and died later in the year in Victoria at the age of 47.<ref name="johnson"/> He was replaced in the seat by incoming Prime Minister John A. Macdonald who had lost his Ontario seat earlier as the BC portion of the election was delayed, and because he was deemed unelectable in eastern Canada due to ongoing politics surrounding his role in the Pacific Scandal.
Roscoe's Victoria home is today preserved by The Ross Bay Villa Society as a rare example of a pre-Confederation colonial house.<ref>[http://www.rossbayvilla.ca/content.asp?sectionid=30&pageid=294 Roscoe's Victoria home ]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roscoe, Francis}} Category:1830 births Category:1878 deaths Category:Independent Liberal MPs in Canada Category:Colony of Vancouver Island people Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Category:English emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia Category:Politicians from Liverpool Category:19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada