Thomas Milvain
Honorific suffixKC CB
OfficeJudge Advocate General
Term start31 October 1905
Term end7 October 1916
PredecessorSir Francis Jeune
SuccessorSir Felix Cassel
Constituency mp 2Durham
Parliament 2United Kingdom
Term start 21885
Term end 21892
Predecessor 2Thomas Charles Thompson
Farrer Herschell
Successor 2Matthew Fowler
Constituency mp 3Hampstead
Parliament 3United Kingdom
Term start 31902
Term end 31905
Predecessor 3Edward Brodie Hoare
Successor 3John Fletcher
Birth date4 May 1844
Birth placeNewcastle upon Tyne
Death date23 September 1916 (aged 73)
Death placeAlnwick, Northumberland
PartyConservative
Alma materTrinity Hall, Cambridge

Sir Thomas Milvain (4 May 1844 – 13 September 1916) was an English lawyer and Conservative Party politician.[1][2]

Background and career

Milvain was the son of Henry Milvain of North Elswick Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne and his wife Jane Davidson, and was educated at Durham School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge,[2] where he graduated with an LL.B. in 1866 and LL.M. in 1872.[3] He was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1869,[4] and practiced on the North-Eastern Circuit.

In 1885 Milvain was elected Member of Parliament for Durham. He took silk in 1888, and after losing his parliament seat in 1892 was appointed Recorder of Bradford and Chancellor of the County Palatine of Durham. The following year, he was appointed a Bencher at Middle Temple.[2]

He stood unsuccessfully in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in 1895, and in Maidstone at a by-election in 1901. The same year, he served as Chairman of the South African Compensation Commission.[3] He was then elected MP for Hampstead at a by-election in January 1902.[5]

Milvain gave up the seat in 1905 when he was appointed Judge Advocate General, a position that he held until his death in 1916.[6] He was succeeded by Felix Cassel who had served as his deputy.[7] In 1912, Milvain was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath and was knighted.[8]

Personal life

Milvain was an athletics blue in hurdles and won the National Championship over 120 yards hurdles at the 1866 AAC Championships.[9][10]

He married Mary Alice Henderson on 28 January 1875, daughter of John Henderson, and they had one son, Colonel Henry Roland Milvain (1880–1960).[11][12] He died at his house, Eglingham Hall, Alnwick, Northumberland on 23 September 1916 (aged 73).[8]

References

  1. ^ Who's Who 1910: An Annual Biographical Dictionary. London: A. & C. Black. 1910. p. 1356. OCLC 866511400
  2. ^
  3. ^ "Election intelligence - Hampstead". No. 36674. 25 January 1902. p. 12.
  4. ^ Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
  5. ^ No. 27401. 28 January 1902. p. 581.
  6. ^ Vol. 15. p. 538.
  7. ^ Emsley, Clive (2013-01-24). Soldier, Sailor, Beggarman, Thief: Crime and the British Armed Services since 1914. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-164703-1.
  8. ^ "Obituary". The Law Journal. 30 September 1916.
  9. ^ "WAAA and National Championships Medallists". NUTS
  10. ^ "Amateur Athletic Club". Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle. 24 March 1866. Retrieved 19 July 2024. – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Death of Former M.F.H and Cricketer". Teessale Mercury. 24 August 1960.
  12. ^ "Watson family of Barnard Castle". Durham County Record Office. 15 December 2016.