Sir Robert Ferguson, 2nd Baronet

Sir Robert Alexander Ferguson, 2nd Baronet (26 December 1795 –13 March 1860) was a Whig and then Liberal Party politician from Ireland.

Ferguson was born in Derry in 1796 as son of Sir Andrew Ferguson (1761–1808), a banker and mayor of Derry from 1796 to 1798, and Elizabeth, daughter of the Derry merchant Robert Alexander of Broom Hall, who was the brother of James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon.[1] Ferguson succeeded to the baronetcy in July 1808, after his father was killed in accident on a bridge in Moville, County Donegal.[2] Ferguson was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated MA in 1817. He was Colonel of the disembodied Londonderry Militia from 1839[3] (and Honorary Colonel from 1855 when it was embodied for the Crimean War[4]) and Lord Lieutenant of County Londonderry from 1840 to 1860.[2] He lived at The Farm, County Londonderry.

Stained glass window in memory of Sir Robert Ferguson, installed in the south aisle of St Columb's Cathedral c. 1860[5]

He was appointed High Sheriff of Donegal in 1818 and High Sheriff of Tyrone in 1825 and then elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Londonderry City at the 1830 general election,[6] but his election was declared void.[6] A member of the United University club, he was re-elected at the resulting by-election[6] held on 2 April 1831, and held the seat until his death in 1860, at the age of 63,[6] when the baronetcy became extinct.[2] In 1859 he voted in favour of the Derby ministry's reform bill.

There is a statue of Ferguson in Brooke Park in his native Derry.[7]

References

1. Farrell, Stephen (2009). "FERGUSON, Sir Robert Alexander, 2nd bt. (1796–1860), of The Farm, nr. Londonderry, co. Londonderry". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
2. "Baronets: F, part 1". Leigh Rayment's baronetage pages. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
3. Arthur Sleigh, The Royal Militia and Yeomanry Cavalry Army List, April 1850, London: British Army Despatch Press, 1850/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-84342-410-9, p. 132.
4. Lt-Col H.G. Hart, The New Annual Army List, and Militia List (various dates from 1840).
5. Morton, William W., ed. (2001). St. Columb's Cathedral Londonderry Millennium Historical Guide. A. S. Bell Publishing. pp. 41–42.
6. Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 227, 295–296. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
7. "Brooke Park the Early Years". Derry City and Strabane District Council. Retrieved 3 May 2021.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Robert Alexander Ferguson

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir George Fitzgerald Hill, Bt	Member of Parliament for Londonderry City 1830 – 1860	Succeeded by William McCormick
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Canning	Lord Lieutenant of County Londonderry 1840–1860	Succeeded by Acheson Lyle
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Andrew Ferguson	Baronet (of The Farm, Londonderry) 1808–1860	Extinct