Capt., 21st W. Riding Yorks. militia, 1843.
Ogle, whose ancestors settled at Ogle, Northumberland following the Conquest, was a descendant of Sir Robert Ogle, the county’s high sheriff in 1417, who was a key figure in defending the northern border against the Scots in the 15th century. Born at Kirkley Hall, 8 miles north of Newcastle, his father, Rev. John Saville Ogle, was canon of Durham Cathedral and an important figure in local Liberal politics who frequently nominated parliamentary candidates. After graduating from Oxford in 1833, Ogle studied at the bar, was called in 1836, and practised on the northern circuit. He was made a freeman of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1849.
At the 1841 general election, Ogle came forward in the Liberal interest for Northumberland South. He stressed his firm attachment to civil and religious liberty, but refused to support the abolition of church rates, and was returned without a contest.1Newcastle Courant, 9 July 1841. A steady attender who remained silent throughout his first parliament, he generally supported Russell on financial and imperial matters, dividing in minorities with him against the reintroduction of the income tax, 13 Apr. 1842, for motions to consider the state of Ireland, 12 July 1843 and 23 Feb. 1844, and for a motion to consider Irish church temporalities, 12 June 1844. In his first two sessions, he was appointed to select committees on election proceedings at Clitheroe and Nottingham, but does not appear to have served again in this parliament.2PP 1842 (548), v. 13; Reports of cases of controverted elections, i (1846), 192. Initially opposed to the abolition of the corn laws, he divided against Villiers’ motion to end all duties, 24 Feb. 1842, and voted against Peel’s proposal to modify the sliding scale, 9 Mar. 1842, but was in the minority for a temporary reduction of duties until the beginning of 1843, 7 July 1842. He voted against Villiers’ annual motion on the corn laws thereafter, before finally voting for repeal, 15 May 1846.
At the 1847 general election, Ogle maintained that ‘he had never yet swerved’ from his ‘liberal’ political principles and justified his vote for repeal by stating that ‘protection in every shape was rapidly passing away like a dream’.3Newcastle Courant, 6 Aug. 1841. Returned unopposed, he was a consistent advocate of religious liberties, dividing in the majority for Roman Catholic relief, 8 Dec. 1847, and for the Jewish disabilities bill, 4 May 1848. A member of select committees on the Cheltenham and Sligo election petitions, his service remained confined to electoral matters.4PP 1847-8 (382), xi. 84; PP 1847-8 (526), xiv. 371. In March 1850, Ogle broke his silence in the House to ask Russell whether the trustees of the National Gallery intended to, firstly, continue to clean the old masters, and secondly, move the paintings of the Royal Academicians. This was his first and last known contribution.5Hansard, 11 Mar. 1850, vol. 109, c. 645. He voted steadily with Russell’s ministry and divided in the majority against Disraeli’s motions on relieving agricultural burdens, 15 Mar. 1849 and 13 Feb. 1851. He was largely absent during the 1852 session due to illness and retired from Parliament at that year’s general election.6Newcastle Courant, 7 May 1852. He died in London in March 1854 unmarried and without issue.