ROLLESTON, Lancelot (1785-1862), of 8 Hertford Street, London and Watnall Hall, Nottinghamshire

Rolleston, one of Nottinghamshire’s most assiduous magistrates, was a ‘consistent Conservative’ who represented the southern division of the county for over a decade.1The Times, 24 May 1862. The Rollestons had been resident at Watnall Hall since the reign of Henry VII, and his father, Christopher, had served as high sheriff in 1805.2Nottinghamshire Guardian, 23 May 1862. In 1820 Rolleston had been ‘hastily pressed’ into standing at Nottingham as a supporter of the Liverpool administration, but was defeated in third place after the ‘severest struggle’.3HP Commons, 1820-32, ii. 818. Thereafter he devoted his energies to his duties as a magistrate, with his prominent role in suppressing the Luddite and Reform riots earning him a reputation for ‘an innate love of justice’ and ‘diligence and impartiality’. In 1837 he was appointed chairman of the quarter sessions where he ‘did his work efficiently and satisfactorily, and was on all occasions distinguished by urbanity, equanimity, and liberality’.4Nottinghamshire Guardian, 23 May 1862. Although his 1,000 acre estate at Watnall Hall gave him only a small territorial stake in the county, his position as colonel of the South Nottinghamshire yeomanry cavalry, described by a Liberal critic as ‘a real Tory regiment’, provided him with close connections to the region’s leading families.5J.R. Fisher, ‘The Tory revival of the 1830s: an uncontested election in South Nottinghamshire’, Midland History, 6 (1981), 100; G. Fellows, History of the South Notts. Yeomanry Cavalry 1794-1894 (1894), 33-8.

At the 1837 general election Rolleston offered as a Conservative for Nottinghamshire South after being presented with a requisition containing over 1,200 signatures from 97 parishes. Backed by a highly organised election committee, a canvass in July revealed that he would comfortably defeat his whig opponent and substantial landowner, John Evelyn Denison, prompting the latter to retire. Rolleston’s unopposed return subsequently became ingrained in local political memory, with Conservative candidates framing it as an example of small freeholders overcoming the vested interests of the large estates.6Fisher, ‘The Tory revival’, 100-4.

A frequent attender, Rolleston divided with the Conservatives on most major issues. He backed the motion blaming the Whig government for the Canadian rebellion, 7 Mar. 1838 and opposed the ministry’s Irish tithes bill, 15 May. 1838. An ardent protectionist, he was against Villiers’ motion on the corn laws, 18 Mar. 1839. He voted for Peel’s motion of no confidence in the Whig ministry, 4 June 1841.

Rolleston appears to have spoken little in his first Parliament, intervening only in matters directly affecting Nottinghamshire. In a debate on the ecclesiastical duties and revenues bill, his motion to stop ‘the benefices in the patronage of the prebendaries’ in the church of Southwell being vested in the bishops of Ripon and Manchester was defeated 77-17, 6 July 1840. The following year he spoke in defence of the Basford Union, where he was an ex officio guardian, which had been under scrutiny following the death of a man who had been sent to the workhouse to receive medical attention, 22 Mar., 26 Mar. 1841.7For Rolleston’s correspondence with the Poor Law Commission over this issue see National Archives, Kew, MH 12/9232/197, 12/9232/329. He sat on the 1839 select committee on the Parrett Navigation petition.8PP 1839 (238), xiii. 279.

Returned unopposed at the 1841 general election, Rolleston gave his unwavering support to Peel’s ministry. He voted against Lord John Russell’s motions not to reintroduce income tax, 13 Apr. 1842, and on the redress of Irish grievances, 12 July 1843. He supported the government’s railway bill, 11 July 1844, which proposed greater state regulation of the railways, and later called for more legislation to protect against railway companies who had ‘unduly invaded private property and ornamented grounds’, 14 Mar. 1845. More vocal in his second Parliament, he defended the measures magistrates had taken to suppress outbreaks of violence in Midland manufacturing towns, 28 Mar. 1843, and insisted that boards of guardians were ‘infinitely better judges’ than poor law commissioners in regulating trades and apprenticeships, 5 July 1844. He sat on the 1842 Blackburn election committee and the 1844 select committee on custom house frauds.9PP 1842 (548), v. 4; PP 1844 (566), xiv. 286.

Rolleston backed Peel’s sliding scale on corn duties, 9 Mar. 1842, but remained a zealous supporter of protection. On the debate on the customs and corn importation report, he declared that he ‘could not understand’ any reason why the ‘present protection’ should be reduced, arguing that such a measure would do little to help the hosiery trade, 13 May 1846. He voted against Peel in the crucial divisions on corn law repeal, 27 Mar., 15 May 1846.

Though unwaveringly loyal to the protectionists, Rolleston worked closely with the Radical Thomas Duncombe to introduce the lace factories bill, which aimed to establish greater regulation of child employment, 20 May 1846. Explaining the bill, Rolleston argued that, from his experiences as chairman of the quarter sessions, young children employed in lace factories during the night were likely to be involved in criminal activities, such as robbery, in the early hours of the morning. However, the motion for a second reading was defeated 151-66, and the bill came to nothing.10Hansard, 20 May 1846, vol. 86, cc. 914-50. He remained, though, committed to a greater regulation of factories and in his last known speech, he backed the hosiery bill, which was necessary ‘to secure to the poor man a fair day’s wages for a fair day’s work’, 9 June 1847.

At the 1847 general election Rolleston reiterated his staunch support for protection, outlined his opposition to the endowment of the Catholic clergy, and was re-elected without opposition.11Daily News, 6 Aug. 1847. However, his attendance became less frequent, and in March 1849 he expressed his desire to retire from parliamentary life.12Nottinghamshire Guardian, 24 May 1849. Once the Nottinghamshire Conservatives had found a suitable replacement, Rolleston resigned his seat, informing his constituents that as ‘other avocations’ occupied ‘a considerable portion of that time, which alone should be devoted to Parliamentary business’, he ‘could but inadequately discharge’ his duties.13Nottinghamshire Guardian, 5 Apr. 1849. Thereafter he remained an active magistrate until he moved to Brighton, whereafter he only visited Nottinghamshire to attend the Sherwood Foresters’ annual training.14The Times, 24 May 1862.

Rolleston died at Lansdowne Place, Brighton in May 1862. His effects were valued at under £100.15England and Wales, National Probate Calendar, Index of wills and administration, 1861-1941, 29 Apr. 1864. His son and three daughters from his first marriage having predeceased him, he was succeeded by Lancelot, his eldest son from his second marriage, an army officer who served with distinction in the second Boer War, and was made a Knight Commander of the Bath in 1911.16The Times, 27 Mar. 1941.