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Robert Westley Hall-Dare (3 March 1789 – 20 May 1836) was a British Conservative politician who was Member of Parliament for South Essex from 1832, as a Tory, until his death in 1836. He was succeeded by George Palmer.

Early life

He was born Robert Westley Hall in Demerara in modern-day Guyana on 3 March 1789 to parents Robert Westley Hall and Maria Elizabeth De Codin. His parents owned the ‘Maria's Pleasure’ sugar plantation on Wakenaam Island in the Essequibo River, which passed to Robert on his father’s death. Hall was educated at Harrow from 1802 to 1809. He was a Captain in the 23rd Welsh Fusiliers, serving in the West Indies and the Peninsular War.

He married Elizabeth Grafton on 8 November 1815. He changed his name by Royal sign-manual to Robert Westley Hall-Dare on 25 April 1823, taking the name Dare from his wife, daughter and heiress of Marmaduke Grafton Dare.

One of his granddaughters was Mabel Virginia Anna Hall-Dare (Mabel Bent, 1847–1929), who in 1877 married the explorer James Theodore Bent (1852–1897).

Political career

Hall-Dare was High Sheriff of Essex in 1821. His merits for public service were spotted by his friend William Jerdan (1782-1869), editor of The Literary Gazette. Hall-Dare was elected MP for South Essex in 1832. In terms of politics, he was described as "opposed to free trade in corn and in everything else; in favour of a repeal of the assessed, and other taxes pressing on the springs of industry, and the imposition in their stead of a tax upon property; and also in favour of an extension of the currency", and a Peelite. He supported the Corn Laws in Parliament, as well as better observance of the Sabbath.

The British Museum has a satirical print (c. 1818) showing Hall-Dare slicing a round pudding representing lands in the county of Essex, labelled 'Ilford to Romford'.

Death

Hall-Dare died at the age of 47 in his house in London, 4 Portman Square. He had nine children. He left his estate in British Guyana to his eldest son, also called Robert Westley Hall-Dare. His mortal remains rest in the family vault in St Mary's Church, Theydon Bois, Essex. Two years before his own death he commissioned a memorial bust for his father, Robert Westley Hall, from the sculptor Patrick Macdowell in St Margaret's Church, Barking, Essex.

References

1. ^ "Robert Westley Hall-Dare".
2. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146640867
3. ^ "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slavery".
4. ^ "Person Page".
5. “ politico-literary labour of love was undertaken to promote the cause of a friend whom I dearly prized, and with whom for many a year I enjoyed that choice happiness which results from cordial sympathies and esteem. I allude to the late Robert Westley Hall Dare; who appeared, to my partial but discerning eyes, to be rusting away a life which might be serviceable to his country, in the too-secluded repose of a private gentleman.” William Jerden, The autobiography of William Jerdan, with his literary, political and social reminiscences and correspondence during the last fifty years (1852, London, Vol.3, pp.66-67).
6. "MINUTES". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 26 May 1834.
7. "Preamble". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1833. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
8. For an image of the cartoon (British Museum, London inventory ref: 1948,0214.811), see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1948-0214-811
9. https://www.theydonparishes.org/theydon-bois/
10. http://www.speel.me.uk/essex/barking/hall1.jpg

• 1789 births
• 1836 deaths
• UK MPs 1832–1835
• UK MPs 1835–1837
• People educated at Harrow School
• Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
• High sheriffs of Essex