Edmund Vesey Knox

Edmund Francis Vesey Knox (23 January 1865 – 15 May 1921) was an Irish nationalist politician of Ulster-Scots descent. Initially a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, he sided with the Anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation majority when the party split in 1891.

Early life

Knox was born in Newcastle, County Down, the eldest son of the Vesey Edmund Knox and Margaret Clarissa Garrett. His younger brothers were Maj.-Gen. Sir Alfred Knox, a British Army officer and Conservative politician; and Gen. Sir Harry Knox, Adjutant-General to the Forces from 1935–37.^[1]

Their great-grandfather Hon. Vesey Knox was the son of Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount Northland, and brother of Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly (1754–1840); Maj.-Gen. Hon. John Knox (1758–1800), Governor of Jamaica; William Knox (1762–1831), Bishop of Derry; George Knox (1765–1827), MP for Dublin University; Charles Knox (1770–1825), Archdeacon of Armagh; and Edmund Knox (1772–1849), Bishop of Limerick.^[1]

Knox was educated at St Columba's College, Dublin and Keble College, Oxford. He was a barrister and member of Gray's Inn and Middle Temple. He became a Bencher at Gray's Inn 1906; Treasurer 1913, and Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford in 1886. ^[1]

Knox was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for West Cavan at an unopposed by-election on 26 March 1890, following the death of the nationalist MP Joseph Biggar,^[2] taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

He was re-elected as an Irish National Federation MP at the 1892 general election, with a majority of more than three-to-one over his sole opponent, a Unionist.^[3] At the 1895 election he was again returned unopposed in West Cavan,^[4] but also stood in Londonderry City, winning that seat by a slender majority over his unionist opponent. He chose to sit for Londonderry City,^[4] and held that seat until he resigned from Parliament on 9 December 1898 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead.^[5]

Knox married firstly Annie Elizabeth Lloyd (died 1907), daughter of William Lloyd of Llanmaes, Glamorgan, and had a daughter and three sons.

Lt. John Vesey Knox (1892–1918), killed in an accident while an instructor for the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War
Capt. Columb "Collie" Thomas Knox (1897–1977), journalist and pilot
Dilys Myfanwy Knox (1899–1990), married firstly Lt.-Col. David Charles Gilbert Dickinson (died 1943) and secondly Lt.-Col. Arthur Joseph Sullivan OBE
Lt. Noel Lloyd Knox (1906–1962), member of the Ulster Special Constabulary

^ ^a ^b ^c Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. pp. 3270–3271. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
^ Brian M. Walker, ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 143. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
^ Walker, op. cit, page 144
^ ^a ^b Walker, op. cit., pages 151, 154
^ Department of Information Services (9 June 2009). "Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2009.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Joseph Biggar	Member of Parliament for West Cavan 1890 – 1895	Succeeded by James Patrick Farrell
Preceded by John Ross	Member of Parliament for Londonderry City 1895 – 1898	Succeeded by Arthur John Moore

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