Sir Robert Cunliffe, 5th Baronet

Who was Sir Robert Cunliffe, 5th Baronet?

Sir Robert Alfred Cunliffe, 5th Baronet was an English Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1872 and 1885.

Cunliffe was the son of Robert Ellis Cunliffe of the Bengal Civil Service. He was educated at Eton College and joined the Scots Fusilier Guards in 1857. In 1859, he succeeded his grandfather General Sir Robert Henry Cunliffe in the baronetcy.

He retired from the regular army in 1862 and became Lieutenant Colonel commanding the Royal Denbigh Militia. He was a JP and DL for Denbighshire and High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1868.

In 1872 Cunliffe was elected Member of Parliament for Flint Boroughs and held the seat until 1874. At the 1880 general election Cunliffe was elected MP for Denbigh Boroughs. He held the seat until 1885.

Cunliffe died at the age of 66.

Cunliffe married Eleanor Sophia Egerton Leigh, only daughter of Major Egerton Leigh of West Hall High Leigh and Jodrell Hall, Cheshire. Their son Foster was a cricketer and historian and died fighting in World War I.