21h • General discussion
The Constant Conservative
Colonel Charles de Laet Waldo Sibthorp was, in many respects, the perfect Conservative MP — if the principal duty of a Conservative is to oppose absolutely everything. During a lengthy parliamentary career, Sibthorp developed a reputation for denouncing reform, innovation, and modernity with almost supernatural consistency.
To him, nearly every change represented a direct attack on England itself.
Born into considerable privilege in Lincolnshire, Sibthorp spent his youth hunting across the countryside surrounding his family estate, developing a lifelong fixation on a romantic vision of “Englishness” that bore little resemblance to the lives of most English people. After Eton and a brief, uninspired spell at Brasenose College, Oxford, he abandoned academia for the army, serving with distinction during the Peninsular War.
Following the death of his elder brother in 1822, Sibthorp inherited the family estate and retired from military life. Soon afterwards, he became Tory MP for Lincoln — a seat effectively controlled by his family. This proved fortunate, because during the 1826 election campaign, Sibthorp was knocked unconscious by a brick thrown from the crowd before he could even explain his policies. Nevertheless, he still won comfortably.
In Parliament, Sibthorp rapidly established himself as a uniquely immovable figure. He opposed Catholic Emancipation, electoral reform, foreign influence, railways, the Great Exhibition, and, at one point, even the National Gallery — despite the building already being practically complete. He dismissed nearly every reform as “humbug” and became famous for heckling opponents with rooster impressions during debates.
His eccentric appearance only strengthened his notoriety. Beneath a white top hat and antique glasses, Sibthorp wore bottle-green Regency frock coats, wide breeches, and jockey boots long after they had fallen from fashion. Political caricaturists adored him, and he became a frequent subject in Punch magazine.
Sibthorp’s distrust of foreigners bordered on obsession. When Parliament proposed a £50,000 annual allowance for Prince Albert ahead of his marriage to Queen Victoria, Sibthorp furiously objected that £30,000 was more than sufficient for 'a foreign prince.' To the government’s embarrassment, Robert Peel backed the amendment and it passed. Victoria reportedly never visited Lincoln again.
The Great Exhibition of 1851 provoked even greater outrage. Sibthorp warned Parliament that hordes of immoral foreigners would descend upon England to corrupt women, burgle homes, and destroy honest British trade with 'cheap, shoddy' imports. He described Crystal Palace as 'that palace of tomfoolery' and prayed God would destroy it with lightning.
Yet nothing enraged Sibthorp more than railways. Initially dismissing trains as a passing fad, he later became convinced they would cause mass death, moral collapse, and national ruin. He denounced railway companies as fraudulent speculators and confidently predicted that England would soon return happily to travelling by horse-drawn carriage.
By the time of his death in 1855, Sibthorp had become both a national joke and a strangely admired symbol of unyielding Toryism.
Punch described him as 'unchanged and unchangeable as the Great Pyramid,' celebrating his absolute resistance to reason, reform, or common sense. Even in death, Colonel Sibthorp remained magnificently incapable of adapting to the modern world.
0
0 comments
The Constant Conservative
powered by
skool.com/the-black-archive-5417
Exploring Britain’s hidden history, dark mysteries, forgotten places, strange crimes, weird folklore, haunted locations and unexplained events.
Suggested communities
Powered by