Melville Portal

Melville Portal JP, DL (31 July 1819 – 24 January 1904)^[1] was a British Conservative Party politician from Hampshire.

Portal was awarded an M.A. degree by the University of Oxford in 1844.^[2]

He was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for North Hampshire at a by-election in April 1849, following the resignation of the Conservative MP Sir William Heathcote.^[3] He was re-elected unopposed^[4] in 1852^[5] at a sparsely-attended hustings in Winchester,^[6] and retired from the House of Commons at the 1857 general election.^[4]

He was appointed in December 1852 as a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire,^[7] and by 1863 he was also a Justice of the Peace (JP) for the county.^[8]

He was nominated as High Sheriff of Hampshire in 1861^[9][10] and in 1862,^[11] and was appointed to the office in 1863,^[12] when his address was given as Laverstoke House, Mitcheldever Station.^[13]

Personal life

In 1855 Portal married Lady Charlotte Elliot^[14] (died 1899), the first child of the 2nd Earl of Minto.^[15] The couple had at least four children, including Sir Gerald Herbert Portal (1858–1894), and Katherine Charlotte Portal (1866–1917).^[15] Sir Gerald was a rapidly-promoted young diplomat, whose career in Africa led to him contracting malaria, and he died of typhoid in London on 25 January 1894.^[14] An older son died in Africa in 1892 or 1893, and the third son was Alaraic William John Portal, an officer in the Royal Navy.^[14]

References

1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
2. ^ "University Intelligence". The Times (London): pp. 7, col B. 25 October 1844. 
3. ^ London Gazette: no. 20967. p. 1204. 13 April 1849. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
4. ^ ^{a b} Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 393. ISBN 0-900178-26-4. 
5. ^ London Gazette: no. 21345. p. 2130. 3 August 1852. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
6. ^ "The General Election". The Times (London): p. 2. 14 July 1852. 
7. ^ London Gazette: no. 21390. p. 3611. 10 December 1852. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
8. ^ "Prison Discipline And The Hampshire County Magistrates". The Times (London): pp. 9, col D. 6 January 1863. 
9. ^ London Gazette: no. 22565. p. 4564. 15 November 1861. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
10. ^ "Nomination Of Sheriffs". The Times (London): pp. 6, col F. 13 November 1861. 
11. ^ "Nomination Of Sheriffs". The Times (London): pp. 7, col F. 13 November 1862. 
12. ^ "Sheriffs For 1863". The Times (London): pp. 6, col F. 4 February 1863. 
13. ^ London Gazette: no. 22704. p. 573. 3 February 1863. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
14. ^ ^{a b c} "Death Of Sir Gerald Portal". The Times (London): pp. 3, col F. 26 January 1894. 
15. ^ ^{a b} Lundy, Darryl. "Lady Charlotte Mary Elliot". ThePeerage.com. http://www.thepeerage.com/p1562.htm#i15612. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Melville Portal

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir William Heathcote, Bt Charles Shaw-Lefevre	Member of Parliament for North Hampshire 1849 – 1857 With: Charles Shaw-Lefevre	Succeeded by William Wither Beach George Sclater-Booth

Persondata
Name	Portal, Melville
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	31 July 1819
Place of birth
Date of death	24 January 1904
Place of death