| Robert Westley Hall-Dare | |
| Office1: | Member of Parliament for South Essex |
| Term Start1: | 1832 |
| Term End1: | 1836 |
| Predecessor1: | New constituency |
| Successor1: | George Palmer |
| Birth Date: | 3 March 1789 |
| Birth Place: | Demerara, The Guianas |
| Death Place: | London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality: | British |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Profession: | Politician |
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.
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.[1] His parents owned the ‘Maria's Pleasure’ sugar plantation on Wakenaam Island in the Essequibo River,[2] which passed to Robert on his father’s death. Hall was educated at Harrow from 1802 to 1809.[3] 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.[4] 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).
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.[5] 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.[6] [7]
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'.[8]
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.[9] 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.[10]
