Edward Sartoris

Edward John Sartoris (30 May 1814 - 23 November 1888) was a British landowner and Liberal politician of French ancestry.

The eldest son of Peter Urban Sartoris (1767-1833) of Sceaux, near Paris and his wife Matilda, the daughter of the Scottish-American banker John Tunno (1746-1819), Edward was born in London and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1842 he married the opera singer Adelaide Kemble. The family initially leased Knuston Hall near Irchester, Northamptonshire. In 1863, on the death of his maternal uncle Edward Tunno, he inherited estates at Warnford, Hampshire and Llangennech, Carmarthenshire. The Welsh estate included large coal deposits.

The County of Carmarthenshire was represented in the House of Commons by two members of parliament. For many years prior to 1868 elections had been uncontested, with both MPs being Conservatives. The members were effectively chosen by the powerful Campbell family, Earls Cawdor.

The Second Reform Act of 1867 had greatly increased the franchise, allowing large numbers of working class men to vote for the first time. This, along with difficulties in the Conservative Party over candidate selection, led the Carmarthenshire Liberals to decide to contest the 1868 general election. Rather than choosing a member of the landed gentry, the party chose Sartoris as their candidate. As a relative newcomer to the area he benefitted from being seen as an "outsider", not subject to the traditional land owning interests. He was also based in the rapidly industrialising Llanelli district, the only part of the county where there was population growth. With an efficient party machine, largely organised by non-conformist clergymen of the district, Sartoris secured a spectacular victory, his 3,280 votes easily winning the first seat in the constituency. The Conservative Party learnt from their defeat, at the next election in 1874 Earl Cawdor's eldest son, Viscount Emlyn, regained the seat from Sartoris.

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