James Sadleir
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James Sadleir (c. 1815 – 4 June 1881) was a
Entry to politics
James Sadleir was approached to stand as a Whig candidate for the Tipperary constituency in the 1852 election and initially refused, but was eventually induced to accept; he was formally nominated by the incumbent, Nicholas Maher, and was elected easily.
He supported the idea of religious equality in
Banking scandal
The scandal that led to both of their downfalls arose through the crash of the Tipperary Bank in February 1856. The Bank's London agents, Glyn and Co., refused to pay on drafts of the bank, returning them with the words "not provided for". The Bank of Ireland continued to pay as usual for a week more, resulting in a rush of investors withdrawing their money there. Then, on 17 February, John Sadleir, who had been the principal creditor of the bank, committed suicide on Hampstead Heath. He sent a suicide note to James' wife Emma which read "James is not to blame–I alone have caused all this dreadful ruin. James was to me too fond a brother but he is not to blame for being deceived and led astray by my diabolical acts. Be to him at this moment all the support you can. Oh what I would not suffer with gladness to save those whom I have ruined. My end will prove at least that I was not callous to their agony." It was found by the Irish courts that John Sadleir had begun to abstract money from the bank from about the end of 1854, and took a total of £288,000.
Investigations
James Sadleir was chairman, managing director and a public agent of the bank, and on 29 February the first creditor sued him to recover £2,827 15
Expelled from the House
No-one was entirely sure where Sadleir was. In September, a
Fate
On 13 May, a letter from Sadleir, posted in Paris, was published in the
Twenty years later, while taking his regular walk up the Zürichberg, Sadleir came upon a thief intent on robbing him of his gold watch. He resisted and was shot dead, his body being concealed in the thicket by the side of the path where it was discovered a week later. His funeral was well-attended. His will was dated 23 May 1856, although the executors suspected that he may have made a later will which they were unable to find.
References
- Members expelled from the House of Commons since the Restoration
- O'Shea, James (2004). "Sadleir, John (1813–1856)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24455. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Who's Who of British MPs, volume 1, by Michael Stenton (Harvester, Sussex, 1976)
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- James O'Shea "Prince of Swindlers - John Sadleir MP", Geography Publications, Dublin 1999; ISBN 0-906602-56-4