Sir Robert Bird, 2nd Baronet

Sir Robert Bland Bird, 2nd Baronet KBE (20 September 1876 – 20 November 1960) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.

Biography

He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton West at a by-election in March 1922 following the death of his father Sir Alfred,[1] who had been the constituency's MP since January 1910.

Robert Bird was re-elected at the next three general elections,[2][3][4] but was defeated at the 1929 general election by the Labour Party candidate William Brown. Bird regained the seat in 1931,[5] and held it[6] until he stood down at the 1945 general election.

Bird had succeeded to his father's baronetcy, and also succeeded him as chairman of the family's business Alfred Bird and Sons, manufacturing chemists. The company had been established by his grandfather Alfred Bird, who invented both baking powder and custard powder.

He was invested as a Chevalier in the French Légion d'honneur in 1947 and as an Officer of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) (in recognition of services rendered to Belgian interests during the war) in 1951.[7] In the New Year Honours in 1954, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), "for political and public services".[8] Away from politics he was a keen photographer and a member of the Royal Photographic Society from 1915 until 1960.[9] He produced an important body of early colour photography using the autochrome process between c1915 and 1920 some of which was exhibited in the RPS's annual exhibition.[10]

Notes
  1. "No. 32635". The London Gazette. 10 March 1922. p. 2033.
  2. "No. 32775". The London Gazette. 8 December 1922. p. 8711.
  3. "No. 32897". The London Gazette. 11 January 1924. p. 367.
  4. "No. 32996". The London Gazette. 25 November 1924. p. 8533.
  5. "No. 33769". The London Gazette. 6 November 1931. p. 7145.
  6. "No. 34223". The London Gazette. 26 November 1935. p. 7505.
  7. "No. 39688". The London Gazette. 4 November 1952. p. 5822.
  8. "No. 40053". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1953. p. 10.
  9. Royal Photographic Society membership information. www.rps.org. Accessed 23 December 2020
  10. Royal Photographic Society records. www.rps.org. Accessed 23 December 2020 and paper forthcoming.

References
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Alfred Bird		 Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton West
1922–1929		 Succeeded by
William Brown
Preceded by
William Brown		 Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton West
1931–1945		 Succeeded by
Billy Hughes
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Alfred Bird		 Baronet
(of Edgbaston)
1933–1960		 Succeeded by
Donald Bird


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