James Sadleir facts for kids

James Sadleir (c. 1815 – 4 June 1881) was a member (MP) of the British House of Commons, chiefly notable for being one of the few members expelled by that body. Sadleir was the son of Clement William Sadleir, a farmer, of Shrone Hill, County Tipperary. His mother was the daughter of James Scully, a local banker. His brother John, with whom he was involved in the Tipperary Joint Stock Bank, was MP for Carlow from 1847.

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 Ireland, although without much enthusiasm for the Roman Catholic priests in his county who passed a vote of censure in April 1853. His brother served in Lord Aberdeen's government as a Junior Lord of the Treasury from December 1852 to January 1854 when he resigned, having been implicated in an attempt to imprison a depositor of the Tipperary Joint Stock Bank who had refused to vote for him.

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 15s. 4d. It was recognised that he would inevitably bear the brunt of the failure, and The Times reported that there was "a wide-spread feeling of pity" for him as he was already a ruined man. Other creditors of the bank rushed to try to recover their money from him. An early judgment absolved the managers of the bank of responsibility, but was soon reversed. The court enquiries disclosed letters written from John to James which implicated him in organising the frauds. However, Sadleir absconded on 17 June. Questions were asked why no criminal charges had been brought against him by this stage, any previous sympathy for his position having disappeared. Charges were brought on 18 July.

Expelled from the House

No-one was entirely sure where Sadleir was. In September, a Carlow newspaper reported that the police were on the wrong scent in looking in New Orleans, as he had made his way to South America. By February 1857, all patience was at an end, and the Attorney-General for Ireland successfully moved for Sadleir's expulsion for failing to surrender to the warrants for his arrest. A letter was read in the debate which placed Sadleir in Paris where he dined every day at the Palais Royal. He was expelled by the House on 16 February. His estates and those of his wife were seized by creditors and sold.

Fate

On 13 May, a letter from Sadleir, posted in Paris, was published in the Dublin Evening Post. He denied involvement in the frauds, and stated that he had denounced his brother when he learnt what he had been doing. This apologia was swiftly countered by James Scully, his cousin who was also implicated in the scandal, who described James as a "notorious culprit". Sadleir was maintained by an annuity paid by his wife's family, the Wheatleys. He never returned to face justice, and moved to Switzerland in 1861, living in Geneva and then Zürich.

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.