Quintin Dick

Quintin Dick (7 February 1777 – 26 March 1858) was an Irish Peelite, independent, Conservative, and Tory politician, and barrister. Family Born in Dublin, Dick was the eldest child of East India merchant and proprietor Samuel Dick and Charlotte née Forster, daughter of Nicholas Forster. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin with a BA in 1797, before becoming a barrister of King's Inns, Dublin, in 1800. He died at his home in Mayfair, London, in 1858, unmarried, leaving an estate worth almost £300,000. Political career Over the course of 52 years, Dick represented six constituencies as a Member of Parliament, including one for the Parliament of Ireland. He was seen as "dandified and stiff, old-fashioned in dress as in politics" and his "lavishly illuminated" Mayfair dinners, leading to the nickname "Jolly Dick, the lamplighter"—commented upon by Benjamin Disraeli as unsuited to his habitual expression. Also known as "Carrotty Quintin" due to his wealth, Dick was unpopular. Dunleer MP Dick first entered politics as a representative for Dunleer in the Parliament of Ireland in March 1800, immediately opposing the Act of Union 1800. However, when that act passed later that year, unifying the parliaments of Ireland and Great Britain into the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Dunleer was disenfranchised and Dick left without a seat.