Roebuck, John Arthur, 1802-1879

John Arthur Roebuck (28 December 1802 – 30 November 1879), English politician, was born at Madras, in India. He was raised in Canada, and moved to England in 1824, and became intimate with the leading radical and utilitarian reformers. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath from 1832 to 1847, and MP for the Sheffield constituency from 1849. He took up a general attitude of hostility to the government of the day, whatever it was, which he retained throughout his life. He twice came to public prominence: in 1838, when, although at the time without a seat in parliament, he appeared at the bar of the Commons to protest, in the name of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, against the suspension of the constitution of Lower Canada; and in 1855, when, having overthrown Lord Aberdeen's ministry by carrying a resolution for the appointment of a committee of inquiry into the mismanagement in the Crimean War, he presided over its proceedings.