Sibthorp was born into a Lincoln gentry family, and joined the army while in his teens. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars, and continued in the service until 1822, when he succeeded to the family estates. He married Maria Tottenham in 1812; they had four children.
During Sibthorp's three decades in Parliament, he became renowned as its most reactionary member. He stoutly opposed Catholic Emancipation, the repeal of the corn laws, the Reform Act of 1832, and the 1851 Great Exhibition. His political views, his bluntness in expressing them, and his eccentricities made him the target of outrage in The Economist and witticisms in Punch.
Sibthorp died at his home in London, and was succeeded as MP by his son, Gervaise.
References
Lee, Sidney, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 18, "Sibthorp, Charles de Laet Waldo". London : Smith Elder, 1909.
Dodds, John W. The Age of Paradox : A Biography of England, 1841-1851. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood, 1970 [1952].
Charles de Laet Waldo Sibthorp ( February 14, 1783 â December 14, 1855), popularly known as "ColonelSibthorp", was a widely caricatured British Tory politician in the early 19th century.
Sibthorp was born into a Lincoln gentry family, and joined the army while in his teens.
Sibthorp died at his home in London, and was succeeded as MP by his son, Gervaise.