Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/486

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Tangye
476
Tarte

keeping alive the principles of liberalism in the 'Daily Argus,' which he founded in association with Sir Hugh Gilzean Reid in 1891. He was knighted in 1894 on Lord Rosebery's recommendation. A member of the Birmingham town council from 1878 to 1882 and of the Smethwick school board, Tangye and his brothers were generous benefactors to the town. To the municipal art gallery (founded in 1867) the firm in 1880 gave 10,000l. for new buildings (opened by King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, in 1885), as well as for the acquisition of objects of art; later they presented Albert Moore's 'The Dreamers'; Tangye also loaned his fine collection of Wedgwood ware, of which a handbook was published in 1885. The School of Art (founded in 1843), to which the Tangyes in 1881 contributed 12,000l., was rebuilt in 1884.

Tangye cherished literary interests. His admiration for Oliver Cromwell led him from 1875 to collect literature and relics relating to the Protector, and in 1889 he bought the fine Cromwellian collection of J. de Kewer Williams, congregational minister, to which he made many additions. He embodied the results of his study of the period of the protectorate in 'The Two Protectors, Oliver and Richard Cromwell' (1899). A catalogue of his Cromwellian collection of MSS., miniatures, and medals, by W. Downing, was published in 1905. Between 1876 (when Langford was his companion) and 1904 Tangye made eight extended voyages, visiting Australia, America, South Africa (where his firm had business branches), and Egypt. Tangye recounted his experiences in 'Reminiscences of Travel in Australia, America, and Egypt' (1883), and 'Notes on my Fourth Voyage to the Australian Colonies, 1886' (Birmingham, 1886).

On a short record of his early career contributed in 1889 to a series of biographies of self-made men in the 'British Workman' Tangye based his full autobiography 'One and All' (1890), which, reaching its twentieth thousand in 1905, was reissued in a revised form under the title of 'The Rise of a Great Industry.' Tangye also published 'Tales of a Grandfather' (Birmingham, 1897).

Tangye resided at Birmingham till 1894, spending his summers from 1882 at Glendorgal, a house which he had purchased near Newquay. In 1894 he removed to Kingston-on-Thames. He died at Coombe Bank, Kingston Hill, on 14 Oct. 1906, and was buried in Putney Vale cemetery. He married on 24 Jan. 1859 Caroline, daughter of Thomas Jesper, corn merchant, of Birmingham. She survived him with three sons, of whom two, Harold Lincoln and Wilfrid, joined the business, and two married daughters. The son Harold, who was created a baronet in June 1912, is author of 'In New South Africa' (1896) and 'In the Torrid Sudan' (1910).

A portrait in oils, by E. R. Taylor, hangs in the Birmingham School of Art. A bronze memorial plate erected by public subscription, with relief portraits of Richard and George Tangye, is in the Birmingham Art Gallery.

[Stuart J. Reid, Sir Richard Tangye, 1908; Tangye, The Rise of a Great Industry, 1906; The Times, 15 Oct. 1906; Biograph, 1879, ii. 266.]

W. B. O.


TARTE, JOSEPH ISRAEL (1848–1907), Canadian statesman and journalist, born on 11 Jan. 1848 at Lanoraie, Berthier county, Quebec, was son of Joseph Tarte, habitant farmer, by his wife Louise Robillard. Educated at L'Assomption College, he qualified himself as a notary in 1871, and settled in Quebec, but after two years drifted into journalism. He quickly made his mark as a journalist. He early edited 'Les Laurentides' (St. Lin), and subsequently accepted the editorship of 'Le Canadien' and 'L'Événement' of Quebec. He conducted 'L'Événement' for over twenty years, and represented 'Le Canadien' in the press galleries of Quebec and Ottawa. In 1891 he moved to Montreal, where he published for a time 'Le Cultivateur,' the weekly edition of 'Le Canadien.' In 1896 he transferred this paper to his sons, L. J. and E. Tarte, who in 1897 acquired 'La Patrie,' which presented Tarte's political views.

Tarte sat in the Quebec assembly for Bona venture from 1877 until its dissolution in 1881. He belonged to the party of the 'bleus' or tories. In 1891 he was elected to the federal parliament at Ottawa in the conservative interest, and was closely associated with Sir Hector Langevin [q. v. Suppl. II]. But his part in politics, which was that of a 'stormy petrel,' contributed not a little to the wreck of the conservative party. Becoming cognisant of gross irregularities in the public administration in Quebec, he formulated his charges upon the floor of the house in 1891, and the conservative premier. Sir John Abbott, granted a committee of investigation. The charges were fully proved. The member for Quebec centre, Thomas