Thomas Roe, 1st Baron Roe

Of a modest background, Roe was the son of Thomas Roe, a timber merchant and Mayor of Derby, and his wife Deborah, daughter of Absalom Oakley.[1] He began to work in the office of his father's company, Messr Roe & Sons, timber merchants, at the age of fourteen and became a partner at the age of twenty-two.[2]

"The Late Lord Roe" by Ernest Townsend

At the age of 26 he became a member of the Derby Town Council and served as Mayor of Derby from 1864 to 1865. He was particularly interested in education, and was one of the original members of the Derby School Board in 1870 and later served as Chairman of the Education Committee of the town council.[2] He entered Parliament for Derby in an 1883 by-election, a seat he held until he was defeated at the 1895 general election.[1][3] Roe was again Mayor of Derby from 1896 to 1897 and returned to the House of Commons at the 1900 general election, when he was once again elected for Derby.[1][3] Mayor of Derby for a third time from 1910 to 1911[1][2] he retired from the House of Commons in 1916.[1][3] He was knighted in 1894[4] and in 1917 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Roe, of the Borough of Derby.[5]

Lord Roe married, at the age of 71, Emily, daughter of Matthew Kirtley, in 1903. The marriage was childless and she died in July 1909. Roe survived her by fourteen years and died in June 1923, aged 90, when the barony became extinct.[1]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Thomas Roe