Augustine Birrell, KC (1850-1933) was an English politician, barrister, academic and author. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916. After unsuccessfully contesting parliamentary seats in Liverpool, Walton in 1885 and Widnes in 1886, Birrell was elected to parliament for West Fife at a by-election in 1889, as a Liberal. He was not really in favour of votes for women and like many of his political colleagues and members of the general public he strongly disapproved of the militancy and violence the suffragettes were increasingly espousing. His works include: Obiter Dicta (1884), Obiter Dicta: Second Series (1887), Copyright in Books (1899), In the Name of the Bodleian and Other Essays (1905), Andrew Marvell (1905) and Frederick Locker Lampson (1920).