Reginald Clare Essenhigh (7 September 1890 – 1 November 1955) was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) from 1931 to 1935 and a judge from 1936 to 1955.^[1]

He was born in Warrington, Lancashire and was the younger son of Henry Streeter Essenhigh and Elizabeth Clare. He was later to assume his mother's maiden name.^[2] He was educated at Warrington Secondary School and the Manchester School of Art.^[1] He originally worked for a local cable manufacture company.^[2] He subsequently gained a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, where he studied applied art and architecture.^[1][2]

On the outbreak of World War I, he joined the University of London Officer Training Corps before being commissioned as a Special Reserve officer in the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Manchester Regiment. He rose to the rank of captain before losing his leg in action during a coastal assault on 27 June 1917 at Nieuport on the Belgian coast.^[1][2]

While recuperating in hospital, he studied law. He was called to the bar by Gray's Inn in January 1922.^[1][2] He practised on the Northern Circuit. In 1924 he married Dr Helen Hogg of Cambuslang, Glasgow, and they had four children.^[1][2]

He stood as a Conservative candidate in the 1929 general election.^[3] He contested the Newton constituency of Lancashire, but lost by over 6,000 votes to the sitting Labour MP Robert Young.^[1][2] As Labour's vote collapsed at the 1931 general election, Essenhigh stood again and took the seat with a majority of only 381 votes.^[4] Young regained the seat at the 1935 general election, and Essenhigh did not seek election again.

In 1936 Essenhigh was appointed a county judge for Circuit No.13, which included parts of Derbyshire and Yorkshire and included the city of Sheffield.^[5] He retained this position until his death, aged 65, in 1955.^[2]

His granddaughter is the artist Inka Essenhigh.^{[citation needed]}