Rowland Edmund Prothero, 1st Baron Ernle, MVO, PC (6 September 1851 – 1 July 1937) was a British agricultural expert, administrator, journalist, author and Conservative politician.

Prothero was a Fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford between 1875 and 1891,[1] during which time he played first-class cricket with Hampshire,[2] and was also Proctor between 1883 and 1884.

[3] Prothero unsuccessfully contested Biggleswade in 1910[1] but was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Oxford University at a by-election in 1914, holding the seat until 1919.

[4] He held office under David Lloyd George as President of the Board of Agriculture, with a seat in the cabinet, between December 1916 and 1919,[5] in which role he introduced a guaranteed price for wheat.

The barony became extinct upon his death, his only son, Rowland John Prothero, having died from wounds received in action in Mesopotamia during the First World War.