524 Robert Grosvenor

Constituency : Westminster  1865-74

Robert  was one  of  two  new  representatives  for  Westminster  replacing  George  de  Lacey  Evans  and John  Shelley. He  was  the  candidate  of  the  "Whiggish  Rump" ; the  Radicals  thought  him  unfit  to  represent  the  "blue  riband" constituency  of  Liberalism.The  Morning  Star  described  him  as  "personally  unknown  to  even  the  smallest  section  of  the  political  world , and  apparently  not  quite  clear  in  his  own  mind  as  to  the  political  opinions  which  it  would  be  his  duty  to  express".

Robert  was  a  nephew of  the  Duke  of  Westminster  and  the  son  of  Baron  Ebury. He  was  educated at  Harrow  and  King's  College, London. He  entered  the  army  in  1853  and  rose  to  the  rank  of captain.

Unlike  his  uncle  Hugh, Robert  did  support  extension  of  the  franchise.

Robert  became  Baron  Ebury  in  1893.

He  died  in  1918  aged  84.

523 Sir Thomas Chambers

Constituency : Hertford 1852-7, Marylebone  1865-85

 Thomas  replaced  Lord  Fermoy  at  Marylebone.

Thomas  was  a Cambridge-educated  barrister. He  was  first  elected  for  Hertford  in  1852  but  lost  the  seat  in  1857.

Thomas  was  knighted  in  1872. He  was  President  of  the  National  Chamber  of  Trade  from  1874  to  1880. In  Parliament  he  was  noted  for  his  support  of  the  inspection  of  Convents  and  the  right  to  marry  your  dead  wife's  sister. In  1878  he  became  Recorder  of  London.

He  died  in  1891  aged  77.

522 William Lawrence

Constituency : City  of  London  1865-85

William  replaced  Sir  James  Duke  at  the  City  of  London  and  came  third  in  the  poll.

William  was  the  son  of  a  London  alderman  and  the  brother  of  James,  MP  for  Lambeth  and  Edwin,  much  later  MP  for  Truro. He  was  a  partner  in  his  father's  building  firm. He  was  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in  1863-4. The  family  were  Unitarian.

In  1868  William  came  third  again  but  ominously  the  Conservatives  claimed  the  fourth  seat. In  1874  they  took  three  of  the  seats  and  William  came  fifth. In  1880  William  was  the  highest  polling  Liberal  and  scraped  in  in  fourth  place making  him  the  last  Liberal  to  represent  the  seat. In  1885  it  was  reduced  to  a  two-member  seat  and  the  Liberals  rarely  even  contested  it.

In  1885  William  contested  Paddington  South  as  an  independent  Liberal  but  received  a  derisory vote.

He  died  in  1897  aged  78.      

521 Thomas Hughes

Constituency : Lambeth  1865-68, Frome  1868-74

Thomas  displaced  James  Lawrence  at  Lambeth. He  was  strongly  supported  by  the  Reform  League  and  the  trade  unions.

Thomas  was  the  son  of  an  editor. He  was  educated  at Rugby  and  Oxford. He  was  a  keen  cricketer  and  boxer. He  became  a  barrister. In  1848   he  joined  the  Christian  Socialist  movement. In  1854  he  was  a  co-founder  of  the  Working  Men's  College. In  1857  he  published  his  classic  novel  based  on  his  school  experiences  Tom  Brown's  Schooldays.  He  wrote  two  other  novels  before  his  election  but  thereafter  concentrated  on  non-fiction.

Thomas  was  an  avowed  Radical. He  was  involved  in  the  formation  of  trade  unions  and  financed  Liberal  publications. He  was a  member  of  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  the  Opium  Trade. His  first  Commons  speech  supported  going  to  arbitration  on  the  Alabama  question.  He  was  independent -minded, regarding  himself  neither  as  a  constituency  delegate  nor  a  party  man. He  opposed  the  secret  ballot. He  supported  pubic  grants  for  urban  housing  projects. He  sat  on  the  royal  commission  on  trade  unions  of  1867-8  looking  into  intimidation  and  signed  the  minority  pro-union  report. He  was  also  used  as  a  government  arbitrator  in  a  number  of  disputes.

Thomas  switched  to Frome  for  the  1868  election  fearing  that  his  support  of  the  licensing  laws  and  consumer  protection  would  cost  him  the  support  of  the  small  shopkeepers  and  publicans  in  Lambeth. He  was  more  isolated  in  the  new  Parliament  as  the  pro-labour  faction  became  too  extreme  for  him  and  his  Anglican  leanings  kept  him  apart  from  the Nonconformists. He  allied  with  the  Tories  in  the  National  Education  Union.

In  1869  Thomas  became  the  first  President  of  the  Co-Operative  Congress. He  lamented  the  switch  in  focus  from  production  co-operatives  to  consumer co-operatives.

In  1873  Thomas  spoke  at  a  public  meeting  in  Frome  and  was  heckled  for  his  support  of  the  licensing  laws. Thomas  doubted  that  Frome  would  return  him  in  1874 so  he  switched  again  to  Marylebone. He  was  not  welcomed  by  the  local  Liberals  who  selected  Daniel  Grant  instead. His  supporters  appealed  to  the  party  leadership  for  arbitration  but  this  came  out  in  favour  of  Grant. Thomas  did  not  withdraw  so  there  were  three  Liberals  in  the  field. The  result  was  a  Tory  topping  the  poll  and  Thomas  receiving  a  derisory  294  votes. He  complained  in  1878  that  the  new  politics  meant  that  MPs  were  "at  the  mercy  of  a  party  organisation  with  a  cut-and-dried  bundle  of  pledges  to  be  swallowed  on  pain  of  party  ostracism". He  tried  to  get  the  nomination  for  Salisbury  in  1880  but  failed  partly  due  to  opposition  from  the  tradesmen's  Anti-Co-operative  Society.

In  1874  Thomas  accepted  appointment  to  another  royal  commission  on  the  trade  unions  despite  previously  backing  the  Congress's  opposition  to  it.

In  1880  Thomas  founded  a  utopian  settlement  for  the  younger  sons  of  gentry  in  the  US, Rugby Tennessee , but  it  was  not  a  great  success  and  had  ceased  to  operate  by  1891. His  brother  William  described  it  as  "the  last  of  the  many castles  in  Spain  which  he  had, always  with  some  high  and  unselfish  object  in  view, helped  to  build during  his  life".

Thomas  sunk  a  lot  of  his  money  into  the  project  and  had  to  get  himself  appointed  a  county  court  judge  in  1882  to  rescue  his  position. He  resigned  from  the  Co-Operative  Union.

In  1886  he  became  a  Liberal  Unionist.

He  died  of  lung  failure  in  1896  aged  73. His  daughter  Lillian  perished  on  the  Titanic.

520 Sir Charles Bright

Constituency : Greenwich  1865-8

Charles  replaced  William  Angerstein  at  Greenwich. He  was  the  youngest  Liberal  MP  at  the  time.  He  was  opposed  by  a  Reform  League  candidate.

Charles  was  better  known  as  an  electrical  engineer. No  relation  to  John,  he  was  born  in  Essex  and  educated  at  the  Merchant  Taylor's  School. He  was  clerk  at  the  Electric  Telegraph  Company  but  soon  appointed  an  engineer  at  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company. In  1853  he  supervised the  laying  of  a  telegraph  cable  between  Scotland  and  Ireland  which  sparked  off  the  idea  of  a  transatlantic  cable. He accomplished  this  with  one  between  Ireland  and  Newfoundland  in  1858  for  which  he  was  knighted. That  cable  soon  failed  through  hasty  manufacture  and  Charles  moved  on  for  a  time  to  easier  ventures  in  the  Mediterranean  and  Persian  Gulf.

In  1866  Charles  managed  to  link  up  Britain  and  the  USA  after  a  near-miss  the  year  before.

Charles  was  a  moderate  who  feared  an  attack  on  existing  wealth.

In  1868  Charles  made  way  for  Gladstone.

He  died  in  1888  aged  55.

519 Sir Andrew Lusk

Constituency : Finsbury  1865-85

Andrew  replaced  Samuel  Peto  at  Finsbury.

Andrew  hailed  from  Scotland  and  was  a  Presbyterian  merchant  and  shipowner. He  was  also  a director  of  the Imperial  Bank  and  an  insurance  company. He  was  also  an  alderman  in  the  City  of London.

Andrew  was  Lord  Mayor  of  London  from  1873  to  1874. He  was  created  a  baronet  in  1874. He was  known  as  a  Radical. However  he  declined  to  join  the  Reform  demonstration  on  Primrose  Hill in  1866. He  also  defended  the  notorious  London  vestries  from  interference.

Andrew  stood  down  in  1885; after  1886  he  was  a  Liberal  Unionist. In  1889  he  served  on  a Committee  of  Conciliation  to  try  and  end  the  dock  strike.

He  died  in  1909  aged  98.

518 William Torrens

Constituency : Dundalk 1848-52, Great  Yarmouth 1857, Finsbury  1865-85

In  London  the  picture  remained  absolutely  static with  every  seat  remaining  in  the  same  party's   hands.

William  replaced  William  Cox  at  Finsbury.

William  was  an  Irish  barrister  educated  at  Trinity  College. In  1835  he  was  Assistant  Commissioner  of  the  Irish  Poor  Inquiry  and  he  was  a  founder  member  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League. In  1846  he  was  private  secretary  to  Labouchere  in  Ireland. He  stood  for  Dundalk  in  1847, lost  and  then  was  awarded  the  seat  on  petition. He  abandoned  it  to  contest  Yarmouth  in  1852  but  had  to  wait until  1857  to  be  elected  there. It  was  then  his  turn  to  be  unseated  on  petition.

Once  back  William  was  a  very  active  parliamentarian. In  1866  he  introduced  the  Artisan  and  Labourer's  Dwellings  Bill  on  slum  clearance  which  became  known  as  the  Torrens  Act in  1868. It  permitted  local  councils   to  put  closing  orders on,  and  order  the  demolition  of  , insanitary houses.

 William  was  a  leading  "Tea  Room"  rebel  who  defeated  Gladstone  over  his  "Instruction"  to  defeat  Disraeli's  Bill  on  its  second  reading. He  gave  the  Tories  a  list  of  Liberals  who  would  vote  against  it. He  was  largely  responsible  for  the £10 lodger  franchise  in  the  Second  Reform  Act. In  1869  he  won  a  Select  Committee  on  extradition. In  1874  he  introduced  and  carried  a  Building  Societies  Bill.

William  was a  prolific  writer  with  a  number  of  published  works  including  a  biography  of  Lord  Melbourne. He  fretted  about  the  urban  underclass  writing  in  1880 , "it  is  wholly  impossible  that  the  population  of  even  one  portion or  segment  of  the  realm  can  be  in  a  state  of  perennial  discontent, destitution,  and  despair,  without  thereby  becoming  a  well-head  of  danger, of  distress  and  of  deterioration  to  other  more  fortunate  parts  of  the  kingdom".

He  died  in  1894  aged  80 when  he  was  knocked  down  by  a  hansom  cab.  

517 Arthur Pelham-Clinton

Constituency : Newark 1865-8

Arthur  replaced  John  Handley  at  Newark.

Arthur  was  a  brother  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.Gladstone  was  his  godfather. He  was  educated  at Reading  and  Eton. He   entered  the  navy  in  1854  and  served  during  the  Baltic  campaign  of  the Crimean  War. He  also served  during  the  Indian  Mutiny  and  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  in  1861.

Despite  being  elected  as a  Liberal  Arthur  had  little  regard  to  party  and  in  1866  was  writing  to Disraeli  telling  him  "my  ambition  is  to  be  in  office". Arthur's  only  speech  in  the  House  was  a  long one  supporting  a  general  resolution  on  radical   reform  in  Ireland.

Shortly  before  the  1868  election  Arthur  was  declared  bankrupt  and  had  to  resign  his  seat.

Arthur's  travails  didn't  end  there. He  was  living  with  a  transvestite  man  named  Ernest  Boulton  who described  himself  as  "Lady  Clinton"  and  showed  of  a  "wedding  ring".  They  also  performed  together  in  amateur  dramatics  with  Boulton  in  female  roles. In 1870  Boulton  and  another tranvestite  William  Park  were  charged  with  "conspiring  and  inciting persons  to  commit  an  unnatural offence". Arthur  was  one  of  those  concerned.

Arthur  died  the  day  after  receiving  his  subpoena  aged  30. The  official  version  was  scarlet  fever  but was more  likely  to  be  suicide. There was  some  speculation at  the  time  that  his  death  was  faked  and he had  gone  abroad. Ironically  Boulton  and  Park  were  acquitted. Twelve  years  later  a  woman  was imprisoned  for  impersonating  him  on  the  basis  of  these  rumours  and   obtaining  money  under  false pretences.

516 Edward Heneage

Constituency : Lincoln  1865-8, Great  Grimsby  1880-92, 1893-5 ( from 1886  a  Liberal Unionist )

Edward's  election  meant  the  Liberals  now  held  both  Lincoln  seats. He  was  taking  back  the  seat foolishly  surrendered  by  his  father  George  in  1862.

Edward  was  educated  at  Eton  and  had  an  army  career  in  the  1st  Life  Guards  from  1857  to 1863. He  was  a  Whig  landowner  who  traced  his  ancestry  back  to  William  Rufus's  time. He  had  a  bitter business  rivalry  with  Edward  Watkin,  MP  for  Hythe

Edward  withdrew  in  1868  when  the  Whig-Radical  compact  in  Lincoln  broke  down.

When  Edward  returned  to  Parliament  in  1880  he  opposed  Charles  Bradlaugh's  right  to  affirm  and  suggested  that  he  should  fight  a  by-election  on  the  issue  to  determine  whether  the  constituency  really  wanted  to  be  represented  by  an  atheist.

Edward  was  appointed  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  in  1886  but  resigned  just  weeks   later  over  Home  Rule. In  his  election  address  he  had  supported  as  much  local  government  "as  is consistent  with  the  unity  of  the  Empire". He  later   said  "Over  Ireland  Mr  Gladstone  and  Mr  John  Morley have  formed  a   fresh  Party  and  have  deserted  Liberal  principles  now !!" He  acted  as  a  go-between for  Hartington and  the  radical  Unionists.

Edward  lost  Grimsby  in  1892 but  recovered  it  at  a  by-election  a  year  later. From  1893  to  1898   he  was  president  of  the  Liberal  Unionist  Council.

Edward  was  briefly  president  of  Grimsby  Town  FC.

Edward  was  made  Baron  Heneage  in  1896  and  was  a  regular  contributor  to  Lords' debates.

He  died  in  1922  aged  82.

515 Sir Thomas Buxton

Constituency : King's  Lynn  1865-8

Sir  Thomas  replaced  John  Gurney  at  King's  Lynn.

Thomas  was  a  Quaker  educated  at  Harrow  and  Cambridge. Both  his  father  and  grandfather  had  been  MPs, the  latter  a  leading  anti-slavery  campaigner.

Thomas  spoke  against  any  proposal  to  cut  down  the  navy's  vigilance  for  slave  traders.

Thomas  was  defeated  in  1868  and  failed  in  numerous  attempts  to  get  back : Westminster  (1874), North  Norfolk  ( 1876  and  1879 ) , West  Essex ( 1880 ) .

In  1895  Thomas  was  appointed  Governor  of  South  Australia  where  he  had  to  deal  with  the hostility  of  the  premier  Charles  Kingston  who  resented  not  being  consulted  about  the  appointment. His  allowance  was  reduced  and  customs  duty  charged  on  all  his  possessions  including  his  wife's invalid  carriage. He  bore  this  with  a  good  grace  and  made  a  good  impression  for  his  geniality  and conscientious  discharge  of  his  duties. He  remained  in  post  until  1899  when  he  returned  to  England due  to  his  wife's  health.

He  died  in  1915  aged  78. His  son  Noel  became  a  Liberal  and  later  Labour  MP.

514 John Fildes

Constituency : Great  Grimsby 1865-8

John  took  Great  Grimsby  back  into  the  Liberal  fold  after  the  Conservative's  by-election  victory  in  1862. Interestingly  both  John  and  his  opponent  John  Chapman  were  directors  of  the  Manchester, Sheffield  and  Lincolnshire  Railway.

In  turn  John  was  removed  in  1868  by  another  railway man  George  Tomline   who  had  switched  over  from  Shrewsbury.

John  was  a  Manchester  stockbroker. He  was  also  known  as  a  campaigner  against  capital punishment.

He  died  in  1875  aged  63.

513 Thomas Western


Constituency  : Essex  North  1865-8

Thomas   took  this  seat  from  the  Tories  and  became  the  only  non-Tory  MP  in  the  history  of the  constituency. He  was  70  when  first  elected, having  been  created  a  baronet  the  previous  year.

When  the  seat  was  broken  up  in  1868  Thomas  stood  in  the  Eastern  division  but  was  unsuccessful. He  was  created  a  baronet.

He died  in  1873  aged  77.

512 John Rebow

Constituency : Colchester  1857-9,  1865-70

John  re-took  his  old  seat  from  the  Tories  after  losing  it  in  1859.

John  was  a  Norfolk  landowner. He  was  educated  at  Eton. He  first  stood  for  North  Essex  in  1847.

Soon  after  his  election  John  was  involved  in  counter-espionage  work  against  the  Fenians  in   Canada, assisting  in  the  recruitment  of  a  double  agent  for  the  British  government.

He  died  in  1870 aged  71.

511 Richard Young

Constituency : Cambridgeshire  1865-8

Richard  succeeded  Henry  Adeane  unopposed as  the  Liberal  representative  for  Cambridgeshire.

Richard  was  a  shipowner . He  was  mayor  of  Wisbech  from  1858  to  1863.

Richard  lost  his  seat  through  over-confidence  in  1868. Believing  that  two  Liberals  could  be  elected for  the  seat  he  invited  Henry  Brand  to  stand  with  him. Brand  came  third  with  10  more  votes  than Richard. To  make  matters  worse  Richard  was  sued  for  damages  by  a  shopkeeper  whose  windows  were  broken  during  the  contest  though  he  eventually  won  the  case  on  appeal. He  contested  a  subsequent  by-election  at  King's  Lynn  but  was  unsuccessful.

He  died  in  1871  aged  62.

510 Thomas Parry

Constituency  :  Boston  1865-6, 1867-8, 1874

The  Liberals  suffered  the  biggest  reverse  in  eastern  England  between  the  Humber  and  the  Thames with  a  net  loss  of  four  seats  (seven  losses  to  three  gains ).

Thomas  replaced  Meaburn  Staniland  at  Boston  with  the  Tories  hanging  on  to  their  by-election  gain  of  the  other  seat.

Thomas  was  an  old  business  associate  of  the  former  MP, Herbert  Ingram. There  was  something  of  a  personal  feud  between him  and  Staniland

On  petition  after  the  election  Thomas  was  unseated  in  favour  of  Staniland  which  caused  a  mini-riot  in  the  town. A  year  later  Staniland resigned  " to  save  his  native  town  from  the  disgrace  of  disfranchisement "and  Thomas  was  returned  unopposed. Thomas  didn't  stand  in  1868  when  the  seat  went Tory  but  won  it  again  in  1874.  That  result  was  overturned  on  petition  because  of  extensive  bribery which  led  to  a  Royal  Commission  into  electoral  processes  in  the  borough. His  Liberal  colleague  William  Ingram, who  was  exonerated  said  if  Thomas  stood  again  it  would  be  "independently  of  any  colleague  who  may  be  chosen  as  a  candidate  in  the  Liberal  interest ".

In  1875  Thomas  set  up  a  number  of  scholarships  at  Boston  Grammar  School.

In  1878  the  Tory  MP  died  but  Thomas  was  still  debarred  from  standing  at  the  by-election.

He  died  in  1879  aged  61.

  

509 Alexander Sheriff

Constituency : Worcester  1865-78

Alexander  replaced  Osman  Ricardo  at  Worcester.

Alexander  was  a  local  businessman.  He  was  born  in  Scotland  and  came  to  Worcester  in  the 1850s to  revitalize  the  local  railway. He  was  chairman  of  the  Worcester  Royal  Porcelain  Company  and  the Worcester  Engine  Works. He  also  held  directorships  in  railways  and  banking. He  was  twice mayor of  Worcester  and  a  local  magistrate.

He  died  in  1878  aged  61.

508 Arthur Peel

Constituency :  Warwick   ( and  Leamington  from  1885 ) 1865-95   ( from   1884  Speaker  and defined  himself  as  a  Liberal  Unionist  from  1886 )   

Arthur  took  one  of  the  Warwick  seats.

Arthur  was  the  youngest  son  of  Sir  Robert  Peel. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Oxford.

Arthur  spoke  in  favour of  the  Russell  Reform  Bill  in  1866. Gladstone  made  Arthur  parliamentary   secretary  to  the  Poor Law  Board  in  1868. In  1873  he   succeeded  Glyn  as  Chief  Whip  but  did  not hold  the  post  in  opposition.

In  1880  Arthur  was  made  under-secretary  of  state  for  home  affairs  but  in  1884  succeeded  Henry Brand  as  Speaker.  In  this  role  he  was  impartial  and  knowledgable  although  he  strongly  supported Charles  Bradlaugh. In  1893  he  had  to  break  up  a  physical  fight  over  the  Home  Rule  Bill.

Arthur  retired  in  1895  and  was  created  Viscount  Peel. In  1896  he  chaired  a  Royal  Commission into  the  licensing  laws  which  produced  a  report  recommending  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  pubs.

He  died  in  1912  aged  83.

507 Edward Manningham Buller

Constituency  :  North  Staffordshire  1832-41, Stafford  1841-7, North  Staffordshire  1865-74

Edward took   North   Staffordshire  from  the  Tories,  making  a  comeback  after  18  years  outside   Parliament.

Edward  was  a  baronet's  son  educated  at  Eton. In  1847  he  was  defeated  trying  to  get  elected  for   his  first  constituency.

Edward  became  a   baronet  in  1866. He  supported  Gladstone's  attempts  to  impede  Disraeli's   Reform  Bill. He  retired  in  1874.

He  died  in  1882  aged  82.

506 Michael Bass

Constituency : Stafford  1865-8, Staffordshire  East  1868-85, Burton 1885-6

Michael  replaced  Thomas  Sidney at   Stafford.

Michael  was  the  son  of  the  brewer  and  MP  for  Derby  of  the  same  name. He  was  educated  at Harrow  and  Cambridge.He  was  a  philanthropist  contributing  many  public  buildings  to  the  town  of Burton. He  was  also  a  railwayman  and  helped  restrict  working  hours  in  the  interests  of  safety. He   enjoyed  fishing  and  shooting  in  Scotland.

In  1882  Michael   was  created  a  baronet, an  honour  his  father  ( who  was  still  alive )  had   persistently   refused. In  1886  he  was  created  Baron  Burton.

In  1894  Michael  left  the  Liberal  party  after  a  long  struggle  with  temperance  enthusiasts. He  gave   over  the  Liberal  Club  he  had  built  for  use  as  Burton's  town  hall.

He  died  in  1907  aged  71  following  a  kidney  operation.

505 Robert More

Constituency  : South  Shropshire  1865-8, Ludlow  1885-1903  ( from  1886  a  Liberal Unionist ) 

Robert  gained  one  of  the  South  Shropshire  seats  for  the  Liberals.

Robert  was  a  vicar's  son  educated  at  Oxford  who  became  a  barrister. He  was  a  traditional  Whig.

Robert's  maiden  speech  was  the  first  of  many   in  support  of  the  repeal  of  the  malt  duty.

Robert  was  defeated  in  1868 when  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  refused  to  contribute  to  his  campaign   as  a  protest  against  the  proposed  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  church.

In  1876  Robert  toured  the  Balkans  and  published  an  account  of  his  travels.

In  1885  Robert  returned  to  Parliament  for  Ludlow  which  he  held  until  his  death. He  switched  to   the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886.

Robert  was  a  keen  geologist  and  exhibited  some  of  his  collection  of  minerals.

He  died  in  1903  aged  67.  

504 William Clement

Constituency : Shrewsbury  1865-70

William  replaced  Henry  Robertson  at  Shrewsbury.

William  was  a  doctor's  son. He  was  educated  at  Shrewsbury  ( naturally ) and  Edinburgh  University. He  became  a  doctor  himself  working  at  Salop    Infirmary  where  his  radical  views  on  free   treatment   for  the  needy  caused  consternation. He  was  also  politically  active ,  supporting  electoral   reform  and  becoming  mayor  of  the  town . The  local  Tories  would  not  engage  him.  He  was  a  noted  medical   author  and  a  friend  of  Dickens  and  Macaulay.

He  died  in  1870  aged  68. The  Tories  won  the  by-election.

503 Edward Pelham-Clinton

Constituency : North  Nottinghamshire 1865-8

Edward  succeeded  his  uncle  Robert  in  the  seat. He  was  unopposed.

Edward  was  a  younger  son  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  then  went   into  the  army. He  joined  the  Rifle  Brigade  in  1854  and  briefly  served  in  the  Crimean  War. He became  a  captain  in  1857  and  served  for  five  years  in  Canada.

Edward  made  just  one  intervention  on  the  Army  Estimates  in  1867. He  declined  to  stand  again  in   1868.

In  1878  Edward  became  a  lieutenant-colonel  but  he  retired  two  years  later  whilst  serving  in  India. In  1881  he  became  a  groom-in-waiting  to  the  queen  then  from  1894  Master  of  the  Household   until  her  death. He  reverted  to  his  previous  role  under  Edward  VII.

He  died  in  1907  aged  72.

502 Samuel Morley

Constituency : Nottingham 1865-6,  Bristol 1868-86

Samuel  ousted  Charles  Paget  at  Nottingham  after  a  very  aggressive  campaign  that  caused  street   riots  in  the  city.

Samuel  was  the  son  of  a  woollen  manufacturer. By  1860  he  was  in  control  of  the  family  business   and  it  expanded  greatly. He  was  a  Congregationalist. He  also  bought  a  share  in  The  Daily  News, a  Liberal  paper  whose  circulation  and  therefore  influence  increased  under  his  proprietorship. He  was  a keen  philanthropist  who  set  up  adult  education  colleges. He  was  a  fierce  abolitionist  and  housed   and  supported  the  escaped  slave  Josiah  Henson. He  also  supported  the  trades  unionist  George  Potter  and  his  Bee  Hive  journal. He  was  a  model  employer  who  paid  well  and  gave  his  workers  exemplary  working  conditions. In  1857  he  swore  off  alcohol  for  the  rest  of  his  life  in  response to  a  heckler  at  a  temperance  meeting.
.
Samuel  was  evicted  from  his  seat  in  1866  when  the  whole  Nottingham  election  was  re-run.

Samuel  was  a  keen  supporter  of  Gladstone. He  said  " I  regard  Mr  Gladstone  as  the  greatest, purest and  ablest  statesman  of  the  present  age, and  of  all  ages  or  any  age ".  He  was  an  advocate  for  all the  great  reforms  of  Gladstone's  first  ministry. He  supported  the  compromises  in  Forster's  Education  Act  rallying  moderate  Nonconformists  to  the  Bill.

In  1873  Samuel  headed  a  deputation  to  the  Chancellor, Robert  Lowe  calling  for  the  repeal  of income  tax  on  trading  profits  but  it  was  rebuffed.

Samuel  seconded  Hartington  for the  leadership  in  1874.

In  1885  Samuel  turned  down  Gladstone's  offer  of  a  peerage  as  he  was  opposed  to  a  hereditary   second  chamber.

He  died  in  1886  aged  77.

501 William Allen

Constituency : Newcastle-under-lyme  1865-86

William  replaced  William  Jackson  as  the  Liberal  representative  for  Newcastle-under-lyme.

William  was  a  Mancunian  conservative  Methodist  educated  at  Oxford. He  was  also  a  wealthy  landowner  in  Staffordshire.

William's  maiden  speech  was  in  support  of  the  1866  Reform  Bill. He  supported  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  church  and   the  right  of  Nonconformist  burial  services  in  parish  churchyards. He  was  also  active  on  the  Wesleyan  Temperance  Committee.

William  was opposed to  Home  Rule  and  complained  to  Gladstone  about  his  haste  saying   it  had  not  been  raised  at  the  last  election.

Shortly  after  leaving  Parliament  William  left  for  New  Zealand  where  he  farmed  and  was  briefly  MP for  Te  Aroha  in  1890  before  being  unseated  on  petition.

In  1913  William  published  a  pamphlet  attacking  the  revisionist  views  of  the  Methodist  preacher   George  Jackson . William  made  an  error  in  attacking  a  statement  which  was  actually  a  direct  quote  from  Wesley  himself  and  had  to  revise  and  reissue  it.

He  died  back  in  England  in  1915  aged  83.

500 John Harris

Constituency :  Leicester  1857-9, 1865-74

John  recaptured  the  second  seat  at  Leicester, held  by  the  Tories  since  a  by-election  in  1861.

John  was  the  son  of  the  former  Leicester  MP  Richard  Harris. He  was  a   devout  Baptist  hosiery manufacturer  and  a  moderate. He  was  Mayor  of  the  city  in  1850   and  1856. He  was  elected  MP in  1857  after  being  put  forward  by  the  moderate  faction  to  defeat  the  Radical, Walmsley  which  he did  with  a  campaign  based  on  Sunday  trading  and  support  from  the  local  Tories. He  was squeezed out  by  two  other  Liberals  in 1859. He  stood in  the  1861  by-election.

John's  daughter  Emma  married  Titus  Salt's  eldest  son.

John  voted  for  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church.

He  died  in  1878  aged  69.

499 Michael Biddulph

Constituency : Herefordshire  1865-85, Ross  1885-1900 ( from 1886  Liberal  Unionist )

Michael  replaced  Humphrey  Mildmay  as  the  Liberal  representative  for  Herefordshire.

Michael  was  a  banker  educated  at  Harrow.

Michael  broke  with  Gladstone  over  Home Rule  and  held  his  seat  as  a  Liberal  Unionist  from  1886.

Michael  was  created  a  peer  as  Baron  Biddulph  in  1903.  He  died  in  1923  aged  89.

498 Charles Colvile

Constituency  : Derbyshire  South   1841-7 ( Conservative ) ,1847-59 1865-8

We  now  come  to  the  Midlands  where  the Liberals  suffered  a  net  loss  of  two  seats  as  a  result  of  failing  to  regain  the  two  Coventry  seats  won by  the  Tories  in  by-elections. Otherwise  it  was  a  5-5  draw.

Charles  regained  the  seat  he  lost  in  1859. He  was  originally  a  Tory  who  became  a  Peelite  although he  married  a  cousin  of  Russell. He  was  a  colonel  and  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Lullington.

Charles's  constituency  was  a  mining  seat  and   he  saw  himself  as  representing  the  mining  interest. He opposed  rating  on  mines.

He  died  in  1886  aged  70.

497 Henry Beaumont

Constituency :  South  West  Riding  1865-74, Colne  Valley  1885-92 ( from  1886  Liberal Unionist )

Henry  was  the  first  cousin  of  Wentworth  Beaumont, MP  for  Northumberland  South  and  later  Baron Allendale. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge. Henry  studied  practical  farming  in  the  1850s. He  was  keen  on  field  sports  and  was  a  crack  shot.

Henry  was  an  Adullamite  and  a  Palmerstonian  who  supported  the  idea  of  a  coalition  government  in 1866.

Henry  finished  bottom  of  the  poll  in  1874  when  both  Liberals  were  defeated.

In  1879  Henry  made  over  lands  for  a  public  park  in  Huddersfield  that  bears  his  name.

Henry  joined  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886.

He  died  in  1913  aged  80.

496 William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam aka Viscount Milton

Constituency  : South  West  Riding  1865-72

William  was  the  son  and  heir  of  Earl  Fitzwilliam. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge. He suffered  from  epilepsy. He  was  a  keen  explorer  and  went  on  an  expedition  into  the  wilder  parts  of Canada  in  1862. He  and  his  companion  Walter  Cheadle  published  an  account  of  their  travels  The North  West  Passage  By  Land . He  was  an  intelligent  , sociable  and  slightly  irritable  man.

William  was  one  of  the  youngest  MPs  elected  in  1865. He  was  a  backbench  Whig. Nevertheless he  intervened  frequently  where  Canada  was  discussed  and  was  concerned  that  concessions  adversely  affecting  it  might  be  made  during  the  Alabama  settlement  negotiations.   He  supported  abolition  of  church  rates, franchise  extension, admission  of  dissenters  to  universities  and  national  education.

William  resigned  his  seat  in  1872  to  travel  with  his  wife  in  America  and  preserve  his  health  abroad ; a  Tory  was  unopposed  in  the  by-election.

He  died  in   Rouen 1877  aged  37.

495 Lord Frederick Cavendish

Constituency : North  West  Riding  1865-82

Frederick  won  the  new  seat  of  North  West  Riding.

Frederick  was  the  younger  brother  of  Lord  Hartington. Like  him  he  was  home  educated  in Lancashire   before  going  to  Cambridge. He  served  as  a  cornet  in  the  Duke  of  Lancaster's  Own Yeomanry. He  became  Lord  Granville's  private  secretary  in  1859  and  travelled  to  the  USA  and  Spain. He supported  the  North  in  the  American  Civil  War  acquiring  the  nickname  "Old  Yankee  Freddie". In 1864  he  married  Gladstone's  neice.

Like  his  brother  six  years  earlier  Frederick  moved  the  Queen's  Speech  after  the  election  victory. He  became  Gladstone's  private  secretary  and  then  from  1872  a  whip. Gladstone  rated  his  abilities higher  than  those  of  his  brother  though  critics  have  suggested  this  was because  Frederick  gave  him more   uncritical  support. In  1880  he  was  made  Financial  Secretary  to the  Treasury  where  he  did much  of  the  routine  financial  work  because  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  was  Gladstone himself.

Frederick  was generally  more  Radical  than  his  brother  and  enthusiastic  about  parliamentary  reform. In  contrast  to  his  brother's  laid back  style  he  was  fiery  and  tactless  with  an  aggressive  oratorical approach  marred  by  speech  defects.

In  1882  Frederick  was  appointed  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland  after  the  resignation  of  Forster. On his  first  day  in  Dublin  he  was  walking  through  Phoenix  Park, Dublin  with  the  permanent  under-secretary  Burke  when  the  latter  was  attacked  by  assassins  from  an  extreme  nationalist  group. Burke was  the  target  and  Frederick  was  only  killed  as  a  result  of  trying  to  defend  him; the  killers  didn't even  know  who  he  was. He  was  45. Half  the  Commons  came  up  to  Chatsworth  on  a  special  train for  his  funeral.

 His  murder  had  profound  political  consequences . Frederick  had  acted  as  a  bridge  between  Gladstone  and  Hartington , the  PM  sometimes  asking  him  for  Hartington's  opinions  rather  than  directly  contacting  the  latter. It  led  directly  to  the  final  breach  between  them.

494 Frederick Milbank

Constituency : North  Riding  1865-85,  Richmond  1885-6

Frederick  was  a  large  landowner  and  a   keen  and  proficient  shooter. He  had  a  brief  army  career as  a  lieutenant  in  the  79th  Highlanders.

Frederick  was  created  a  baronet  in  1882.

He  died  in  1898  aged  78.

493 George Leeman

Constituency  : City  of  York  1865-8, 1871-80

George  ousted  fellow  Liberal  Joshua  Westhead.

George  was  a  greengrocer's  son   from  York  who  became  a  solicitor  and  then  chairman  of  the  York, Newcastle  and  Berwick Railway  somewhat  fortuitously  after  uncovering  evidence  of  George  Hudson's  illegal  share  dealing. He  encouraged  the  mergers  which  led  to  the  North  Eastern  Railway  and  eventually  became   chairman. He  also  owned  an  iron  mining  company  and  had  interests  in  the  York  Herald  and banking.

George  had  a  long  political career  in  the  city  as  councillor, alderman  and  three  times  Lord  Mayor starting  in  1836. He  first  stood  for  Parliament  in  1852.

George  spoke  against  Grosvenor's  amendment  in  1866  pointing  out  that  the  great  increase  in  the national  wealth  was  due  to  the  emergence  of  a  skilled  workforce - and  of  course  the  railways. He also  challenged  the  telegraph  companies  over  their  failure  to  properly  account  to  Parliament but  his warnings  were  not  heeded.

George  was  defeated  by  Westhead  in  1868  but  returned  at the  by-election  in  1871.

In  1880  his  mining  company  failed . Less  wealthy  and  in  poor  health,  he  resigned  as  chairman  of the  LNER   and  stood  down  at  the  election  in  favour  of  his  son  Joseph  who  was  duly  elected.

He  died  in  1882  aged  72. A  statue  of  him  stands  outside  York  station.