604 Alexander Maitland

Constituency : Midlothian  1868-74

Alexander  unseated  the  Tory  Earl  of  Dalkeith  by  a  convincing  margin.

Alexander  was  a  baronet  educated  at  Edinburgh  Academy. He  became  a  lieutenant  in  the  79th  Highlanders. He  was a  wealthy  landowner.

Dalkeith  reclaimed  the  seat from  Alexander  in  1874.

He  died  in  1876  aged  56.

603 John Miller

Constituency : Edinburgh  1868-74

John  was  elected  unopposed  as  one  of  Edinburgh's  two  MPs  succeeding  James  Moncrieff.

John  was  born  in  Ayr  and  was  another  railway  engineer. He  had  a  partnership  with  Thomas  Grainger. He  surveyed  the  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  Railway  and  designed  many  viaducts.
He  retired  in  1850. He  unsuccessfully  contested  Stirling  Burghs  in  1852  losing  to  Sir  James  Anderson  by  20  votes .  He  contested  Edinburgh  in  1865  hoping  to  be  elected  alongside  Duncan  McLaren  who  he  financially  supported . McLaren  was  elected  but  John  lost  out  to  James  Moncrieff.

John  was  on  the  right  of  the  party and  sometimes  described  himself  as  "a  progressive  conservative". He  was  an  advocate  of  self-help. He  spoke  in  the  Commons  on  education  and  engineering-related  matters.

John  invested  his  money  in  land, property  and  art.

By  1874  John   and  McLaren  were  no  longer  allies  and  the  latter  campaigned  with  James  Cowan instead. John  was  encouraged  to  re-stand   by  a   trade  union  faction  the  "Advanced  Liberals" but  he  lost  out  with  19 %  of  the  vote.

He  died    in  1883  aged  78.

602 Robert Macfie

Constituency : Leith  Burghs  1868-74

Robert  ousted   Sir  William  Miller  at  Leith.

Robert   was  the  son  of  a  sugar  merchant. He  was  educated  in  Edinburgh. In  1838  he moved  to Liverpool  to  establish  a  new  branch  of  the  family  business. He  helped  to  found  the  Liverpool Chamber  of  Commerce . He  was  particularly  interested  in  postal  reform. He  stood  against  Miller  in  1859  but  does  not  appear  to  have  contested  the  seat  in 1865. He  retired  from  active  involvement  in  the  business  in  1863.

In  1870 Robert  warned  in  an  article  On  The  Crisis  Of  The  Colonies  that  increases  in  foreign  competition  was  increasing  the  discontent  in  working  class  areas.  In  1871  he  bought  Dreghorn  Castle  where  he  built  many  follies  and  monuments.

In  1872  Robert  put  forward  a  motion  to  allow  colonial  governments  to  participate  in  imperial discussions.

Robert  campaigned  against  the  patent  system on  free  trade  principles , favouring  a  government-financed  reward  system  to  something  that  gave  monopoly  rights.

In  1874  Robert  was  defeated  by  another  Liberal.

He  died  in  1893  aged  81.

601 Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Constituency : Stirling  Burghs  1868-1908

Henry  unseated  his  fellow  Liberal  John  Ramsay, the  recent  by-election  victor. Henry  had  narrowly lost  in  that  contest.

Henry  was  born  Henry  Campbell   in  Glasgow  in  1836, the  son  of  a  clothing  and  drapery  merchant. He  was  educated  at  Glasgow  High  School  and  Cambridge. He  went  on  to  work  in  the  family  firm.

In  1871, Henry's  uncle  died  and  left  him  an  estate  in  Kent  on  the  condition  that  Henry  adopted  his  surname, Bannerman. That  same  year  he  was  appointed  Financial  Secretary  to  the  War  Office  in  Gladstone's  first  government. He  was  restored  to  the  position  in  1880  ( the  year  his  elder  brother  James  entered  the  Commons  as  a  Conservative )  then  moved  to  Parliamentary  and  Financial  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty  in  1882. In  1884  he  joined  the  Cabinet  as  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland  where  he  began  to  be  noticed  as  a  talented  politician, remaining  unruffled  through  fierce  attacks  by  the  Irish  MPs.

Henry's  biggest  political  assets  were  affability, an  even  temperament  and  common  sense. He  didn't  make  enemies  easily and  stuck  to  his  principles  throgh  good  and  bad  times.

In  1886  Henry  was  invited  to  stand  against  George Goschen  in  Edinburgh  but  decided  it  was  too  formidable  a  task  and  stayed  where  he  was.

In  Gladstone's  third  government  of  1886  Henry  was Secretary  of  State  for  War  and  held  the  same  post  in  the  final  Gladstone  government  and  Rosebery's  administration. He  persuaded  the  Duke  of  Cambridge  to  resign  as  Commander-in-chief  in  1895, an  action  endorsed  by  the  queen  who  knighted  Henry  shortly  afterwards. He  was  an  able  administrator. Rosebery's  government  actually  fell  on  a  Conservative  motion  to  reduce  his  salary.

In  1895  Henry  had  to  be  dissuaded  from  applying  for  the  vacant  Speakership  because  he  was  thought  to  be  too  valuable  to  his  weakened  party.After  four  years  of  disunited  opposition  the  Liberals  chose  him  as  leader  to  succeed  Sir  William  Harcourt  from  a  limited  field   of  MPs  with  Cabinet  experience. Asquith  could  not  afford  to  stand  at  that  time. Although  he  has  been  described  as  "the  radical  Prime  Minister"  Henry  was  actually  a  centrist  concerned  with  holding  his  party  together. This  immediately  became  a  difficult  task  when  the  Boer  War  started  in  1899  dividing  his  followers  into  imperialist  and  pacifist  sections.  He  distrusted  Milner.  He  could  not  oppose  the  war  itself  but  blamed  the   government  for  starting  it  and   in  1901  denounced  the  "methods  of  barbarism"  ( including  the  setting  up  of  concentration  camps ) employed  to  win  it. He  refused  to  withdraw  his  remarks.

The  divided  party  was  defeated  in  1900's  "khaki"  election  but  Henry  was  able  to  re-group  them  around  opposition  to  the  1902  Education  Act  and  the  Conservatives'  government's  position  in  the  Brussels  Sugar  Convention  of  1902.  He  denounced  the  threat  to  free  trade  in  a  speech  to  the  Cobden  Club  in  1902. This  was  soon  subsumed  into  opposition  to  Joseph  Chamberlain's  tariff  reform  proposals  which  fully  reunited  the  party  and  brought  them  some  new  recruits.

Henry  endorsed  the  Gladstone-MacDonald  pact  of  1903. His  personal  relations  with  the  Labour  leaders  were  good  and  he  said  "we  are  keenly  in  sympathy  with  the  representatives  of  Labour. We  have  too  few  of  them  in  the  House  of  Commons".

In  reaction  to  the  revival  in  Liberal  fortunes  the  leaders  of  the  imperialist  wing  , Asquith, Haldane  and  Grey  forged  the  so-called  Relugas  Compact  in  1903  with  the intent  of  forcing  Henry  to  go  to  the  Lords  before  they  would  agree  to  serve  under  him. This  would  leave  Asquith  in  control  of  the  Commons . This  threat  was  never  carried  out  because  the  conspirators  became  disappointed  in  their  preferred  leader  Rosebery  in  the  meantime.

In  1905  the  beleaguered  Balfour  resigned  and  Henry  became  Prime  Minister  at  the  age  of  69  at  the  head  of  a  minority  administration. Henry  immediately  dissolved  Parliament  and  won  a  sensational  landslide  victory  in  the  1906  election on  the  traditional  platform  of  peace, retrenchment  and  reform. The  three  conspirators  meekly  accepted  office  in  his  Cabinet, generally  recognised  as  one  of  the  most  gifted  to  sit  together.

Henry  was  basically  Gladstonian  rather  than  Radical. He  was  interested  in  social  reform  and  helping  the  poor  but  opposed  to  too  much  state  interference. Haldane  said  he  was  "determined  to  do  as  little  as  a  fiery  majority  will  allow  him".  Haldane's  statement  ignores  the  opposition  provided  by  the  House  of  Lords  to  the  government's  reforming  plans. They  allowed  through  the  Trade  Disputes  Act  giving  unions  some  legal  protection  and  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  but  destroyed  Birrell's  Education  Bill  which  attempted  to  undo  the  1902  Act.

In  1907  Henry  met  with  the  French  Prime  Minister  Clemenceau  and  refused  to  give  him  any commitment  of  British  military  support  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  Germany. He  did  however  endorse  the  Anglo-French  staff  talks  arranged  by  Grey  and  Haldane  without  letting  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet  know  about  them. That  same  year  he  antagonised  the  Unionists  by  giving  the  Boer  states  self-government  through  an  Order  in  Council  making  possible  the  Union  of  South  Africa  in  1910.

That  same  year  a  Tory  MP's  death  made  him  Father  of  the  House. Henry's  health  was  beginning  to  fail. He was  nearly  20  stone  in  weight  and  suffered  a  number  of  heart  attacks. He  was  forced  to  resign  in  April  1908. Asquith  became  Prime  Minister  but  allowed  Henry  to  stay  in 10 Downing  St  while  his  health  remained  precarious. He  died  19  days  later  with  the  erroneous  prediction "This  is  not  the  end  of  me".

Lloyd  George  said  "I  have  never  met  a  great  public  figure  since  I  have  been  in   politics  who  so  completely  won  the  attachment  and  affection  of  the  men  who  came  into  contact  with  him. He  was  not  merely  admired  and  respected : he  was  loved  by  us  all.....He  was  absolutely  the  bravest  man  I  ever  met  in  politics". Asquith  told  the  Commons  on  the  day  of  his  funeral "He  was  the  least  cynical  of  mankind  but  no  one  had  a  keener  eye  for  the  humours  and  ironies  of  the  political  situation. He  was  a  strenuous  and  uncompromising  fighter, a  strong  Party  man, but  he  harboured  no  resentments , and  was  generous  to  a  fault  in  appreciation  of  the  work  of  others, whether  friends  or  foes."
  
.

600 George Anderson

Constituency : Glasgow  1868-85

Glasgow  was  awarded  a  third  seat  in  the  1868  redistribution  and  George  joined  the  Liberal  incumbents  as  the  new  MP.

George  was  a  businessman.

George  supported  reductions  in  military  expenditure  and  wanted  to  see  army  pay  and  pensions  reduced.

In  1870  George  formed  a  company  to  mine  silver  in  Utah  raising  much  of  his  capital  in  Glasgow.  When  the  company  collapsed  in  1873  many  of  the  shareholders  sued  due  to  inaccurate  production  figures. George  was  reported  to  be  bankrupt  as  a  result  although  his  political  career  survived.

George  welcomed  Gladstone's  Bulgarian  pamphlet.

George  resigned  the  seat  in  1885  to  become Master  of  the  Mint  in  Melbourne, Australia. Vanity  Fair  commented,  "After  many  years'  persistent  hunting  of, and  denouncing   of  sinecures , he  has  at  last  accepted  one  to  console  his  declining  years ".

George  was  a  fan  of  skating  and  wrote  about  it  under  the  pseudonym "Cyclos".

He  died  in  1896  aged  77.

599 John Hamilton

Constituency :  Falkirk  Burghs  1857-9, South  Lanarkshire  1868-74, 1880-86

John  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  South  Lanarkshire.

John  was  born  in  France  and  educated  at  Eton. He  joined  the  2nd  Life  Guards  and  rose  to  the rank  of  captain  in  1854. He  retired  from  the  regular  army  in  1860. He  served  as  MP  for  Falkirk Burghs  from  1857  to  1859.

In  1886  John  lost  his  seat  by  18  votes  and  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Hamilton  on  the  recommendation  of  Lord  Dalhousie. Dalhousie  wrote  "He  has  fought  four  contested elections  at  his  own  expense  entirely... He  has  always  voted  straight. He  is  a  man  of  high  and  honourable  character, wealthy , and  of  a  very  old  family. He  has  always  been  very  public-spirited  and  unselfish  in  his  political  conduct  and  ever  ready  and  glad  to  sacrifice  his  own  interests  for  the  good  of  the  party - a  most  loyal  and  chivalrous  fellow. He  has  besides, dignity  and  good  manners".

John  served  as  a  lord-in-waiting  during  Gladstone's  final  government  of  1892-94.

He  died  in  1900  aged  71.

598 George Armitstead

Constituency : Dundee  1868-73, 1880-85

Dundee  acquired  a  second  MP  in  the  1868  redistribution  and  George  accompanied  the  sitting  MP Sir  John  Ogilvy  ( whom  he  had  stood  against  in  1857 at  the  request  of  local  artisans )  back  to  Westminster. He  was  strongly  supported  by  the  Temperance  Movement.

George  was  born  in  Riga, Latvia  where  his  English  father  was  operating  as  a  jute  merchant. He  was  educated  in  Germany. He  came  to  Dundee  in  1843  setting  up  his  own  shipping  and  jute  business. He  was  also  chairman  of  the  Dundee  to  Arbroath  Railway. He  married  the  sister  of  the  Montrose  MP  William  Baxter  but  they  separated  shortly  afterwards  due  to  his  having  an  affair. This  became  a  scandal  and  George  was  something  of  a  social  outcast  for  a  time.

George  was  a  benefactor  to  the  city. He gave  to  a  hospital  fund  and  his  will  included  funding  a  chair  of  philosophy  at  the  university  and  a  hospital ward. Several  benevolent  trusts  still  operate  for  the  good  of  the  city.

George  retired  in  1873  but  agreed  to  stand  again  in  1880.

George  was  a  personal  friend  rather  than  political  ally  of  Gladstone. He  holidayed  with  him  in  Biarritz  and  Cannes  and  footed  the  bills. He  was  a  pallbearer  at  Gladstone's  funeral. Gladstone  described  him  as  being  "of  rare  modesty, courtesy  and  generosity : rare  in  his  class, or  in  any  class".

George  was  created  Baron  Armitstead  in  1906  by  alfour  having  previously  turned  down  the  offer  from  Gladstone  in  1893.

He  died  in  1915  aged  91.

597 James Grieve

Constituency : Greenock  1868-78

James  replaced  Alexander  Dunlop  at  Greenock.

James  was  educated  in  Scotland  and  was  a  senior  partner  in  a  mercantile  firm  through  his  mother. He  was  a  shipowner. In  1868  he  gave  free  passage  back  home  to  the  survivors  from  a  group  of  young stowaways  who  had  been  brutally  abandoned  on  an  ice  field  in  Newfoundland  by  a  Scottish  captain.

James  was  a  local  benefactor. He  was  a  leading  promoter  of  the  Greenock  and  Ayrshire  railway  and  he  helped  develop  the  port  and  the  water  supply.

James  was  elected  unopposed  in  1874. James  retired  and  relinquished  his  seat  in  1878.

He  died  in  1891  aged  81.

596 Sir David Wedderburn

Constituency : South  Ayrshire  1868-74, Haddington Burghs 1879-82

Sir  David  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  constituency  of  South  Ayrshire.

Sir  David  was  a  Scottish  baronet  and  barrister.

In  1873  Sir  David  visited  Victor  Hugo  in  Guernsey   in  which  he  admitted  to  republican  sympathies but  said  "If  I  said  that  aloud, I  would  not  be  re-elected".  He  decided  not to  stand  in  1874  anyway judging  his  prospects  hopeless  and  had to  wait  until  1879  to  get  back  in  at  a  by-election.

Sir  David  was  an  inveterate  traveller. In  1881  Sir  David   visited  South  Africa  and  on  his  return
called  for  the  restoration  of  King  Cetawayo. His  travel  journals  were  published  after  his  death.

Shortly  before  his  death  Sir  David  wrote  a  perceptive  analysis  of  Gladstone. "The  prime  minister  can  now  do  no  wrong  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude... the  conduct  of  his  enemies  has  made  him  dictator. It  is  possible , however, for  a  great  man  to  have  many  attached  personal  friends, and  to  be  the  idol  of  the  multitude, and  yet  to  fail  in  securing  anything  like  personal  devotion  among  his  immediate  subordinates  and  supporters. To  be  in  continual  proximity  to  the  chief  without  receiving  the  fainyest  indication  that  one  is  known  to  him  by  name , or  even  by  sight, must  chill  the  ardour  of  even  the  most  zealous  follower. There  is  a  mortification  for  the  follower  in  the  discovery  that  he  has  no  personal  identity  in  the  memory  of  his  great  leader, a  memory  which  is  almost  preternatural in  iits  retentiveness  and  grasp".  

He  resigned  his  seat  through  ill  health  in  1882  and  died  shortly  afterwards  aged  47.

595 William Finnie

Constituency : North Ayrshire  1868-74

William  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  North  Ayrshire.

William  was  the  son  of  a  merchant. He  was  educated  at  Merchiston  Castle  Academy  and  Cambridge. He  was  a  barrister.

William  was  defeated  in  1874.

He  died  in  1899  aged  72.

594 Charles Parker

Constituency : Perthshire  1868-74, Perth  1876-92

Charles  took  the  Tory  stronghold  of  Perthshire.

Charles  was  a  merchant's  son. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Oxford  and  became  a  public  examiner  at  the  latter  institution.  He  was  a  keen  mountaineer  and  made  the  second  and  fourth  attempts  on  the  Matterhorn  in  1860-61.  From  1864  to  his  election  he  was  private  secretary  to  Edward  Cardwell  and  married  his  sister.

Charles  was  an  intellectual  Radical. He  sat  on  a  number  of  Commissions  on  education  during  his  first  term  as  an  MP. He  was  a  contributor  to  Essays  In  Reform.

Charles  was  defeated  in 1874  but  won  at  Perth in  a  by-election  in  1876. In  the  1885-86  Parliament  he  was  chairman  of  referees  on  private  bills.

Charles  became  something  of  a  historian  of  the  Peelites. In  1899  he  published  Peel's  papers  and  eight  years  later  published  the  life  and  letters  of  Graham. He  was  a  friend  of  Gladstone  and  visited  him  at  Hawarden  frequently. He  also  went  climbing  in  the  Alps  with  Gladstone's  sons.

Charles  lost  in  1892  when  another  Liberal  candidate  split  the  vote. Strangely  Gladstone  blamed  him , the  sitting  MP  , for  not  standing  down.

He  died  in  1910  aged  80.

593 William McCombie

Constituency : Western  Aberdeenshire  1868-76

William  became  the  first  MP , elected  unopposed , for  the  new  seat  of  Western Aberdeenshire.

William  was  a  tenant  farmer , apparently  the  first  to  represent  a  Scottish  constituency, and  a  noted  cattle  breeder. He  published  Cattle  and  Cattlebreeders  in  1867  and  developed  a  distinctive  herd  of  black-polled  cattle. He  acquired  the  name  of  "The  Grazier  Thing". He  was  6'2".

William  was  a  Radical  who  spoke  up  for  small  farmers  and  agricultural  labourers.

He  died  in  1880  aged  75.

592 Aeneas Mackintosh

Constituency : Inverness  Burghs  1868-74

Aeneas  was  elected  unopposed  succeeding  Alexander  Matheson  who  switched  constituencies.

Aeneas  was  educated  at  Oxford.

Aeneas  was  defeated  by  a  fellow  Liberal  in  1874.

He  died  in  1900  aged  80.

591 George Loch

Constituency : Wick  Burghs 1868-72

The  1868  election  was  a  big  victory  for  the  Liberals. Given  the  extended  franchise  and  redistribution  of  seats  comparisons  with  the  result  in  1865  are  not  particularly  meaningful  but  generally  the  Liberals  tightened  their  grip  on  Scotland,  Wales  and  ( temporarily )  Ireland  while  holding  their  own  in  England. As  Russell  had  already  indicated  a  lack  of  interest  in  forming  another  ministry  the  queen  sent  for  Gladstone  and  Disraeli's  government  resigned  without  waiting  for  a  parliamentary  defeat  as  henceforth  became  the  norm  after  a  clear  election  result.

George  defeated  the  Adullamite   Samuel  Laing  at  Wick Burghs  by  186  votes.

George  was  the  son  of  James  Loch  who  managed  the  Duke  of  Sutherland's  estates  and  carried  out  some  evictions.George  was  a  barrister. He  was  a  friend  of  Lord  Granville.  He  was  a  supporter of  homeopathic  medicine.

 George  successfully  moved  for  a  select  committee  on  the game  laws  in  Scotland  in  1869. He  resigned  his  seat  in  1872  and  became  Attorney-General  for  the  Duchy  of  Cornwall  the  following  year.

He  died  in  1887  aged  76.

590 Charles Lyttelton

Constituency : Worcestershire  East  1868-74

Charles  won  the  by-election  after  Frederick  Gough-Calthorpe  became  a  peer. He  was  the  last  Liberal  MP  elected  under  the  1832-68  franchise.

Charles  was  the  son  and  heir  of  Baron Lyttelton. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge. He  is  probably  best  remembered  as  part  of  a  cricketing  dynasty. He  was  also  part  of  the  committee  that  standardised  the  rules  of  lawn  tennis.

In  1873  Charles  moved  the  Queen's  Speech  with  what  turned  out  to  be  his  last  parliamentary speech.

Charles  succeeded  his  father  to  the  barony  in  1876  and  then  succeeded  a  distant  relative  to  become  Viscount  Cobham  in  1889.

He  died  in  1922 aged  79. He  was  the  grandfather  of  the  jazz  musician, Humphrey  Lyttelton.

As  noted  above  this  concludes  our  look  at  the  by-election  victors  of  1866-8. We  now  move on  to  the  liberal  victors  in  the  1868  election.


 

589 John Ramsay

Constituency :  Stirling  Burghs  1868, Falkirk  Burghs  1874-88

John  took  over  at  Stirling  when  Lawrence  Oliphant  was  induced  to  resign  through  the  influence  of  his  guru.

John  was  educated  at  Glasgow  University. He  built  up  a  successful  distillery  business  on  Islay  in   the  Inner  Hebrides. In  1864  he  was  a  member  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Education  in  Scotland. He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  export  trade  of  Scotch  whiskey  to  America.

In  the  general  election  of  1868  John  was  decisively  defeated  by  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman. He visited  Canada  in  1870. In  1872  he  was  on  another  Royal  Commission  on  Endowed  Schools  in Scotland. He  came  back  in  1874  at  Falkirk  Burghs  and  held  the  seat  until  1886  when  he  stood down. His  last  speech  in  Parliament  was  defending  himself  against  charges  of  cruelty  and  neglect towards  his  tenants.

John  was  a  major  benefactor  to  Islay. He  enlarged  the  pier  at  Port  Ellen and  made  other infrastructue  improvements. He  initiated  a  cargo  and  passenger  service  between  there  and  Glasgow. He  built  schools  at  his  own  expense.


He  died  in  1892  aged  77.

588 William Carington

Constituency : Wycombe  1868-83

William  was  elected  unopposed  when  his  brother  became  Baron  Carington.

William  was  educated   at  Eton  then  joined  the  Grenadier  Guards.

William  was  still  a  serving  soldier  when  elected. He  held  the  seat  when  it  was  reduced  to  one  member  for  the  1868  election. He  rose  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  won  a  medal  for  his  actions  in  the  Egyptian  Campaign  of  1882.

William  resigned  his  seat  in  1883 and  held  a  variety  of  court  positions  until  his  death.He  accompanied  Prince  George  to  Berlin  for  the  Kaiser's  birthday  in  1902.

He  died  in  1914  aged  69.

587 Samuel Carter

Constituency : Coventry  1868

Samuel  had  a  very  brief  stint  as  MP  for  Coventry  after  Henry  Jackson's  by-election  victory  was  voided. Some  sources  confuse  him  with  a  Radical  MP of   the  same  name  for  Tavistock  in  the  1850s.

Samuel  was  a  Coventry  solicitor  who  mainly  worked  for  two  railway  companies, the  Midland
 the  London  and  North  Western. He  was  a  Unitarian. He  helped  fund  a  library  in  Coventry.

In  Parliament  he  got  to speak  on  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  church  and  the  carrier  acts.

Samuel  was  defeated  in  1868  and  1874.

He  died  in  1878  aged  72.

586 John Campbell aka Marquess of Lorne

Constituency : Argyllshire  1868-78,  Manchester  South  1895-1900 ( Liberal  Unionist )

John  came  in  unopposed  to  replace  Alexander  Finlay  ( who  may  have  resigned  to  facilitate  his  entrance ).

John  was  the  son  and  heir  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll , an  original  Peelite  who  held  office  in  every  liberal  administration  from 1852  to  1881  and  a  nephew  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge  but  also  the  National  Art  Training  School. He  travelled  widely  in  North  and  Central  America.

John's  parliamentary  career  was  uneventful. The  London  World  magazine  described  him  as  " a  non-entity  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  a  non-entity  without". He  acted  as  private  secretary  to  his  father  ,  then  the  secretary  of  state  for  India, from  1868  to  1871. That  year  he  was  married  to  one  of  the  Queen's  spare  daughters,  Princess  Louise. There  are  rumours  that  she  had  a  baby  boy as  a  teenager  and  he  was  adopted  by  the  queen's  gynaecologist; a  purported  descendant  has  had  his  request  for  tests  refused.  The  marriage  was  childless, they  often  lived  apart  and  there  were  rumours  that  John  was  at  least  bisexual.

John  resigned  his  seat  in  1878  in  order  to  become  Canada's  youngest  Governor-General  at  33. There  was  a  mixed  reception  in  the  territory. Many  were  excited  at  having  a  genuine  royal  in  residence ; others  felt  that  Canadian  society  would  be  changed  adversely by  her  presence. John's  term  was  generally  felt  to  be  a  success, both  he  and  Louise  were  fond  of  the  arts  and  encouraged  the  establishment  of  the  National  Gallery  of  Canada  and  the  Royal  Canadian  Academy  of  Arts. He  oversaw  the  completion  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  and  a  hospital  in  British  Columbia. He  also  wrote  poetry  in  praise  of  Canada. "Lorne"  became  ( and  still  is )  a  popular  Christian  name  over  there.

They  wintered  in  Britain  in  1881-2; Louise's   health  had  been  poor  since  a  tobogganning  accident  the  year  before.  John  left  office  in  1883  after  completing  his book,  Memories  of  Canada  and  Scotland .  His  hopes  of  further  imperial  appointments  were  thwarted  by  Victoria's   desire  to  have  her  daughter  close.  In  1892  he was  appointed  Governor  and  Constable  of Windsor  Castle.

John's  father  had  not  joined  the Liberal  Unionists  in  1886  , preferring  to  oppose  Home  Rule  independently. John  did  join  and   accepted  nomination  as  their  candidate  at   Bradford  Central  in  1892  where  he  failed  to  unseat  George Shaw-Lefevre . Manchester  South  in  1895  and  won  the  seat. He  resigned  it  on  becoming  Duke  of  Argyll  in  1900.  His  wife  is  supposed  to  have  favoured  Home  Rule. He  declined  the  governor-generalship  of  Australia  in  1900  preferring  to  stay  on  his  Scottish  estates  and  write. In  1901  he  began  writing  a  sympathetic  biography  of  Victoria  which   sold  quite  well  when  published.

His  health  was  poor  after  1910  and  he  died  from  pneumonia  in  1914  aged  68.

585 George Melly

Constituency : Stoke-upon-Trent  1868-75

George  chalked  up  another  gain  for  the  Liberals  when  the  Tory  MP  quit  their  seat  to  contest  ( and  fortunately  for  him, win )  another  by-election  at  Cambridge  University.

George  was  a  Unitarian  merchant  and  shipowner  from  Manchester. He  was  educated  at  Rugby. He was  a  member  of  the  Mersey  Docks  and  Harbour  Board  and  a  director  of  a  marine  insurance company. He  authored  a  number  of  books  including  School  Experiences  of  a  Fag  and  some political pamphlets. He  contested  Preston  in  a  by-election  in  1862  and  Stoke  in  1865. He  was  a major  in  the  Volunteer  movement  and  hoped  it  would  train  people  into  habits  of  self-government. He  was  a  keen  sportsman.

In  1869  George  moved  a  motion  for  a  select  committee  on  Education  which  was  opposed  by Henry  Fawcett  who  thought  the  case  for  a  large  measure  was  already  established.

George  resigned  his  seat  in  1875  through  ill  health  and   a  need  to  devote  more  time to  his  businesses . The  seat  went  to  an  antiparty  radical  in  the  by-election.

He  died  in  1894  aged  63. He  was  the  great  grandfather  of  the  jazz  singer  George  Melly.

584 Wellwood Maxwell

Constituency : Kirkcudbright  1868-74

Wellwood  was  elected  unopposed  to  take  over  from  the  deceased  James  Mackie.

Wellwood  was  educated  at  Edinburgh  Academy  and  Oxford. He  was  a  barrister  and  a  director  of   the  Glasgow  and  South  Western  Railway.

Shortly  after  his  election  Wellwood's  house  was  destroyed  by  fire  after  a  lightning  strike.

He  died  in  1900  aged  82.

583 Thomas Paget

Constituency  : Leicestershire  South  1867-8, 1880-85, Harborough  1885-6

Thomas  chalked  up  a  Liberal  gain  in  the  usually  solid  Tory  seat  of  Leicestershire  South  after  the  death  of  one  of  the  Tory  MPs, He  won  by  39  votes  after  a  well-organised  Liberal  campaign.

Thomas  was  the  son  of  a  former  Whig MP. He  stood  for  Leicester  in  a  by-election  in  1856  as  a  moderate  Liberal  against  the  radical  John  Biggs, a  contest  that  cemented  Liberal  division  in  the  borough.   He  was  a  banker  and  landowner. He  was  a   Unitarian. He  was  interested  in  educational  expansion  and  founded  schools. He  was  fond  of  country sports.

Thomas  was  defeated  in  1868, at  a  by-election  in  1870  and  1874  but  finally  reclaimed  the  seat  in 1880  after  declining  opportunities  to  stand  in  the  Leicester  borough.. He  switched  to  Harborough  when  the  seat  was  abolished  in  1885  but  stepped  down  at  the 1886  election. He  issued  an  address  saying  that  he  was  retiring  through  ill  health  but  supported  Gladstone  and  Home  Rule.

Thomas  was  opposed  to  the  lash, game  laws  and  capital  punishment.

Thomas  was  fond  of  theatre  and  the  opera  and  gave  considerable  financial  support  to  Leicester  Opera  House  which  opened  in  1877.

He  died  in  1892  aged  85.

582 Jacob Bright

Constituency : Manchester  1867 - 74, 1876 -85, Manchester  South West 1886-95

Jacob  retained  Manchester  for  the  Liberals  on  the  death  of  Edward  James.

Jacob  was  the  younger  brother  of  John  Bright. He  was  educated  at  a  Quaker  school  before entering  the  family  business.  He  introduced  the  linotype  machine  to  Britain. He  was  a  radical  and supported  the  Chartists. He  was  the  first  mayor  of  Manchester  and  stood  for  the  city  in  1865. He  was   present  at  the  refounding  of  the  Manchester  Suffrage  Society  in  1867.

Jacob  was  a  pacifist  and  supporter  of  women's  suffrage. His  maiden  speech  was  in  favour  of disestablishing  the  Irish  Church. His  last  contribution  decried  the  import  of  spirits  into  African colonies. He  was  also  a  homeopath  , involved  in  the  Anti-Vaccination  League.

In  describing  a  speech  Jacob  made  in  favour  of  non-intervention  in  1871  The  Spectator  noted  that " Mr  Jacob  Bright, as  usual, speaks  like  his  brother  minus  his  imagination, sagacity  and  power, but  not  minus  his  wrath".

After  Mill's  defeat  in  1868  he  became  the  parliamentary  spokesman  for women's  suffrage. In  1869  he  moved  the  amendment  to  the  Municipal  Corporations  Bill  that  gave  women  the  local  government  franchise. He  spent  the  first  few  years  of  the  1870s  moving  female  suffrage  bills  that  Gladstone's  government  would  not  accept. He  was  also  involved  in  the  campaign  to  repeal  the  Contagious  Diseases  Act.

Jacob  stayed  a  Gladstonian  when  John  became  a  Liberal Unionist  and  publicly  declared  his  brother's  stance  was  mistaken. A  Liberal  Unionist  Hopkinson  was  nominated  against  him  in  1889  which  broke  a  fragile  truce  in  Manchester. He  was  dogged  by  ill  health  in  later  years. He  stepped  down  in  1895.

He  died  in  1899

581 Matthew Thompson

Constituency  : Bradford 1867-8

Matthew  took  the  second  Bradford  seat  away  from  the  Tories  after  the  death  of  the  incumbent. He  stood  as  a  "liberal conservative".

Matthew  was  from  Bradford  and  went  to  Cambridge. He  became  a  barrister  and  practised  until  1857  when  he  returned  to  Bradford  to  take  control  of  his  father-in-law's  brewery. He  was  mayor  within  five  years  of  returning. In  1865  he  became  a  director  of the  Midland  Railway.

Matthew  saw  himself  as  a  stopgap  candidate  and  did  not  stand  for  re-election  in  1868. However  he  did  stand  when  the   winner  Henry  Ripley, a  fellow  moderate,  was  unseated  in  1869  but  was  unsuccessful.

Matthew  was  mayor  again  from  1871-2. In  1879  he  became  chairman  of  the  Midland . He  also  became  chairman  of  the  Forth  Bridge  company  and  saw  the  project  through  to  completion  in  1890. He  received  a  baronetcy  in  recognition  of  his  efforts.

That  year  he  resigned  the  chairmanship  due  to  ill  health  and  died  the  following  year  aged  71.

580 Hubert de Burgh-Canning aka Viscount Burke

Constituency :  Galway  County 1867-71

Hubert  took  over  at  Galway  County  on  the  death  of  his  brother,  Lord  Dunkellin.

Hubert  was  educated  at  Harrow  then  entered  the  diplomatic  service  sending  ten  years  as  an  attache  at  Turin.

Hubert  was  a  connoisseur  of  art  treasures  and  jewels.

After  four  years   as  an  MP  Hubert  resigned  his  seat  in  protest  at  Gladstone's  Irish  Land  Act.

In  1874  Hubert  succeeded  his  father  as  Marquess  of  Clanricarde. He  soon  acquired  a  reputation   as  one  of  the  worst  of  Ireland's  absentee  landlords. He  was  known  in  Ireland  as  Lord   Clanrackrent.  He  is  thought  to  have  only  visited  the  estate  on  the  occasion  of  his  father's  funeral. He  was  miserly  and  reclusive , dressed  like  a  tramp  and  was completely  intransigent  in  the  face  of   any  reform  proposals  or  attempts  to  smooth  over  his  disputes  with  the  tenants. He  would  not   countenance  rent  reductions  and  instructed  his  land  agent  John  Blake  to  proceed  with  evictions  on   default. In  1882  Blake  was  murdered  but  Hubert  was  unrepentant. The  Irish  National  League  made   him  a  particular  target  and  other  landlords  blamed  him  for  fuelling  the  agitation. The  local  clergy, both  Protestant  and  Catholic , urged  him  to  reduce  his  rents  in  1885  to  no  avail.  The  1886  Plan   of  Campaign  where  rents  were  collected  by  trustees  was  started  on  his  estates.

In  1888  the  Conservative  government  urged  Hubert   to  compromise  but  he  told  Balfour , "the Western   Irish  cannot  be  kept  up  to  their  contracts  without  the  liability  of  eviction."  Balfour described  him  as  a  lunatic. In  1891  the  Congested  Districts  Board  began  the  process  of  trying  to compulsorily  purchase  the  estate  in  the  face  of  dogged  resistance  from  Clanricarde.  In  1907  he  was  deprived  of  his  rights  to  administer  the  estates  by  Parliament  due  to  incompetency. They  were eventually  purchased  in  1915.

He  died  the  following  year  aged  83.

579 Henry Winterbotham

Constituency : Stroud 1867-73

Henry  retained  Stroud  for  the  Liberals  after  the  resignation  of  George  Scrope. He  won  despite  his  opponent  describing  himself  as  a  Constitutionalist , hoping  to  peel  off  some  Whig  support.

Henry  was  the  son  of  a  banker  from  Stroud. He  was  educated  at  Amersham  and  University College  London. He  became  a  barrister.

Henry  was  a  Nonconformist  Radical.  In  1870  ,along  with  Charles  Dilke, he  assigned  himself  to  the Prussian  ambulance  corps. During  the  debate  around  the  Education  Act  in  1870  he  pressed  for compulsory  non-denominational  education. He  said  during  one  debate  "we  will  never  be  a  party  to handing  over  the  education  of  the  people  to  the  Catholic  or  any  other  clergy". In  1871  Gladstone appointed  him  under  secretary  for  the  Home Department  and  he  was  thought  to  be  a  rising  star. That  same  year  he  argued  against  the  traditional  Nonconformist  tactic  of  extracting  pledges  from  politicians  saying  they  should  trust  him  as  an  honest  man  "to  follow  the  dictates  of  my  conscience  freely".

He  died  in  Rome  in  1873  aded  36,  reportedly  from  overwork  on  top  of   habitual  poor health.

578 Henry Jackson

Constituency : Coventry 1867-8, 1874-81

Henry  recovered  one  of  the  Coventry  seats, both  lost  to  the  Liberals  in  by-elections  during Palmerston's  ministry,  following  the  death  of  the  Tory  MP.

Henry  was  the  son  of  Sir  William  Jackson  the  industrialist  MP  for  Newcastle-under-Lyme. He  was educated  at  Harrow  and  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister. He  stood  unsuccessfully  for  Birkenhead  in 1865.

Henry's  election  was  overturned  on  petition for  bribery  by  his  agents and  although  another  Liberal  won  the  by-election, Henry was  defeated  at  the  general  election  of  1868. Against  the  trend  he  won  the  seat  back  in  1874. He  became  a  frequent  speaker  in  the  Commons  usually  on  legal  matters.

In  1876  Henry  inherited  his  father's  baronetcy. In  1879  he  was  appointed  to  a  Royal  Commission on  the  state  of  the  English  and  Welsh  Cathedrals.

In  1881  he  resigned  his  seat  in  order  to  become  a  High  Court  judge  but  died  four  days  after  his  appointment  aged  49. The  Tories  won  the  by-election.

577 George Dixon

Constituency : Birmingham 1867-76, Birmingham  Edgbaston  1885-98 ( from  1886  Liberal Unionist )

George  came  in  at  Birmingham  after  the  death  of  William  Scholefield.

George  was  born  in  Leeds  and  educated  at  Leeds  Grammar  School. In  1838  he  moved  to Birmingham  to  join  Rabone  Brothers , a  merchant  firm  which  he  ended  up  heading. They  dealt  in  guns  and  railway  equipment  amongst  other  things. He  became involved  in  Birmingham's  municipal  politics. He  became  a  councillor  in  1863  and  Mayor  in  1866   but  resigned  the  office  to  contest  the  by-election.

Just  before  his  election  George  had  been  involved  in  founding  the  Birmingham  Education  Society   to raise  money  for  the  education  of  poor  children. In  1869  this  was  subsumed  into  the  more  political National  Education  League. This  was  founded  in  Birmingham  with  George  as  its  first  chairman. Its first  aim  was  to  procure  a  bill  from  Gladstone's  government  for  universal non-sectarian  education.

In  1876  George  stepped  down  as  an  MP  to  look  after  his  ill  wife  and  was  replaced  by  his  NES colleague  Joseph  Chamberlain. He  swapped  roles  with  Chamberlain  becaming  chairman  of  Birmingham's  School  Board. He  was  an  Anglican  but  tried  to  ride  above  sectarian  disputes.  He  introduced  free  school  meals  for  the  impoverished.

In  1884  George  founded  and  financed  the  Bridge  Street  Technical  School  giving  400  boys  two years  science  and  mechanics  education  beyond  the  school  leaving  age. Its  success  led  to  similar schools  across  the  country  and  the  Technical  Institutions  Act  which  formalised  their  finances.

The  following  year  he  returned  to  Parliament. His  relationship  with  Joseph  Chamberlain  was  not  always  easy  but  he  followed  him  into  the  Liberal  Unionists.

He  died  in  1898  aged  77. A  number  of  Birmingham  schools  were  named  after  him. One  of  them was  attended  by  Michael  Balcon  , producer  of  the  film  The  Blue  Lamp  who  used  the  name  for  his  policeman  character.

576 Sir Henry Edwards

Constituency : Weymouth  and  Melcombe  Regis  1867-85

Sir  Henry  took  over  at  Weymouth  after  the  resignation  of  Henry  Gridley.

Henry  was  a  local  benefactor, building  ten  cottage  homes  for  the  elderly. A  statue  was  erected  in  the  town  during  his  lifetime.

Most  of  Henry's  contributions  were  on  naval  matters.

He  died  in  1897  aged 76.

575 Lord Ronald Gower

Constituency : Sutherland  1867- 74

Lord  Ronald took  over  from  David  Dundas  unopposed  in  May  1867 when  he  was  just  21.

Ronald  was  the  youngest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and   Cambridge.

Politics  took  up  a  short  proportion  of  Ronald's  career. He  observed  something  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War  in  1871. He never  spoke  in  Parliament  and  made  way  for  his  nephew  Cromartie  in 1874.

In  1875  Ronald  moved  to  Paris  to  take  up  sculpting. He  was  responsible  for  the  statues  of  Shakespeare  and  four  of  his  characters  at Stratford-upon-Avon financed  by  his  own  money .He  did  a  sculpture  of  Marie  Antoinette  and  wrote  biographies  of  her  and Joan of  Arc. After  the  Shakespeare  work  was  inaugurated  in  1888  he  declared  himself  retired  from sculpting  having  achieved  all  his  ambitions.

Ronald  was  known  in  society  as  an  active  homosexual  although  he  sued  the  journal  Man  of  the World  for  hints  about  this  in  1879. He  has  been  suggested  as  the  model  for  Henry  Wotton  in  The Picture  of  Dorian  Gray. When  he  took  up  with  the  journalist  Frank  Hird, Wilde  quipped  that  "Frank  may  be  seen  but  not  Hird ". In  1878  he  went  to  Australia  in  a  vain  attempt  to  find  a  friend  he  felt  had  been  unjustly  treated. In  1884  he  had  to  apologise  to  a  sentry  at  Buckingham  Palace  after  striking  him  with  a  stick  when  told  to  move  on.

He  died  in  1916  aged  70.