633 George Osborne Morgan

Constituency : Denbighshire  1868-85, East  Denbighshire  1885-97

George  entered  the  1868  contest  at  the  last  minute  and  edged  out  the  Adullamite  Whig,   Robert  Myddleton-Biddulph  at  Denbighshire.

George  was  actually  born  in  Sweden  but  the  family  came  back  to  Wales. He  was  educated  at  Shrewsbury  and  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister.

George  was  noted  for introducing  a  Burials  Bill  in  every  year  from  1870  to  1880  when  it  was  passed  into  law. He  was  chairman  of  a  Select  Committee  on  Land  Titles  and  Transfer  from  1878-9. He  supported  Welsh  disestablishment   and  the  University  College  of  Wales  at  Aberystwyth.

In  1880   George  accepted  the  post  of  judge  advocate  general  from  Gladstone. He  successfully  introduced  the  Army  Discipline  Bill  in  1881  and  the  Married  Women's  Property  Bill  of  1882.  He  feared  the  effect  of  the  Irish  vote  in  1885. He  was  briefly  under  secretary  of  state  for  the  Colonies  in  1886.

George  was  made  a  baronet   in  1891  by  which  time  he  was  the  effective  leader  of  the  Welsh  Liberals. He  did  not  like  Lloyd  George  but  had  to  ask  for  his  help  in  the  1895  campaign.

He  died  in  1897  aged  71.

632 Charles Watkin Williams

Constituency : Denbigh Boroughs 1868-80  , Caernarvonshire 1880

Charles  took  Denbigh  Boroughs  from  the  Tories.

Charles  was  a  rector's  son. He  was  educated  at  Ruthin  Grammar  School  then  studied  medicine  at  University  College  Hospital. After  a  short  time  there  as  a  house  surgeon  he  decided  to  switch  to  the  law  instead  and  went  to  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister. His  specialism  was  financial  and  mercantile  cases. In  1854  he  published  a  pamphlet  arguing  against  church  rates.

Charles  put  down  a  motion  for  the  disestablishment  of  the  Welsh  church  despite  being  a  member  of  it  himself. In  1875  he  sat  on  the  committee  for  foreign  loans. He  switched  seats  in  1880. He  was  offered  the  post  of  judge  advocate-general  by  Gladstone  but  declined  it.  A  few  months  later  he  was  appointed  a  judge.

Charles  died  of  a  heart  attack  in  1884  aged  55  while  on  the  job  in  a  Nottingham  brothel.

631 Edward Sartoris

Constituency : Camarthenshire 1868-74

Edward  took  one  of  the  Carmarthenshire  seats  from  the  Tories. The  seat  had  been  in  the  pockets  of  the  Earls  of  Cawdor , usually  going  uncontested. Edward  benefited  from  being  a  relative  "outsider"  and  the  support  of  the  non-conformist  clergy.

Edward's  father  was  a  French  banker  although  Edward  was  born  in  London  and  educated  at  Cambridge. On the  death  of   his  uncle  in  1863  he inherited  large  estates  in  Hampshire  and  Carmarthenshire where  there  were  coal  deposits.

Edward's  parliamentary  interventions  were  usually  concerned  with  education.

In  1874  Edward  was  defeated  and  retired  from  active  politics. He  was  a  keen  yachtsman. Later  in  1874  his  son  Algernon  married  the  daughter  of  President  Grant  in  the  White  House.

He  died  in  1888  aged  74.

630 John Cowell-Stepney

Constituency : Carmarthen  Boroughs 1868-74

John  replaced  William  Morris  at  Carmarthen. He  was  beginning  his  Parliamentary  career  rather  late  in  life  being  77  at  the  time  of  his  election.

John  was  the  son  of  a  general  and  joined  his  father's  regiment , the  Coldstream  Guards. He fought  in  the  Peninsular  Wars  but  an  attack  of  dysentery  meant  he  missed  Waterloo. In  1830 he  became  a  lieutenant-colonel. His  son  was  killed  in  the  Crimean  War. In  1857  he  inherited a  sizable  estate  from his  uncle  after  a  long  legal  battle. He  wished  to  develop  it  and  the   town  of  Llanelli  is  greatly  shaped  by  his  work.

John  was  known  as  "Old  Whalebone" . He  was  a  friend  of  Gladstone  but  Queen  Victoria  disliked  him. He  was  an  eccentric  and  sometimes  disagreeable  character.

John  spoke  against  religious  instruction  in  schools  and  electoral  intimidation  by  landlords. In  1871   Gladstone  made him  a  baronet.

John  stepped  down  in  1874.

He  died  in  1877  aged  86.

629 Evan Richards

Constituency : Cardiganshire 1868-74

Evan  succeeded  Thomas  Lloyd  who  switched  to  the  borough  seat. His  victory  owed  much  to  the  support  of  the  powerful  Pryse  family.

Evan  was  an  industrialist  from  Swansea. He  was  a  partner  with  Lewis  Dillwyn  in  Landore Steelworks. He  was  Mayor  of  Swansea  in  1855  and  1862-3 . He  was  a  Congregationalist.

Evan  felt  under  pressure  in  Parliament  because  the  radicals  in  his  constituency  required  him  to  vote  against  the  government  on  the  Education  Bill  and  University  Tests  Bill  while  others  wanted  favours  that  could  not  be  obtained  by  a  serial  rebel.  He  wrote  to  a  friend , "Patronage  is  an  awful  nuisance. I  have  literally  hundreds  of  applications  for  berths  under  government  and  I  long  for  the  day  when  it  will  pass  away  from  the  hands  of  members  to  open  competition".

He  died  in  1880  aged  59.

628 Thomas Love Jones-Parry

Constituency : Caernarvonshire  1868-74, Caernarvon   Boroughs  1882-86

Thomas's  victory  was  one  of  the  more  celebrated  of  the  election. It  was  a  dramatic  triumph  over  the  Anglican  squires  and  provoked  a  rash  of  evictions  by  the  Tory  landlords.

Thomas  was  a  landowner  himself , educated  at  Rugby  and  Oxford. In  1862  he  sailed  to  Patagonia  on  a  self-financed  excursion  to  see  if  it  was  a  suitable  area  for  Welsh  emigration. He  co-authored  the  report  recommending  it  and  Puerto  Madryn  is  named  after  his  estate. The  historian  Kenneth  Morgan  described  him  as  " a  buccaneering  landowner  of  unorthodox  social  and  moral  outlook"

Thomas  was  defeated  in  1874  but  returned  for  the  borough  seat  at  a  by-election  in  1882.  He  was  defeated  again  in  1886 . He  was  created  a  baronet  by  Gladstone  shortly  afterwards.

Thomas  was  an  inveterate  gambler  and  died  bankrupt  after  gambling  his  remaining  assets  on  a  horse  race.

He  died  in  1891  aged  59.

627 Richard Davies

Constituency : Anglesey  1868-86

Richard  succeeded  Richard  Williams-Bulkeley   unopposed at  Anglesey.

Richard  was  a  merchant's  son  from  Anglesey. He  was  educated  locally  then  was  assigned   part  of  the  family  business  at  Menai  Bridge. This  involved  timber  importing ; from  this  base   Richard  moved  into  shipowning  and  became  very  wealthy. Richard  was  a  Nonconformist Radical; he  stood  for  Caernarvon  in  1852.

Richard  was  a  benefactor  to  local  schools  and  Bangor  College.

Richard  stood  down  in  1886  as  he  was  opposed  to  Home  Rule.

He  died  in  1896  aged  77; his  last  words  are  reputed  to  have  been  "cannot  be  fathomed ".

626 Christopher Weguelin

Constituency : Youghal  1868-9

Christopher  replaced  Joseph  McKenna  at  Youghal.

Christopher  was  the  son  of  the  MP  for  Wolverhampton, Thomas  Weguelin. He  was  educated  at  Harrow  where  he  was  a  keen  cricketer. He  went  on  to  Cambridge.

Christopher  was  unseated  due  to  bribery  in  1869.

He  died  in  1881  aged  43.

625 Henry Wentworth-Fitzwilliam

Constituency : Wicklow  1868-74,  South West  Riding  1880-85, Doncaster  1888-92 ( Liberal Unionist )

Henry  took  over  from  Lord  Proby  at  Wicklow.

Henry  was  the  second  son  of  Earl  Fitzwilliam.

Henry  was  never  a  strong  supporter  of  Gladstone. He  supported  the  Whig  peers'  amendment to  the  Disestablishment  Act  in  1869  and  outright  opposed  the  first  Irish  Land  Act. He  lost his Irish  seat  to  a  Home  Ruler  in  1874  and  came  back  in  for  the  South  West  Riding  seat  in 1880.

Henry  contested  Doncaster  as  a  Liberal  Unionist  in  1886. A  rock  thrown  through  his  carriage  window  hit  his  wife  during  the  campaign. He  lost  but  won  the  by-election  there  in  1888. He  was  defeated  in  1892. All  the  contests  were  close.

He died  in  1920  aged  79.

624 Matthew D'Arcy

Constituency : County  Wexford  1868-74

Matthew  took  the  second  County  Wexford  seat  from  the  Tories.

Matthew  was  educated  at  Trinity  College, Dublin. He  was  a  magistrate

He  died  in  1889  aged  68.

623 John Power

Constituency : County  Wexford  1868-74

John  succeeded  his  father  in  the  seat.

The  Powers  had  started  out  as  whiskey  distillers  but  had  moved  into  banking  and  railways  under  his  father. John  also  had  a  large  estate.  He  was  a  Catholic.

John  inherited  his  father's  baronetcy  in  1877.

He  died  in  1901  aged  56.

622 James Delahunty

Constituency :  Waterford City  1868-74,  County  Waterford 1877-80  ( Home  Rule  League )

James  took  over  at  Waterford  City  from  Henry  Barron.

James  was  a  Catholic who  had  worked  with  Daniel  O Connell  in  his  youth. He  had  a  particular  interest  in  equalising  the  Irish  currency  laws  with  those  of  England  and  introduced  Bills  to  that  effect.

In  1874  James  was  pushed  out  by  Home  Rule  candidates. He  returned  at  a  by-election  for  the  county  seat  in  1877, this  time  as  a  Home  Ruler  himself.

He  died  in  1885  aged  77.

621 Kenelm Digby

Constituency : Queen's  County  1868-74  , 1874-80  ( Home  Rule  League )

Kenelm  took the  second Queen's  County  seat  from  the  Tories.

Kenelm's  father  was  a  prominent  convert  to  Catholicism.

Kenelm  stood  under  Home  Rule  colours  in  1874  but  was  still  ousted  by  a  nationalist  in  1880.

620 George Moore

Constituency : Mayo 1847-57, 1868-70

George  recovered  the  seat  he  had  lost  in  1857, replacing  John  Browne.

George  was  the  grandson  of  a  leader  in  the  1798  rebellion. He  was  a  gambler  in  his  youth  , more  interested  in  billiards  than  education  though  he  went  to  Cambridge. He  was  a  landowner  in  Mayo  and  Roscommon who  was  active  in  famine  relief  and  became  a  champion  of  tenant  rights. In  1851  he  was one of  the  founders  of  the  Catholic  Defence  Association   in  response  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Act  alongside  William  Keogh  and  John Sadleir  and  he  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Irish  Independent  Party  pursuing  the  "turncoats" Keogh  and  Sadleir  with  a  vengeance  after  they  joined  Aberdeen's  government. George  preferred  to  pursue  an  obstructionist  policy  but  only  around  20  members  supported  him  consistently. He  briefly became  the  leader  but  lost  his  seat  in  1857 on  petition  claiming  priestly  intimidation. He  criticised  those  Irish  nationalists  who  opposed  Italian  unification; he  felt  it  should  be  supported  the  better  to  expose  government  hypocrisy  in  resisting  reform  in  Ireland

George  was  a  keen  huntsman  and  owned  racehorses. He  was  a  friend  of  the  Fenian  leader  O' Donovan  Rossa.

George  was  something  of  a  contrary  character; although  fiercely  critical  of  his  fellow  landlords  he  sat  on  the  Conservative  benches  in  Parliament. He  spoke  in  favour  of  disestablishment. He  opposed  the  Marriage  With  A  Deceased  Wife's  Sister  Bill.

He  died  in  1870  aged  60  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother-in-law  George  Browne

619 Matthew Dowse

Constituency :  Louth  1868-74

Matthew   took  over  from  Tristram  Kennedy  at  Louth.

Matthew  was  a  doctor's  son  with  a  number  of  estates   in  different  counties. He  was  a  Catholic  barrister. He  unsuccessfully  contested  Cavan  in  1857.

In  1874  Matthew  was  squeezed  out  by  the  Home  Rule  candidates  despite  having  the  support  of  the  Catholic  clergy.

He  died  in  1887  aged  66.

618 Richard Dowse

Constituency : Londonderry  City  1868-72

Richard  took  Londonderry  from  the  Tories.

Richard  was  a  Protestant  educated  at  the  University  of  Dublin  and  became  a  barrister.

Richard's  maiden  speech  opposed  the  repeal  of  the  Party  Processions  Act. He  supported  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  church.

Richard  served  Gladstone  as  Solicitor-General  from  1870 and,  briefly, Attorney-General  for  Ireland  before  being appointed  a  judge  in  the  Irish  courts  in  1872  which  meant  resigning  his  seat.

Richard  quickly  gathered  a  reputation  for  his  humour  and  crushing  putdowns. His  obituary  in  The  Times  described  him as  "a  self-made  man, who  without  social  advantages, forced  his  way  by  his  own  merit  to  the  eminent  position  which  he  occupied ....He  gave  at  all  times  free  and  vivid  utterance  to  his  thoughts, without  waiting  to  examine  critically  the  terms  in  which  he  should  mould  them. These  were  often  quaint  and  graphic, with  a  dash  of  wit  and  humour, which, if  a  little  wanting  in  dignity... gave  emphasis  and  force  to  an  argument  or  comment".

By  contrast  in  the  legal  world  Richard's  judgements  were  regarded  as  pedestrian  and  of  little  use  as  precedents.

He  died  unexpectedly whilst  in  a  Kerry  court-house  in 1890  aged  65.

617 David Sherlock

Constituency : King's County  1868-80

David  took  one  of  the  King's  County  seats  from  the  Tories.

David  was  a  Sergeant-at-law ( barrister )  and  a  moderate. He  stepped  down  in  1880.

616 William St Lawrence

Constituency : Galway  Borough 1868-74 

William  took  back  the  seat  lost  by  Michael  Morris's  defection  to  the  Tories.

William  was  a  Viscount  until  becoming  Earl  of  Howth  in  1874. He  spoke  in  favour  of  land  reformin  Ireland  in  1870.

He  died  in  1909  aged  81.

615 Phillip Callan

Constituency : Dundalk 1868-74 , 1874-80 , Louth  1880-85 ( Home Rule League)

Philip  replaced  George  Bowyer  at  Dundalk.

Philip  was  educated  at  Trinity  College  and  became  a  barrister. He  was  the  son  of  a  previous  MP  for  Louth. He  was   a  director  of  a  railway  in  Monaghan  and  the  Dundalk  Steam  Packet  Company. In  the  1865  by-election  in  Louth  he  helped  rally  the  nationalist  vote  behind  Tristram  Kennedy.

Philip  defected  to  the  Home  Rule  League  in  1874  and  stood  in  Louth  as  well  as  a safeguard. Elected  in  both  seats  he  chose  to  sit  for  Dundalk.  He  was  a devoted  adherent  of Butt. In  1880  he  was  defeated  in  Dundalk  and  switched  to  Louth  where  he  unseated  another Home  Ruler  George  Kirk. When  the  other  MP  Alexander  Sullivan  switched  to  Meath  to  let Kirk back  in, Philip  accused  him  of  taking  money  from  the  Tories  to  get  elected  there. Sullivan  sued  him  for  libel  and  won.

Philip  was  a  friend  of  TP  O  Connor  and  involved  with  him  in  cutting  telephone  wires  to prevent  Tory  MPs  being  summoned  to  vote. He  was  described  by  Charles  Bradlaugh  as  the  "Cardinals  henchman".

Parnell  expelled  Philip  from  the  Irish  party  for  drunkennness. In  1885  he  stood  against  the Parnellite  candidate  in  North  Louth  and  won  35%  of  the  vote.

He  died  in  1902  aged  65.

614 Timothy McCarthy- Downing

Constituency : County  Cork  1868-79 

Timothy  took  back  one  of  the  County  Cork  seats.

Timothy  was  a  well-regarded  solicitor  who  spoke  frequently  on  Irish  matters.  In  1870 he  pressed  Gladstone  to  release  Fenian  prisoners. In  the  1870s  he  came  to  believe  that  he  was  in  line  for  a  peerage  and  wanted  to  change  the  name  of  his  home  town  Skibbereen   which  he  felt  had  negative  connotations  relating  to  the  Famine. He  persuaded  most  of  the  Town  Commissioners  to  accept  his  preferred  name  of  Ilenmore  but  the  resistance  campaign  led  by  a  local  shopkeeper  forced  him  to  drop  the  plans.

He  died  in  1879  aged  64. The  Home  Rulers  took  the  seat  in  the  by-election.

613 William Addis Fagan

Constituency : Borough  of   Carlow  1868-74

William  replaced  Thomas  Stock  at  Carlow.

William  was  the  son  of  the  Cork  MP  William  Trant  Fagan. He  was  a  captain  in  the  12th  Royal  Lancers.

William  later  emigrated  to  Australia.

He  died  in  1890  aged  57.

612 William Shaw

Constituency : Bandon 1868-74  (Independent  Liberal ) 1874-85  ( Home Rule League )

William  took  Bandon  from  the  Tories  on  an  Independent  Liberal  ticket  by  four  votes.

William  was  a  Congregationalist  who  studied  theology  at  Trinity  College  and  Highbury  College  Middlesex. He  was  a  minister  of  an  independent  church  in  Cork  from  1846  to  1850  before  moving  into  the  merchant  business.William  stood  twice  as a  Liberal  in  1865  due  to  a  by-election  but  was  unsuccessful.

William  was  generally  supportive  of  Gladstone  including  the  disestablishment  and  land  acts  but  in  1870  he  joined  the  Home  Government  Association  and  he  presided  over  the  convention  in  1873 which  founded  the  Home  Rule  League. In  1874  he  delivered  a  lecture  on  Henry  Gratton  at  Bandon  Town  Hall.

William  was  elected  unopposed  at  County  Cork  in  1874. He  often  deputised  for  Butt  in  the  Commons  and  succeeded  him  as  party  chairman  after  his  death  in  1879.  Despite  this  he  continued  to  sit  on  the  Liberal  benches. Because  of  his  moderation  he  was  known  as  "Sensible  Shaw".

In  1880 , after  the  general  election,  William   was  ousted  by  Parnell  as  party  chairman  who  wanted  to  distance  it  from  the Liberals. Gladstone  appointed  William  to  the  Bessborough  Commission  to  look  at  Irish  land  tenure.  William  opposed  the  Irish  Land  League, supported  Gladstone's  second  Land  Act    and  formally  quit  the  Home  Rule  party  in  1881. He  concentrated  thereafter  on  his  chairmanship  of  the  Munster  Bank  which  was  causing  concern. He  himself  had  taken  a  huge  unsecured  loan  and  excessively  large  dividends  . He  resigned  as  chairman  in  1884   and  stepped  down  as  an  MP  in  1885.

The Bank  folded  that  same  year   and  William  was  declared  bankrupt  and  fined  £120,000  for  insider  lending. He  moved  to  London  and  worked  as  a  journalist  in  his  latter  years.

He  died  in  1895  aged  72.
 

611 John James Ennis

Constituency : Athlone 1868-74, 1880-84

John  took  over  from  Dennis  Rearden  in  his  father's  old  seat.

John  was  educated  at  Oxford.

John  resisted  the  pressure  to  stand  as  a  Home  Rule  candidate  in  1874  and  in  the  election  was  tied  after  the  first  count  with  his  Home  Rule  opponent. He  lost  by  5  votes  after  a  scrutiny  of  the  papers. He  won  the  seat  back  in  1880.

John  succeeded  to  the  baronetcy  in  1878.

He  died  in  1884  aged  42.

610 Denis O' Conor

Constituency : County Sligo  1868-74 ,1874-83  ( Home Rule League )

Denis  took  the  seat  from  the  Tories.

Denis  was  the  second  son  of  the  O'Conor  Don. He  was  educated  at  London  University  and  became  a  barrister.

Denis  was  a  Home  Rule  MP   after  1874.

He  died  in  1883  aged  43.

609 William Kirk

Constituency : Newry  1852-9, 1868-70

William  re-took  the  seat  he  had  held  from  1852  to  1859. He  was  possibly  the  oldest  victor  at  73.

William  was  a  wealthy  linen  merchant  and  also  a  local  landlord. Particularly  during  his  first  stint  in  Parliament  he  spoke  for  the  interests  of  Irish  Presbyterians  and  gave  liberally  to  associated  causes.

William  spoke  in  favour  of  the  Burials  Bill  in  1869.

William  died  in  1870  aged  75.

608 Marriott Dalway

Constituency :  Carrickfergus  1868-74, 1874-80  ( Conservative )

Marriott  took  Carrickfergus  from  the  Tories.

Marriott  was  a  cattle  farmer. He  was  a  temperance  supporter.

In  1874  Marriott  decided  to  re-stand  as  a Conservative  but  in  practice  he  remained  a  supporter  of Gladstone. The  local  Conservatives  in  this  predominantly  Protestant  constituency  were  unhappy  with this  and  put  up  a  candidate  against  him  in  1880. He  lost  by  37  votes. He  immediately  got  up  a petition  on  the  grounds  of  bribery  and  the  usual  accusations. It  was  finally  heard  and  rejected  in 1883.

Marriott   left  Ireland  for  Australia  in  1886. This  seems  to  have  been  due  to  some  business  failures.

He  died  in  1914  aged  81.

607 Thomas McClure

Constituency : Belfast 1868-74, County Londonderry 1878-85

Thomas  took  one  of  the  two  Belfast  seats  from  the  Tories  by  agreement  as  he  stood  on  the  same  ticket  as  their  nominee  William  Johnston.  Thomas  made  a  financial  contribution  to  Johnston's  campaign  .

Thomas  was  a  Presbyterian  tobacco  merchant  in  the  city. He  supported  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church  from  a  Presbyterian  point  of  view. He  spoke  in  favour  of  the  Burials  Bill  of  1871 allowing  Nonconformist  ministers  to  speak  during  the  burial  of  their  members  in  parish  churchyards.  He  was  in  favour  of  the  secret  ballot  and  the  Irish  Universities  Bill.

In  1872  Thomas  was  appointed  vice-lieutenant  of  County  Down. This  was  attacked  in  the  Conservative  press  ; the  News  Letter  saying  "It  does  not  follow that  his  success  as  a  merchant  is  evidence of  his  fitness  to  govern  the  gentry  and  people  of  the  great  County  Down".

Many  of  Johnston's  supporters  considered  Thomas  too  soft  on  Catholicism  and  the  agreement  of  1868  was not  renewed.

Thomas  was  created  a  baronet  at  his  request  in  1874. In  1877  he  married    Robert  Macfie's  daughter  who  was  36  years  younger  than  him

He  died  in  1893  aged  86.

606 Lyon Playfair

Constituency : Edinburgh  and  St  Andrews  Universities  1868-74, Leeds  South  1885-92

Lyon  took  the  new  seat  of  Edinburgh  and  St  Andrews  Universities.

Lyon  was  born  in  India  ; his  father  was  a  civil  servant  there. He  had  been  educated  at  both the  institutions  he  represented. Lyon  seems  to  have  had  a  dual  career  as  a  businessman  with  a  calico  works  and  an  academic  scientist. He  was  a  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  both  Manchester   and  Edinburgh. In  1853  he  worked  in  the  Department  of  Science  where  he advocated  the  use  of  poison  gas  against  the  Russians.

In  1873  Lyon  was  appointed  Postmaster-General  in  Gladstone's  first  government. From  1880  to 1893  he  was  Chairman  of  Ways  And  Means  and  Deputy  Speaker. In  1886  he  was  Vice-President  of  the  Committee  on  Education.

Lyon  was  interested  in  questions  of  public  health  and  in  1883  made  a  passionate  speech  in  favour  of  compulsory  vaccination  against  smallpox.

In  1892  Lyon  stepped  down  and  was  elevated  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Playfair. He  served  as  a whip  in  the  Lords  for  Gladstone  and  Rosebery.

He  died  in  1898  aged  80.

605 Sir Sydney Waterlow

Constituency : Dumfriesshire  1868-9, Maidstone  1874-80, Gravesend 1880-85

Sir  Sydney  took  Dumfriesshire  from  the Tories. He  was  the  first  Liberal  to  contest the  seat  which  had  been  in  the  pocket  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch   for  decades. His  scretary  had  noticed  an  ad  in  The  Scotsman  for  a  Liberal  candidate  to  contest  the  seat. It  was  a  rough  contest  with  Sydney  denounced  as  a  Unitarian. He  won  by  44  votes.

Sydney  was  born  in  London  and  educated  at  a  grammar  school. He  went  to  work  in  the  family printing  firm  but  later  moved  into  finance  and  became  a  director  of  the  Union  Bank  of  London. He was  a  Commissioner  at  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851  and  received  a  knighthood  for  being  a  juror at  the  Paris  International  Exhibition  of  1867. He  became  involved  in  local  government  in  London  in 1857  and  pursued  his  philanthropic  bent  in   building  improved  houses  for  the  working  class.  He  founded  the  Improved  Industrial  dwellings  Company  which  pioneered  such  features  as  exterior  stairwells. He  worked  hard  to  secure  Russell's  election  in  1852. He  was  against  the  restriction  of  working  hours.

Sydney's  election  was  declared  void  in  1869  because  his  firm  still  held  government  contracts  at  the  time. He  was  eligible  to  stand  again  but  lost  by  36  votes  with  Buccleuch's  agents  at  every  booth  watching  the  tenants'  voting.

In  1872  Sydney  donated  a  property  to  St  Bartholomew's  Hospital  for  use  as  a  convalescent  home  for  the  poor.  That  same  year  he  was  elected  Lord  Mayor  of  London. In  1889  he  gave  the  surrounding  land  to  the  L.C.C. for  use  as  a  park.

In  1874  he  was  returned  to  Maidstone  with  a  large majority. In  1880  both  Liberals  lost  out  at  Maidstone . He  moved  over  to  Gravesend  where  he  soundly  defeated  Sir  Robert  Peel. In  1885  he  moved  to  Mid-Kent  where  he  expected  the  newly-enfranchised  agricultural  workers  would  reward  his  support  for  tenant  rights. He  was  defeated  and  chose  not  to  stand  for  Parliament  again.

He  died  in  1906  aged  84.