662 Francis Egerton

Constituency : Derbyshire  East  1868-85 ; Derbyshire  North  East  1885-6

Francis  was  one  of  two  MPs  for  the  new  seat  of  Derbyshire  East.

Francis  was  the  son  of  the  Earl  of  Ellesmere   and  grandson  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland.  He  joined  the  navy  in  1840  and  was  present  at  the  bombardment  of  Acre.  He  later  claimed  to  have  observed  a  sea  serpent  off  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  around  1842  and  that  the  local  fishermen  were  well  aware  of  its  existence He  captained  a  ship  during  the  Crimean  War. He  married  Hartington's  sister   Louisa   in  1861. He  was  Queen  Victoria's  aide-de-camp  from  1865  to  1873.

In  1873  Francis  was  promoted  to  rear  admiral  ; he  was  placed  on  the  retired  list  two  years  later. He  became  vice  admiral  in  1878  and  admiral  in  1884. He  spoke  occasionally  on  naval  matters.

He  died  of  heart  disease  in  1895  aged  71.  

661 Samuel Plimsoll

Constituency  : Derby  1868-80

Samuel  recaptured  the  second  seat  at  Derby  lost  in  1865  with  a  big  majority. He had  been  the  unsuccessful  candidate.

Samuel  was  born  in  Bristol  and  started  work  as  a  brewery  clerk. He  rose  to  be  its  manager. He  then  struck  out  as  a  coal  merchant  but  failed  and  was  reduced  to  near-destitution. It  was during  this  period  that  he  became  concerned  about  "coffin  ships"- overloaded  unseaworthy vessels  put  to  sea  because  they  could  still  be  insured. He  later  recovered  his  financial  standing  by  patenting  a  new  system  of  loading. He  was  friends  with  Garibaldi  and  Cobden. In  1866  he  was  president  of  the  Sheffield  Reform  League.

Samuel  got  to  work  on  this  straight  away  when  he  got  into  Parliament  but  faced  problems with  the  number  of  ship-owning  MPs  in  the  Commons, many  of  them  fellow Liberals.  In  1871  the  government  actually  made  things  worse  with  the  Merchant  Shipping  Act  which  made  sailors  subject  t  imprisonment  if  they  refused  to  honour  their  contract.In  1872 he  published  his  popular  polemic  Our  Seamen  and  in  1873  obtained  a  Royal  Commission  on  the  subject. Queen  Victoria  gave  tacit  support  to  his  campaign.  A  number  of  shipowners  tried  to  sue  him  for  libel  but  never  succeeded.

Disraeli's  government  introduced  a  Bill  which  Samuel  accepted  on  the  "half  a  loaf"  principle. He  lost  his  cool  in  the  chamber  when  the  bill  was  dropped  and  Hartington  had  to  intervene  to  prevent  him  being  disciplined. Public  agitation  forced  the  government  to  return  to  the  subject  the  following  year  with  amendments  to  the  Merchant  Shipping  Act  which  introduced  the  Plimsoll  Line  to  indicate  the  level  of  safe  loading  and  gave  the  Board  of  Trade  powers  of  inspection. A  surprise  opponent  was  the  novelist  Joseph  Conrad  who  said  the  Line  was  based  on " an  outrageous  assumption"   and  the character  of  Grimes  in  The  Nigger  of  the  Narcissus  is  based  on  him.

Samuel's  parliamentary  career  ended  in  1880  when  he  relinquished  his  seat  to  the  Home  Secretary  William  Harcourt who  had  lost  the  mandatory  by-election  after  his  appointment.  Samuel  had  numerous  offers  from  constituencies  in  1885  and  chose  badly, suffering  defeat  in  Sheffield  Central. He  later  became  disillusioned  with  the  Liberals  for  failing  to  advance  shipping  reform.

Samuel's  later  campaigns  included  the  conditions  on  cattle  ships  and  trying  to  get  a  fairer  portrayal  of  Britain  in  American  textbooks.

Samuel  was  a  Congregationalist.

He  died  in  1898  aged  74.

660 Philip Muntz

Constituency :  Birmingham  1868-85

Philip took  the  new  third  seat  at  Birmingham. His  candidature  was  welcomed  by  the  Birmingham  Daily  Post :"Mr  Muntz,  as  a  manufacturer  himself , will  represent  the  industrial  interest  of  the  town, which  is  assuredly  of  sufficient  importance  to  deserve  a  guardian  in  the  new  Parliament".

Philip  was  the  son  of  a  Lithuanian  metal  works  owner. He  was  educated  at  Shrewsbury  and became  a  merchant. He  and  his  brother  George  ( who  was  a  former  MP  for  the  city ) became   Chartists  and  were  part  of  a  Chartist  delegation  from  the  Midlands  in  1838. He  became the  second  mayor  of  Birmingham  in  1839. In  1846  he  became  chairman  of  the  Birmingham and Oxford Junction  Railway.  Philip  became  chairman  of  the  Liberal  election  committee  in  Birmingham  from  1859  to  his  own  election. He  helped  to  develop  the  "caucus"  system  in  Birmingham.

In  1870  Philip  was  appointed  to  the  Royal  Commission  on  the  army  purchase  system.

Philip  retired  due  to  age  and  ill  health  in  1885.

In  October 1888  Philip  was  granted  the  freedom  of  the  borough  on  the 50th  anniversary  of  the  first  town  council  of  which  he  was  the  sole  survivor. He  died  of  a  stroke  two  months  later  aged  77.

659 Anthony Mundella

Constituency : Sheffield  1868-85 ; Sheffield  Brightside  1885-97

Anthony  ( usually  known  as  A.J. )  ejected  John  Roebuck  from  his  seat  at  Sheffield. He  was  one  of  the  more  important  MPs  of  the  1868  intake. He  had  been  invited  to  stand  by  the  trade  unionist  William  Dronfield, Roebuck  being  notoriously  anti-union. He  later  blamed  Roebuck  for  the growth  of  pro-imperialist,  and  therefore  Tory  strength. in  the  constituency.

Anthony  was  the  son  of  an  Italian  refugee  who  started  work  in  the  hosiery  trade. He  was  based  in  Nottingham. He  set   up  the  first  arbitration  courts  for  settling  labour  disputes  in  1859. He  made  his  fortune  through  embracing  new  technology. He  encouraged  his  employees  to  join  trades  unions.

In  1869  Anthony  was  the  President  for  the  second  day  of  the  first  ever  Co-operative Congress.

Anthony's  main  interest  was  in  education, . He  supported  compulsory  education   as  a  result  of  business  visits  to  Germany  and  was  a  strong  supporter  of  the  1870  Act. He  was  Vice  President  of  the  Committee  on  Education  in  Gladstone's  second  ministry. In  1882  he  came  up  with  the  "Mundella  code" regulating  public  elementary  schools  and  their  finances.

Anthony  supported  women's  suffrage  and  the  repeal  of  the  Contagious  Disesases  Act  but  in  1874  he  said  that  "The  absurd  project  of  the  equality  of  the  sexes... died  with  John  Stuart  Mill"  and  he  opposed  the  clause  in  the  1884  Guardianship  of  Infants  Bill  which  would  have  given  mothers  the  same  child  custody  rights  as  fathers.

Anthony  pushed  for  the  Factory  Act  of  1875 which  established  the  ten  hour  day  for  women  and  children  in  textile  factories. In  1878  he  piloted  a  Fisheries  Bill  through  Parliament. He  told  a  friend  at  the  time, "I  am  worn  out, and  at  the  end  of  every  session  it  is  the  same . I  am  spending  my  strength  ; I  am  on  the  treadmill  every  day  of  my  life".

Anthony  encouraged  Gladstone  over  the  Eastern  Question  being  strongly  pro-Russian  against the  Turks.

He  joined  the  Cabinet  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1886  and  occupied  the  same  post  from  1892  to  1894. He  proposed  a  system  of  price  regulation  on  rail  freight  in  1886  which  was  badly  designed  as  based  on  distance  travelled  which  was  not  the  cost  driver. The  railway  companies  were  fiercely  opposed  to  his  interference. Hiss  biographer  Armytage  has  suggested  that  26  of  the  Home  Rule  rebels   had  strong  railway  interests  and  20  were  voting  to  bring  the  government  down  to  thwart  Anthony's  plans.

Anthony  was  obliged  to  resign  in  1894 because  the  Board  had  to  investigate the  liquidated  New  Zealand  Loan  Company  with  which  he  had  a  connection.  He  established  a  research  facility  at  the  Board  and  chivvied  diplomats  posted  abroad  to  supply  commercial  information.

Anthony  was  interested  in  literature  and  antiques. He  built  up  a  large  collection  of  historic  weapons.

He  died  of  a  stroke  in  1897  aged  72.

658 Robert Carter

Constituency : Leeds  1868-76

Robert  won  the  new  third  seat  for  Leeds.

Robert  was  a  self-made  coal  merchant  and  cloth  finisher  who  started  out  as  an  agricultural  labourer.  He  became  involved  with  Leeds's  Co-Operative  Board. He  was elected  to  the  city  council  in  1850  as  a  Chartist.He  was  president  of  the  Leeds  Radical  Reform  League. He  was  a  Unitarian. In  1857  he  founded  the  radical  Leeds  Express  with  W E  Forster.

In  1874  Robert  headed  the  poll  when  Edward  Baines  was  squeezed  out. He  put  it  down  to the  fact  that  he  was  stronger  in  support  of  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson's  attempts  to  allow  localities to  ban  alcohol, an  issue  that  came  up  during  the  campaign   as  there  was  a  temperance  candidate  in  the  field.

Robert  supported  legal  protection  of  trade  union  funds. He  also  supported  disestablishment  of  the  church.

The  Leeds  Mercury  said  of  Robert : "You  have  only  to  see and  hear him  to  be  satisfied  that  he  is  a  genuine  working  man ....He  does  not  pretend  to  polish  and  refinement; but  he  has  a  good  deal  of  rough  intellectual  vigour, and  considerable  power  of  expression".

Robert  resigned  his  seat  in  1876. Having  been  involved  in  a  disastrous speculation  regarding  a  Staffordshire  colliery   he  had  to  leave  for New  York  in  a  hurry  and  filed  for  liquidation. He  was  back  by  1880  supporting  Herbert  Gladstone's  campaign  in  Leeds.

He  died  in  1882  aged  68.

657 Alfred Illingworth

Constituency : Knaresborough  1868-74, Bradford 1880-85, Bradford West  1885-95

Alfred  took  over  from his  father-in-law , Isaac  Holden,  at  Knaresborough.

Alfred's  family  had  a  worsted  spinning  business  in  Bradford. In  1865  he  and  his  brother  set  up  a  large  new  mill  of  their  own. He  was  also  a  director  of  the  Bradford  District  Bank. He  was  either  a  Congregationalist  or  a  Baptist  ( sources  differ ) ; the  seizure  of  his  father's  goods  for  non-payment  of  church  rates  determined  his  political  outlook.

Joseph  Chamberlain  described  Alfred  as "the  truest, soundest  Liberal. His  principles  are   matters  of  belief  and  conviction  and  not  the  result  of  pressure".

Alfred  was  a  staunch  advocate  of  disestablishing  the  Church  of  England  and  became  the  Liberation  Society's  chief  advocate  in  Parliament  after  Edward  Miall  left  the  scene. He  was  treasurer  of  the  society  handling  his  own  donations  and  later  became  chairman. Nevertheless  his  views  on  education  fell  short  of  the  most  zealous  secularists.

Alfred  was  defeated  in  1874. He  switched  to  Bradford  and  ejected  Henry  Ripley  in  1880.

In  1886  Alfred  sponsored  a  women's suffrage  bill. He  opposed  an  increase  in  the  naval  estimates.He  declined  a  post  at  the  India  Office  because  he  was  not  prepared  to  defend  the  government's  military  policy  there.

Alfred  was  vice-president  of  the  Peace  Society  and  described  war  as  "the  pastime  of  the  governing  classes  but  the  masses  of  people  have  been  the  sufferers. He  was  a  fierce  critic  of  idle  aristocracy  and  even  royalty  describing  them  as  "only  a  set  of  outdoor  paupers".

In  1892  Alfred  was  opposed  by  Ben  Tillett  as  a  result  of  the  local  Liberals  support  for  troops  being  used  in  the  Manningham  mills  dispute. Tillett  unsuccessfully  tried  to  detatch  the  local  Nonconformists  and  temperance  confederation  from  supporting  Alfred. Sidney  Webb  came  up  to  help, with , he  claimed , the   backing  of  unnamed  prominent  Liberals  who  regarded  Alfred  as  "not  even  abreast  with  the  Liberalism  of  today". The  contest  sparked  a  surge  of  enthusiasm  for  Labour  in  Bradford.

In  1894  Alfred's  mill  became  infamous  for  a  dispute  about  manning  an  extra  machine  for  the  same  pay  and   he  announced  his  retirement  in  protest  at  the  Miners' Eight  Hour  Day  Bill. He  was  always  committed  to  laissez-faire  ideas  and  resisted  labour  demands.

He  died  in  1907  aged  80.

656 John Simon

Constituency : Dewsbury  1868-88

John was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  Dewsbury.

John  was  a  Jew  born  in  Jamaica. He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  London. He  became  a  barrister. He  returned  to  Jamaica  for  a  time  but  his  wife  didn't  like  the  climate.

In  the  Commons  John  spoke  on  judicial  reform  and  the  plight  of  Russian  Jews. He  was  a  founder  of  the  Anglo-Jewish  Association.  He  was  knighted  in  1886.

John  stepped  down  through  ill  health  in  1888.

He  died  in  1897  aged  78.

655 Henry Ripley

Constituency : Bradford  1868-9 , 1874-80  ( Independent )

Henry  took  the  second  seat  at  Bradford  when  Matthew  Thompson  didn't  stand.

Henry  was  a  partner  in  the  family's  dyeworks. He  was  active  in  local  politics  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Yorkshire  Penny  Bank. In  1866  he  started  constructing  Ripley Ville  a  model  village  for  his  workers  and  other  artisans.

Henry's  election  was  overturned  on  petition. He  stood  again  in  1874  as  an  Independent  and  was  elected. He  was  asked  to  leave  the  Reform  Club  after  voting  on  the  wrong  side  too  often. By  the  time  of  the  1880  he  was  a  Conservative  but  was  rejected  at  the  election. He  also  left  the  Congregationalists  and  joined  the  Church  of  England.

Henry  was  created  a  baronet  in  1880.

He  died  in  1882  aged  80.

654 John Lancaster

Constituency : Wigan 1868-74

John  took  the  second  seat  at  Wigan  from  the  Tories.

John  was  a  coal  owner  and  iron  master.  He  was  briefly  involved  in  the  American  Civil  War  when  his  yacht  Deerhound  rescued  the  captain  and  some  crew  from  the  sinking  Alabama  in  1864  and  took  them  to  England  rather  than  surrender  them  to  the  Union  captain. He  stood  unsuccessfully  in  1865.

John  stepped  down  in  1874  to  devote  more  time  to  his  business  which  was  just  as  well  as  he  was  almost  bankrupt  by  the  time  of  his  death.

He  died  in  1884  aged  69.

653 Peter Rylands

Constituency : Warrington  1868-74, Burnley  1876-87  ( from  1886  Liberal  Unionist )

Peter  took  Warrington  from  the  Tories.

Peter  was  educated  at  a  grammar  school  in  Warrington. He  was  a  wire  manufacturer  and  a  friend  of  Cobden. He  had  directorships in  banking , canals  and  iron  masters. He  was  mayor  of  Warrington  in  1853-4.

Peter  was  known  as  a  Radical. In  1871  Peter  protested  at  the  speed  with  which  the Army  Regulation  Bill  was  being  driven through  the  House.  That  same  year  he  attacked  expenditure  on  the  diplomatic  service  arguing  that  new  technology  made  much  of  it  superfluous  but  his  attack  was  beaten  off.  After  the  Franco-Prussian  War  his  Cobdenite  views  on  foreign  policy  became  unpopular  ; when  he  boasted  to  his  constituents  of  having  asked  3,000  questions  during  a  Select  Committee  hearing  a  heckler  cried  "What  a  bloody  ignorant  fellow  you  must  be".  In  1872  he  was  on  the  Royal  Commission  on  Contagious  Diseases.

Peter  knew  his  seat  was  at  risk  in  1874  so  he  stood  in  South  East  Lancashire  as  well  but  lost  both  contests. He  came  back  in  at  a  by-election  for  Burnley  in  1876.

Peter  resented  Home  Rule  as  a  diversion   from  domestic  reform  priorities. He  described  the  House  elected  in  1885  as  "practically  an  abortion... a  barren  parliament". He  joined  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886.

He  died  in  1887  aged  67.

652 David Chadwick

Constituency : Macclesfield  1868-80

David  took  the  second  Macclesfield  seat  from  the  Tories.

David  came  from  a middle  class  background. He  was  a  partner  in  a  large  accountancy  firm. He  unsuccesfully  contested  the  seat  in  1865. He  spent  time  in  America  observing  the  operation  of  the  ballot. His  firm  was  involved  in  many  company  flotations.

David  was  unseated  after  the  election   in  1880  after  the  Liberal  agent  was  found  to  have  operated  an  organised  system  of  bribery  and  treating.

David  wrote pamphlets  on  a  range  of  subjects  including  poor  rates, franchise  reform  and  education. He  supported  the  secret  ballot  and  retrenchment. When  invited  to  open  a  school  in  Sheffield  in  1875  he  remarked  "How  in  the  name  of  fortune  the  School  Board  have  persuaded  the  ratepayers  of  Sheffield  to  tolerate  their  extravagance  in  spending  £100,000  in  the  building  of  14  or  15  schools  as  substantial  as  so  many  castles 1"

David  submitted  evidence  to  the  1867  and  1877  Company  Law  Amendment  Committees  and  sat  on  the  latter.

David  was  responsible  for  building  the  Macclesfield  Free  Library.

He  died  in  1895  aged  73.

651 William Brocklehurst

Constituency : Macclesfield  1868-80, 1885-6

William  took  over  from  his  father  John  at  Macclesfield.

William  was  part  of  his  family's  silk  manufacturing  business. He  was  chair  of  the  Macclesfield  Chamber  of  Commerce. He  was  a  Unitarian.

In  1880  John  and  the  other  Macclesfield  MP  were  ejected  on  petition  after  extensive  bribery  in  the  borough  which  was  punished  by  having  no  representation  until  1885  when  William  was  re-elected  to  the  now  single  member  seat. He  was mayor  from  1883  to  1885.

William  made  few  speeches in  Parliament; they  were  usually  concerned  with  the  interests  of  the  silk  trade. In  1885  he  gave  evidence  to  the  Royal  Commission on  the  Depression  of  Trade  blaming  it  on  the  poor  quality  of  technical  education  compared  to  Germany  and  France.

He  died  in  1900  aged  82.

650 William Rathbone

Constituency  : Liverpool  1868-80,  Carnarvonshire 1881-85,  Arfon  1885-95

William  captured  the  extra  seat   Liverpool  had  been  given.

William  was  a  scion  of  a  prominent  Liverpool  merchant  and  shipowning   family. He  started  out  as  a  Quaker  but  became  a  Unitarian. He  was  a  friend  of  Florence  Nightingale and, inspired  by  the  care  his  dying  wife  had  received, set  up  a  scheme  for  training  district  nurses  in  Liverpool  which  spread  throughout  the  country. He  wanted  to  introduce  quality  nursing  into  workhouses. He  helped  set  up  the  Queen's  Nursing  Institute  and  members  of  his  family  have  continued  as  trustees  ever  since.  William  regarded  wealth  as  "a  trust  for  which  he  owes  an  account  to  himself, to  his   fellow  men  and  to  God; it  is  not  an  absolute  freehold  which  he  may  use  solely  for  personal  enjoyment  and  indulgence." He  was  an  austere  man  who  eschewed  sentimentality. He  was  chairman  of  Gladstone's  election  committee  in  South  Lancashire  in  1865.

In  the  late  1870s  William  fell  out  with  the  Liverpool  Irish  and  switched  to  Wales  though  he  fell  into  line  on  Home  Rule.

William  published  pamphlets  on  local  taxation  and  the  Suez  Canal.

William  was  involved  in  the  formation  of  both  Liverpool  University  and  University  College  of  North  Wales.

He  died  in  1902  aged  83. His  daughter  Eleanor  was  a  prominent  campaigner  and  later  an  independent  MP.

649 John Whitwell

Constituency : Kendal  1868-80

John  took  over  from  George  Glyn  at  Kendal. He  was  unopposed.

John  was  educated  at  Quaker  schools. He  was  a  woollen  manufacturer  and  chairman  of  the  Kendal  Chamber  of  Commerce. He  was  mayor  of  the  town  six  times.

John  declared  himself  in  favour  of  retrenchment  and  national  education. He  was  also   interested  in  trade  unionism  and  in  1870  convened  a  body  of  elementary  school  teachers  to   feed  into  the  process  during  the   Education  Bill  debate  which  eventually  became  the  NUT.

He  did  in  1880  aged  68.

648 Isaac Fletcher

Constituency : Cockermouth  1868-79

Isaac  won  at  Cockermouth  which  had  been  reduced  to  a  single  member  seat. Both  his  predecessors  had  been  Tories.

Isaac  was  a  Quaker  mineowner. He  was  interested  in  meteorology  and  astronomy. He  was  deputy  chairman  of  the  Cockermouth, Keswick  and  Penrith  Railway.

Isaac  was  in  favour  of  the  conversion  of  Thirlmere  and  said  that  Manchester  Corporation  would  protect  the  valley  from  villa-builders.

In  1879  he  committed  suicide  with  a  gun  in  a  London  hotel. He  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  William.

647 Richard Shaw

Constituency : Burnley 1868-76

Richard  became  the  first  MP  for  Burnley  defeating  the  Crimean  veteran  General  Scarlett  for  the  Tories.

Richard  was  a  local  man  educated  at  Burnley  Grammar  School  and St  Peter's , York. He  was  a  solicitor  and  businessman

On  Ireland  Richard  was  critical  of  the  landlords  but  careful to  protect  property  and  free  contract. He  thought  compensation for  improvements  would  give  the  tenant  "all  the  fixity  of  tenure  he  was  entitled  to  and   would.... respect  the  rights  of  the  owner". Anything  more  would  be  harmful to  the  whole  community.

He  died  in  1876  aged  50.

646 James Stevenson

Constituency : South Shields  1868-95

James  took  over  from  Robert  Ingham  at  South  Shields.

James  was  a  Glasgow  merchant's  son  educated  at  High School, Glasgow  and  Glasgow  University. In  1844  the  family  moved  to  Jarrow  when  his  father  became  a  partner  in  an  alkali  company. James  took  over  its  running  and  made  it  the  second  largest  chemical  company  in  the  UK. He  was  mayor of  South  Shields  campaigning  for  better  sanitation  and  road  widening. For  a  time  he  owned  the  Shields  Gazette. Despite  his  public  philanthropy  his  works  were  responsible  for  pollution  and  noted  for  harsh  working  conditions.

James  supported  total  closure  of  public  houses  on  a  Sunday.

James  was  the  father  of  Hilda  Runciman, the  first  female  Liberal  MP.

James  retired in  1895.

He  died  in  1905  aged  79.

645 Thomas Smith

Constituency : Tynemouth and North Shields 1868-85

Thomas  took  over  from  George  Trevelyan  at  Tynemouth.

Thomas  was  a  ropemaker's  son  and  a self-made  shipbuilder. He  was  the  founder  of  Smith's  Docks.  He  was  immensely  wealthy.  His  wife  was  an  independently  wealthy  art  patron  and  a  social  climber. He  stood  for  Dover  in  1865.

Thomas  was  peripherally  involved  in  the  Charles  Dilke  scandal. One  of  his  daughters  married  Dilke's  brother  Ashton  while  another  Virginia  married  Donald  Crawford  who  brought  the  case. There  were  hints  during  the  proceedings  that  Thomas's  wife  had  also  slept  with  Dilke. The  family  left  England  to  live  in  Algiers  after  the  scandal.

Thomas  was  one  of  the  chief  opponents  of   Plimsoll's  attempts  to  improve  safety  at  sea.

Thomas  built  a  church  and  school  at  North  Gosforth  but  never  had  it  consecrated  for  fear  he  would  lose  control  of  it  to  the  Diocese  of  Durham.

Thomas  retired  in  1885.

He  died  in  1903  aged 72.

644 Edward Gourley

Constituency : Sunderland 1868-1900

Edward  recovered  the  second  Sunderland  seat - lost  in  1865- for  the  Liberals. This  was  despite  a  run  of  maritime  losses  which  led  Samuel  Plimsoll  to  criticise  him  for  the  human  cost. : "I  heard  his  name  wherever  I  went  as  that  of  a  ship-owner  who  was  notorious  for  the  practice  of  overloading, and  for  a  reckless  disregard  of  human  life".  He  defeated  T C  Thompson , a  Whig  who  didn't  satisfy  the  more  advanced  local  Liberals.

Edward  was  the  son  of  a  shipowner. He  was  apprenticed  as  a  coalfitter  for  a  big  firm  and worked  in  Germany  and  Holland. In  1848  he  set  up  his  own  business  as  a  ship-chandler. He expanded  into  coal  exports  and  timber  imports. He  soon  had  a  fleet  for  the  Indian  trade. He did  well  out  of  supplying  the  troops  in  the  Crimean  War. He  invested  in  steamships  over  sail. He  was  active  in  local  politics  as  a  councillor  from  1857. He  was  mayor  in  1864  and  1865.

Edward  was  a  persistent  questioner  in  Parliament , usually  on  shipping  matters. He  was particularly  keen  that  ships  of  the  mercantile  marine  should  be  manned  by  British  sailors   who  could  be  depended  on  if  needed  for  military  operations. He  secured  an  inquiry  into  the   working  of  benefit  building  societies.

Edward  was  not  a  great  orator.  He  was  described by  one  source  as  " a  thin  spare  man  with  a  weak, little. piping  voice." He  was  unmarried  but  thought  to  have  a  secret  mistress  in  London.

In  1872  he  Edward  opposed  extending  the  franchise  to  seafarers   but  was  forced  by  constituency  pressures  to  do  a  u-turn  and  support  it.In  1873  Edward  founded  The  Sunderland  Echo  with  Samuel  Storey.

Edward  was  a  strong  supporter  of  Home  Rule, a  convert  before  Gladstone.

Edward  was  a  Congregationalist  and  a  strong  supporter  of  temperance. He  was  also  a  high ranking  officer  in  the  Volunteers. He  was  a  keen  yachtsman.

Edward  was  knighted  in  1895.

Edward  retired  in  1900  after  an  argument  with  the  local  party  over  how  many  candidates  to put  up. Edward  had  been  hoping  to  avoid  a  contest  by  a  tacit  agreement  with  the  local Tories. He  died  two  years  later  aged  76  after  a  long  battle  with  illness.

643 Joseph Dodds

Constituency : Stockton-on-Tees  1868-88

Joseph  became  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  Stockton-on-Tees.

Joseph  was  a  farmer's  son  who  became  a  solicitor. He  invested  in  ironworks  and  became  mayor  of  the  town.

Joseph  persuaded  the  North  Eastern  Railway  to  run  a  through  train  to  London  which  became  known  as  the  "Dodds Express". In  1886  he  had  a  huge  majority  of  4,991.

Joseph  supported  women's  suffrage  but  opposed  giving  them  more  child  custody  rights.

Joseph  resigned  in  1888  when  he  was  exposed  as  a  fraudster  for  pocketing  the  savings  of  an  elderly  lady  who'd  given  him  the  money  to  invest. He  left  town  in  a  hurry.

He  died  in  1891  aged  72.

642 Henry Bolckow

Constituency : Middlesbrough 1868-78

Henry  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  Middlesbrough. He  was  unopposed.

Henry  was  born  in  Germany  of  merchant  stock. In  1827,  when  he  was  21,  he  was  invited  to  become  a  business  partner  to  a  corn  merchant  operating  out  of  Newcastle. H  became  a  naturalised  British  subject  in  1841. He  went  into  business  with  John  Vaughan to  form  the  ironworking  company  Bolckow  Vaughan  which  rapidly  expanded  to  encompass  mining, quarrying a  gasworks  and  brickmaking.  Henry  handled  the  finances  while  John  was  in  charge  of  operations. Middlesbrough  rapidly  developed  as  a  town  as  a  result  and  Henry  became  its  first  mayor. He  gave  a  park  and  a  school  to  the  town.

Henry  was  a  great  collector  of  contemporary  art

In  1877  Henry  fell  ill  from  kidney  disease  and  died  the  following  year.

641 Frederick Beaumont

Constituency : Durham South 1868-80

Frederick  took  the  second  seat  at  Durham  South  from  the  Tories.

Frederick  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  then  joined  the  army. He  served  in  the  Royal   Engineers  with  the  future  General  Gordon. He  served  in  the  Crimean  War  fighting  alongside  Turkish  forces  on  the  Danube. He  also  served  in  India  during  the  Mutiny. He  observed  the  American  Civil  War  and  tried  to  get  ballooning  adopted  by  the  army. In  1856  he  was  granted  a  patent  for  improvements  to  the  Adams  revolver.

Frederick's  military  career  continued  aftert  his  election  and  in  1872  he  was  promoted  to  Major. He  was  in  charge  of  railways  at  Woolwich  but  continued  to  pursue  the  balloon  idea.
In  1874  he  started  work  on  the  Channel  Tunnel  using  his  own  boring  machine  which  was  credited  with  work  actually  done  by  another  man's  invention. He  also  patented  a  compressed  air  tramcar.

In  1870  he  spoke  in  favour  of  technical  education  for  soldiers.

In  1877  Frederick  was  promoted  to  Colonel  and  retired  shortly  afterwards.

He  died  in  1899  aged  65.

640 John Davison

Constituency : Durham City 1868-71

John  took  the  second  Durham  seat  from  the  Tories.

John  was  a  vicar's  son  educated  at  the  University  of  Durham. He  became  a  barrister.

John  was  judge-advocate-general  until  his  death.

He  died  whilst  visiting  a  friend  in  Suffolk  in  1871  aged  44. The  Tories  won  the  by-election.

639 Edmund Backhouse

Constituency : Darlington  1868-80

Edmund  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  Darlington. It  was  a  close  run  contest  which  prompted  the  establishment  of  The  Northern  Echo.

Edmund  was  the  son  of  a  Quaker  banker. He  became  a  junior  partner  in  the  bank  in  1845.

The  Times'  obituary  said  of   Edmund  that  he  "was  considered  one  of  the  ablest  representatives  sent  from  the  north  to  Parliament. He  was  not  an  orator , but  his  speeches  were  characterised  by  good  sense  and  extreme  caution.  His  judgement  was  considered  safe  and  he  was  always  conscientious."

Edmund  stepped  down  in  1880. His  son  Jonathan  joined  the  Liberal Unionists  and  was  rewarded  with  a  baronetcy.

He  died  in  1906  aged  82.

638 John Stapleton

Constituency : Berwick-upon-Tweed  1852-3, 1857-9, 1868-74

John  managed  to  reclaim  his  seat  which  he  lost  to  the  Tories  in  1859.

John  was  educated  at  Edinburgh  and  then  in  Germany. He  was  a  barrister. He  was  unseated  on  petition  in  1853. John  was  on  the  board  of  the  Royal  British  Bank  which  failed  in  1856  but  doesn't  seem  to  have  taken  a  loan  from  it.

John  is  quoted  in  Das  Kapital   for  his  remark " If  China  should  become  a  great  manufacturing  country , I  do  not  see  how  the  manufacturing  population of  Europe  could  sustain  the  contest  without  descending  to  the  level  of  their  competitors".

John  was  defeated  in  1874.

He  died  in  1891  aged  75.

636 Henry Richard

Constituency : Merthyr  Tydfil  1868-88

Henry  was  one  of  the  two  more  radical  Liberals  who  pushed  Henry  Bruce  out  of  his  seat.

Henry  was  educated  at  a  Welsh  grammar  school  then  went  to  a  college  in  Highbury  for  the training  to  be  a  Congregationalist  minister. He  was  pastor  at  a chapel  in  London  but  he resigned  his  ministry  in  1850  to  become  full  time  secretary  of  the  Peace  Society. He  helped to  organise  a  number  of  "congresses"  in  European  capitals  gaining  an  international  reputation  as  The  Apostle  of  Peace". He  had  some  influence  in  introducing  an  arbitration  clause  in  the  Treaty  of  Paris.  He  was  a  friend  and  associate  Cobden. He  spoke  out  against  slavery  and  was  respected  by  the  movement  despite  his  refusal  to  support  the  American  Civil  War  as  a  means  to  end  it. He  was active  in  the  Liberation  Society  which  aimed  at  disestablishment  of  the  Anglican  church. He  helped  point  their  efforts  towards  Wales  and   intended  to  contest  Cardiganshire  in  1865  until  dissuaded  by  the  local  hierarchy.

 Henry's  maiden  speech  was  a  long  one  in  support  of  disestablishing  the  Irish  church, Henry  became  a  leading  advocate  of  removing  Nonconformist  grievances  and  disestablishing  the  Welsh  church. He  was  sometimes  referred  to  as  the  "Member  for  Wales". He  was  also  active  in  education  having  been  a  fierce  critic  of  the  infamous  "Blue  Books"  report  on  Welsh  education. He  put  down  a  motion  extolling  international  arbitration  in  1872. The  Spectator's  obituary  credited  Henry  with  making  the  Alabama  settlement  politically  possible.

Henry  became  chairman  of  the  Congregational  Union  in  1877.

Henry  criticised  the  annexation  of  Burma  in  1886 : "an  act  of  high-handed  violence  for  which there  is  no adequate  justification".  With  some  foresight  as  to  what  was  to  come  he  put  down a  motion  to  prohibit  national  commitments  without  parliamentary  consent.

Henry  wrote  books  on  Wales, peace  and  the  anti-slavery  campaigner  Joseph  Sturge. He  also  prepared  materials  for  Morley's  life  of  Cobden.

In  one  of  his  last  speeches  in  1887  Henry  warned  that  Welsh  members  may  take  similar action  to  the  Irish  obstructionists if  their  grievances  were  not  addressed.

He  died  in  1888  aged  76.

637 Richard Fothergill

Constituency : Merthyr  Tydfil 1868-80

Richard  was the  other  Liberal  victor  at  Merthyr. He  came  second  ahead  of  Henry  Bruce  who  had  angered  some of  his  working  class  constituents  by  failing  to  support  the  ballot  and  was  thought  suspect  on  mine  safety.

Richard  was  from  Kendal  and  was  educated  at  Edinburgh  Military  Academy. He  was  manager  and  later  proprietor  of  the  Aberdare  iron-works. He  acquired  two  more  works  near  Merthyr in  the  1860s. He  was  an  Anglican.

Once  in  Parliament  Richard  pushed  for  the  navy  to  use  coal  from  South  Wales. He  spoke  in  favour  of  the  secret  ballot  and  opposed  the  introduction  of  the  metric  system.  He  had  a  realistic  attitude  to  drinking  knowing  how  much  his  employees  loved  beer.

By  1879  Richard  was  experiencing  financial  difficulties  and  after  some  discussion  with  local  worthies  he  decided  to  step  down  in  1880.

He  died  in  1903  aged  80.

635 David Williams

Constituency : Merioneth 1868-9

David  took  Merioneth  from  the  Tories  at  the  third  attempt, having  stood  in  1859  and  1865. His  challenge  in  1859  led  to  a  number  of  evictions.

David  was  a  Nonconformist  solicitor  who  had  gradually  built  up  a  considerable  estate. He  built  the  mock-Gothic  mansion  of  Castell  Dudraeth  which  is  part  of  the  Portmeirion  estate. He  was  a  cultured  man  with  literary  interests.

He  died  in  1869  aged  70. His  son  Osmond  was  a  later  MP  for  the  constituency.

634 William Edwardes

Constituency : Haverfordwest  1868 - 85

William  took  Haverfordwest  from  the  Tories.

William  was  the  son  and  heir  of  Baron  Kensington, an  Irish  peerage. His  family  had  a  long  history  in  the  seat.  He  was  educated  at  Eton. He  had  an  army  career  in  the  Coldstream  Guards  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel

William  stood  on  the  grounds  of  religious  toleration  and  extension  of  the  franchise. He  supported  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  church    but  opposed  disendowment  as  well. In  1871  William  spoke  in  favour  of  the  secret  ballot. He  was  Groom-in-Waiting  to  the  queen from  1873  to  1874.  He  acted  as  a  whip  in  opposition.

In  1880  Gladstone  made  William   Chief  Whip  and  he  held  the  post  for  the  life  of  the government.

In  1886  William's  title  was  converted  to  an  English  peerage  and  he  went  to  the  House  of Lords. He  served  as  a  whip  there  from  1892  until  his  death. He  was  appointed  Captain  of   the  Yeomen  of  the  Guard  in  1892  and  served  till  1895.

William  was  a  generous  man  but  rather  taciturn  in  manner. He  had  an  illegitimate  son  by  a  housemaid  who  he  tacitly  acknowledged  by  providing  a  good  education.

He  died  suddenly  while  on  a  shooting  holiday  in  Scotland  in  1896  aged  61.