1076 Charles Gaskell

Constituency  : Morley  1885-92

Charles  won  the  new  seat  of  Morley.

Charles  was  the  son  of  a  former  Conservative  MP. He  was educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge. He  became  a  barrister. He  first  stood  for  Pontefract  in  1868  and  at  a  by-election  in  Knaresborough  in  1881.

Charles  made  little  contribution  in  Parliament.

Charles  stood  down  in  1892. He  became  chairman  of  West  Riding  County  Council  the  following  year.

Charles  married  Catherine  Wallop  an  aristocratic  minor  author  who  played  host  to  Henry  Adams, Henry  James  and  Thomas  Hardy. Adams  had  a  correspondence  with  him  for  the  rest  of  his  life.

He  died  in  1919  aged  76.

1075 William Saunders

Constituency : Kingston  upon  Hull  East  1885-6,  Walworth  1892-5

William  won  the  new  seat  of  Hull  East.

William  was  a  newspaper  proprietor. He  founded  the  Western  Morning  News  in  Plymouth  in  1860  and  the  Eastern  Morning  News  in  Hull  four  years  later. In  1863  he  founded  Central  Press  in  London  which  became  the  Central  News  Agency. He  was  vice-president  of  the  temperance  society, United  Kingdom Alliance.

William  was  defeated  in  1886.

In  1889  William  was  elected  to  London  County  Council  as  a  Progressive.

In  1895  William  used  a  speech  on  the  Budget  to  express his  disappointment  at  the  Liberal  government's  record.

William  died  in  1895  aged  71.

1074 Henry Wilson

Constituency : Holmfirth  1885-1912

Henry  won  the  new  seat  of  Holmfirth.

Henry  came  from  a  Congregationalist  family who  owned  the  Sheffield  Smelting  Compny. He  was  educated  at  the  West  of  England  Dissenters  Proprietary  School  in  Taunton  and  University  College, London. n  1859  he  married  the  daughter  of  Charles  Cowan, MP  for  Edinburgh. He  spent  the  first  fourteen  years  of  working  life  as  a  farmer  before  moving  into  the  family  firm.

Henry  was  a  radical  in  favour  of  temperance, Home  Rule  , disestablishment  of  the  church, non-sectarian  education  and  the  destruction  of  the  opium  trade. Largely  as  a  result  of  disgust  at  the  compromises  in  the  1870  Education  Act, Henry  broke  with  the  main  body  of  Sheffield  Liberals  and  set  up  the  Sheffield  Reform  Association  to  promote  a  more  advanced  brand. Henry  invited  Chamberlain  to  stand  there  in  1874  but  the  attempt  was  unsuccessful. Henry  then  came  in  from  the  cold  and  became  secretary  of  the  Sheffield  Liberal  Association  in  1875.

Henry  held  office  in  many  campaigning  organisations  concerned  with  repealing  the  Contagious  Diseases  Act  which  he  regarded  as  immoral  and  oppressive  and  curtailing  the  opium  trade. He  sat  on  the  Sheffield  School  Board.

In  1895  he  served  on  the  Royal  Commission  on  Opium  and  wrote  a  minority  report  on  its  findings.

Henry  was  an  anti-imperialist  who  fiercely  opposed  the  Boer  War  describing  it  as  "a  crime  against  humanity  and  a  great  political  blunder". He  formed  a  Sheffield  branch  of  the  Soutyh  Africa  Conciliation  Committee. The  campaigner  Emily  Hobhouse  tried  to  persuade  him  to  visit  South  Africa  and  report  back.

Henry  rebuked  Lloyd  George  for  not  supporting  Campbell-Bannerman's  amendment  to  the  King's  Speech  in  1902.

In  later  life  Henry  became  more  of  a  Quaker. He  wanted  fornication  to  be  made  illegal.

Henry  was  involved  in  the  Liberal  land  campaign  before  he  stood  down  in  1912.

He  died  in  1914  aged  81. His  son  Cecil  became  a  Labour  MP.

1073 Thomas Wayman

Constituency : Elland  1885-99

Thomas  won  the  new  seat  of  Elland.

Thomas  was  a  wool-stapler,  privately  educated  in  Halifax. He  was  Mayor  of  the  town  from  1872  to  1874.

Thomas  opposed  coercion  in  Ireland  in  1887  and  criticised  the  government's  licensing  proposals  in  1890.

Thomas  stood  down  on  health  grounds  in  1899  and  retired  to  Oxfordshire.

He  died  in  1901  aged  67.

1072 Walter Shirley

Constituency  : Doncaster  1885-8

Walter  won  the  new  seat  of  Doncaster.

Walter  was  the  son  of  a  former  Lord  Mayor  of  Doncaster. He  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  Oxford . He  became  a  barrister  and  wrote  several  papers  on  legal  matters.  He  became  the  first  president  of  Doncaster  Rovers  FC.

Walter  was  known  as  an  advanced  Liberal. He  supported  Sunday  closing  of  public  houses , Home  Rule   and  democratic  county  councils.

Walter  resigned  his  seat  in  1888  through  ill  health  and  died  a  few  months  later  aged  36.

1071 Angus Holden

Constituency  : Bradford  East  1885-6, Buckrose  1892-1900

Angus  won  the  new  seat  of  Bradford  East.

Angus  was  joining  his  father  Isaac, now  the  MP  for  Keighley, in  the  Commons. He  was  educated  at  Edinburgh  and  Wesley  College, Sheffield. He  was  a  partner  in  his  father's  firm  of  wool  combers. He  was  Mayor  of  Bradford  four  times  starting  in  1878. He  unsuccessfully  contested  a  by-election  at  Knaresborough  in  1874.

Angus  was  defeated  in  1886  but  had  the  consolation  of  becoming  mayor  for  the  final  time.

Angus  returned  to  Parliament  in  1892. In  1897  he  succeeded  to  hi  father's  baronetcy.

Angus  made  just  one  contribution  in  Parliament,  a  question  about  the  Sea  Fisheries  Committee  which  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  James  Bryce  rebuffed  as  ill-informed.

Angus  stood  down  before  the  1900  election.He  was  created  Baron  Holden  in  1908.

He  died  in  1912  aged  79.

1070 Courtney Kenny

Constituency  : Barnsley  1885-8

Courtney  won  the  new  seat of  Barnsley.

Courtney  was  the  son  of  a  Halifax  magistrate. He  was  educated  at  local  grammar  schools  then  joined  a  firm  of  solicitors.  He  then  went  to  Cambridge  where  he  won  a  number  of  prizes. In  1875  he  became  a  lecturer  in  law  and  moral  science  then  in  1881  he  became  a  barrister.

Courtney  introduced  bills  to  abolish  primogeniture  on  which  he  was  something  of  an  expert  and  to  amend  the  blasphemy  laws.

In  1888  Courtney  resigned  his  seat  to  take  up  a  post  at  Cambridge. He  retired  in  1918.

He  died  in  1930  on  his  eighty-third  birthday.

1069 George Pilkington

Constituency : Southport  1885-6, 1899-1900

George  won  the  new  seat  of  Southport.

George  was  the  son  of  a  Cambridgeshire  surgeon. He  was  actually  born  George  Coombe  but  changed  to  his  wife's  surname. She  was  the  daughter  of  the  former  Blackburn  MP  James  Pilkington. George  was  privately  educated  and  trained  for  medicine  at  Guy's. He  practised  medicine  in  Southport  from  18970  to  1884  in  a  variety  of  roles. He  was  Mayor  of  Southport  from  1884  to  1885. He  was  also  a  director  of  the  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  Railway  and  the  Manchester  and  County  Bank. He  was  an  Anglican  who  was  against  "ritualistic  practices  "  in  the  Church.

George  was  defeated  in  1886. He  became a  councillor  and  alderman  on  Lancashire  County  Council  and  won  the  seat  back  at  a  by-election  in  1899. He  was  defeated  again  in  1900.

George  made  one  parliamentary  contribution, raising  the  state  of  the  field  hospitals  during  the  Boer  War.

George  was  knighted  in  1893.

He  died  in  1916  aged  67.

1068 William Mather

Constituency : Salford  South  1885-6, Gorton  1889-95, Rossendale  1900-04

William  won  the  new  seat  of  Salford  South.

William  was  the  son  of  a  partner  in  a  firm  making  equipment  for  the  textile  bleaching  industry. He  was  privately  educated  and  became  chairman  of  the  company  which  owned  Salford  ironworks. He  introduced  the  eight  hour  day  there.

William  was  defeated  in  1886. He  won  a  by-election  at  Gorton  in  1889  but  withdrew  in  favour  of  the  ILP  candidate  Richard  Pankhurst   in  1895. He  won  another  by-election  at  Gorton  in  1900.

William  had  a  deep  interest  in  education. He  served  on  the  Salford  School  Board  from  1874  onwards. He  was  on  the  council  of  Owen's  College  and  then  Manchester  University  and  took  charge  of  the  British  education  section  of  the  1908  Franco-British  Exhibition . In  1883  he  undertook  an  investigation  into  technical  education  in  the  USA  and  Russia  on  behalf of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Technical  Instruction. He  had  his  amendments  to  the  1889  Technical  Instruction  Bill  accepted  by  the government.

William  was  knighted  in  1902  after  service  on  the  committee  dealing  with  the  reorganisation  of  the  War  Office. He  was  a  constant  critic  during  the  passage  of  that  year's  Education  Act.

William  was  a  party  donor. He  was  friendly  with  Churchill  and  Lloyd  George.

William  stood  down  in  1904.

He  died  in  1920  aged  82.

1067 John Brunner

Constituency  : Northwich  1885-6,  1887-1910

John  took  the  new  seat  of  Northwich.

John  was  the  son  of  a  Unitarian  schoolmaster  originally  from  Switzerland. He  was  educated  at  his  father's  school  in  Liverpool.He  started  work  in  a  shipping  house  in  Liverpool. in  1861  he  moved  to  a  clerical  position  at  an  alkali  works  in  Widnes  where  his  brother  was  technical  manager. He  himself  rose  to  general  manager. In  1873  he  formed  a  partnership  with  a  work  colleague, the  German  born  chemist  Ludwig  Mond. Their  idea  was  to produce  soda  ash  more  cheaply  using  the  Solvay  process  and  they  negotiated  with  Solvay  for  the  rights  to use  it  in  Britain  and  America. It  took  a  while  for  the  venture  to  become  profitable  but  in  1881 they  converted  to  a  limited  company  with  them  becoming  managing  directors. John  became  chairman  in  1891. He  was  a  paternalistic  employer  who  introduced  paid  holidays, sickness  insurance  and  shorter  hours. His  political  career  started  with  joining  the  National  Education  League  in  1872.

John  supported  disestablishment  of  the  church, Home  Rule,  old  age  pensions, graduated  tax  and  state  intervention . He  also  supported  compensation  for  those  whose  properties  had  been  damaged  by  the  salt  mines  in  the  area.

John  was  defeated  by  a  Liberal  Unionist  in  1886  and  went  on  a  world  tour. Three  weeks  after  his  return  his  rival  died  and  John  swept  back  in  at  the  by-election.

John  was  created  a  baronet  in  1895.

John  opposed  the  Boer  War  and  saw  his  majority  slip  in  the  1900  election.

John  stood  down  on  health  grounds  before  the  January  1910  election. He  moved  to  Surrey  and  became  a  county  councillor  there. He  was  President  of  the National  Liberal  Association  from  1911  to  1918  when  he  resigned  in  protest  at  Lloyd  George's  rush  to  the  polls. He  was  a  leading  party  donor.

John  supported  better  relations  with  Germany  leading  to  naval  disarmament  but  supported  the  war  effort  once  it  started  and  used  his  factories  to  produce  explosives.

John  was  a  noted  philanthropist  donating  libraries, chapels  and community  halls  and  funded  a  number  of  chairs  at  Liverpool  University. He  also  funded  a  museum  in  Zurich. He  was  a  major  contributor  to  the  Runcorn  and  Widnes  Transporter  Bridge  and  opened  it  himself  in  1905  when  the  King  was  too  ill  to attend.

In  the  1918  election  John  financed  the  campaign of  a  Labour  candidate  in  Chertsey  although  his  son  was  standing  for  the  Asquithians  in  Northwich.  He  declared  that  he  would  "cheerfully  vote  for  every  part  of  the  Labour  Party  programme. He  saw  Asquith  as  an  impediment  to  a  Lib-Lab  progressive  alliance.

John  died  in  1919  aged  77. He  is  the  great-grandfather  of the Duchess  of  Kent.

 

1066 Henry Roscoe

Constituency  : Manchester  South  1885-95

Henry  took  the  new  seat  of  Manchester  South. He  was  the  only  successful  Liberal  candidate  in  Manchester  as  his  constituency  lacked  a  large  Irish  vote  to  follow  Parnell's  call  to  vote  for  the  Conservatives.

Henry  was  a  London  barrister's  son . He  was  the  grandson  of  the  Radical  MP  for  Liverpool  William  Roscoe  and  son-in-law  of  Edmund  Potter  former  MP  for  Carlisle. He  was  educated  at  Liverpool  Institute  for  Boys  and  University  College  London. He  went  to  Heidelberg  to  work  under  Robert  Bunsen  where  they  worked  on  comparative  photochemistry  and  may  have  taken  the  first  flashlit  photograph.. In  1857  he  became  chair  of  chemistry  at  Owens  College  Manchester   and  stayed  there  until  his  election. In  1867  he  did  some  pioneering  research  on  vanadium. Henry  wrote  a  number  of  academic  works  on  chemistry  and  textbooks.In  1875  he  oversaw  the  construction  of  the  first  practical  chemistry  laboratory  in  any  British  university.
He  was  a  Unitarian.

Henry  was  thought  of  as  an  "advanced"  Liberal. He  worked  to  bring  radical  issues  within  the  party  programme. He  supported  the  idea  of  more  working  class  MPs  and  a  more  meritocratic  education  system. He  also  called  for  reform  of  the  House  of  Lords.

In  1886  Henry  opposed  the  Rivers  Purification  Bill  for  being  too  simplistic  in  its  prescriptions.

Henry  was  keenly  interested  in  education  generally. He  served  on  several  royal  commissions. From  1896  to  1902 he  was  vice-chancellor of  the  University  of  London.

Henry  was  knighted  in  1894.

In  1895  Henry  was  defeated  by  the  queen's  son-in-law the  Marquis  of  Lorne  standing  as  a  Liberal  Unionist.

Henry  was  Beatrix  Potter's  uncle.

He  died  in  1915  aged  82.

1065 Caleb Wright

Constituency : Leigh  1885-95

Caleb  won  the  new  seat  of  Leigh. He  was  75  at  the  time.

Caleb  was  a  self-made man, one  of  thirteen  children   who  started  work  as  a  piecer  in  a  cotton  mill  at  9. He  rose  to  become  manager  of  the  mill  at  20. In  1845  he  entered  into  a  cotton-spinning  partnership  then  ten  years  later  started  his  own  firm  in  Tyldesley.  He  was  a  Unitarian  who  played  the  organ  at  his  chapel. He  was  president  of  the  local  Mechanics  Institute.

Caleb  supported  Home  Rule  and  female  suffrage. He  was  a  member  of  the  Liberation Society.
In  1887  he  protested  at  the  size  of  the  military  and  naval  estimates.

Caleb  stood  down  in  1895.

He  died  in  1898  aged  87.

1064 Abel Buckley

Constituency : Prestwich  1885-6

Abel  took  the  new  seat  of  Prestwich.

Abel  was  the  son  of  a  cotton  manufacturer  of  Irish  descent. H  was  the  nephew  of  Nathaniel  Buckley  former  MP  for  Stalybridge. He  was  educated  at  Mill's  Hill  School  and  Owen's  College.  In  1885  he  inherited  a  new  home  home  Ryecroft  Hall  in  Audenshaw  which  eventually  passed  into  municipal  hands.  (  I've  been  in  it  a  few  times,  through  work  in  the  early  nineties,  seeing  an  unpleasant  individual  who  was  a  law  unto  himself ) .  Abel  was  also  director  and  chairman  of  the  Manchester  and  Liverpool  District  Banking  Company. He  was  Mayor  of  Ashton.

Abel  never  spoke  in  the  Commons.

Abel  was  narrowly  defeated in  1886.

Abel  collected  fine  art  and  bred  racehorses. He  was  also  a  keen  amateur  photographer.

He  died  in  1908  aged  73. His  obituary  described  him  as  "one  of  the  old  cotton  lords  of  Lancashire".

1063 George Salis-Schwabe

Constituency : Middleton  1885-6

George  won  the  new  seat  of  Middleton.

George's   father  was  a  German  Jew  who   owned  a  calico  printing  firm . He  later  converted  to  Unitarianism.They  had  a  huge  mill  in  the  town. He  was  educated  at  University  College  School, London  and  London  University. He   joined  the  army   and  became  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Sixteenth  Lancers. He  served  in  the  Anglo-Zulu  Wars  and  was  awarded  the  Medal  with  Clasp.

When  Gladstone  made  his  intentions  clear  as  to  Home  Rule  George  told  him  he  was  eager  to support  government  policy  but  he  had  made  anti-Home  Rule  pledges  to  his  constituents  and  thought  the  same  was  true  of  all  Lancashire  Liberals.

George  thought  that  a  re-organisation  of  the  army  could  reduce  the  enormous  estimates in  1886.

George  joined  the  Liberal  Unionists  but  did  not  defend  his  seat.

George  was  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Royal  Chelsea  Hospital  from  1898  to  1903.

He  died  in  1907  aged  63.

1062 Isaac Hoyle

Constituency : Heywood  1885-92

Isaac  won  the  new  seat  of  Heywood.

Issac's  father  founded   a  cotton  manufacturing  business  at  Summerseat  near  Bury.  He  was  educated  at  Crosby  Hall, Frodsham.  Isaac  eventually  became  a  director  of  the  firm  and  fostered  good  employee  relations. He  built  a  number  of  workers  cottages  near  the  mill. He  was  a  director  of  the  Manchester  Chamber  of  Commerce.

Isaac's  maiden  speech  was  in  defence  of  Free  Trade. He  supported  the  raising  of  the  age  at  which  children  could  start  work. He  also  supported  higher  education  for  women.  In  1887  he  and  another  MP  Frank  Hardcastle  secured  an  amendment  to  the  Merchandise  Marks  Act  against  the  false-folding  of  cotton  from  India.

Isaac  retired  before  the  1892  election.

He  died  in  1911  aged  83. His  daughter  Frances  Rowe  was  a  prominent  suffragette.

1061 Richard Peacock

Constituency :  Gorton  1886-9

Richard  won  the  new  seat  of  Gorton.

Richard  was  educated  at  Leeds  Grammar  School  then  was  apprenticed  to  an  engineering  firm  in  Leeds. By  18  he  was  a  locomotive  superintendent  on  the  Leeds  and  Selby  railway. In  1861  he  shifted  to  the  Manchester,  Sheffield  and  Lincolnshire  Railway. He  founded  the  Gorton  Locomotive  Works  in  1847  but  left  before  they  were  completed.  In  1853  he  founded  the  illustrious  locomotive  firm  Beyer  Peacock   with  Charles  Beyer.He  was  a  Unitarian  and  constructed  Brookfield  Church  in  Gorton.

Richard  started  his  parliamentary  career  late  in  life, being  65  at  the  time  of  his  election. He  supported  Home  Rule, Lords  reform, disestablishment  of  the  church  and  local  government.

Richard  never  spoke  in  the  Commons.

He  died  in  1889  aged  68.

1060 David Duncan

Constituency : Barrow-in-Furness  1885-6, Liverpool Exchange  1886

David  won  the  new  seat  of  Barrow-in-Furness.

David  was  a  Scottish  manufacturers's  son. He  was  educated  at  Dundee  High  School. He  went  with  his  brother  James  to  South  America  and  traded  there. In  1851  he  became  a  partner  in  the  shipping  firm  Balfour  Williamson. He  extricated  himself  from that  in  1863  and  started  his  own  company  which  also  had  interests  in  mining. He  was  a  director  of  the  Royal  Insurance  Company.

David  was  unseated  on  petition  for  bribery. He  then  contested  and  won  Liverpool  Exchange  in  1886   but  died  in  December  that  year  aged  55.

His  son  James  later  became  MP  for  Barrow.

1059 Henry Howard

Constituency : Penrith  1885-6

Henry  won  the  new  seat  of  Penrith.

Henry  was  an  aristocrat, a  nephew  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk. He  lived  at  Graystoke  Castle.

Henry  never  spoke  in  the  Commons.

Henry  joined  the  Liberal  Unionists  and  gave  up  his  seat  to  James  Lowther  in  1886. He  tried  to  wrest  Eskdale  away  from  Robert  Allison  in  1892  and  1895. Both  times  it  was  close  but  Henry  was  unsuccessful.

Henry  was  chairman  of  Cumberland  County Council  between  1892  and  1913. He  founded  a  Dairy  and  Demonstration  School  in  Cumbria  in  the  1890s.

He  died  in  1914  aged  63.

1058 Thomas Ashton

Constituency  : Hyde  1885-6, Luton  1895-1911

Thomas   won  the  new  seat  of  Hyde.

Thomas  was  an  industrialist  from  Manchester.  His  family  had  been  prominent  cotton  manufacturers  for  decades.He  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  Oxford  then  went  into  the  family  business. He  was  a  Unitarian.

Thomas  was  a  major  contributor  to  the  funds  of  the  Manchester  Liberal  Union.

Thomas  was  defeated  in  1886  and  unsuccessful  in  the  same  constituency  in  1892. He  switched  to  Luton  in  1895.

In  1911  Thomas  was  created  Baron  Ashton. He  was  chairman  of  the  Cotton  exports  Committee  during  World  War  One.

He  died  in  1933  aged  78.

1057 Robert Allison

Constituency : Eskdale  1885-1900

Robert  won  the  new  seat  of  Eskdale.

Robert  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  Cambridge. He  was  a  director  of  the  Midland  Railway.

After  a  number  of  very  close  contests  Robert  was  finally  defeated  by  the  Lowther  candidate  in  1900.

Robert  was  knighted  in  1910  and  spent  his  later  years  writing , with  such  works  as  Cicero  in  Old  Age  and  Belgium  in  History  ( that  one  can't  have  taken  him  long ).

He  died  in  1926  aged  87.

1056 George Latham

Constituency  : Crewe  1885-6

George  won  the  new  seat  of  Crewe.

George  was  born  in  London  though  his  father  owned  land  in  Sandbach. He  was  educated  at  Oxford  and  became  a  barrister. He  stood  for  Mid  Cheshire  in  1880.

George  never  spoke  in  Parliament.

George  stood  down  in  1886  and  died  not  long  after  the  election  aged  59.

1055 Balthazar Foster

Constituency : Chester 1885-6, Ilkeston  1887-1910 

Balthazar  won  the  now-single  member  seat  of  Chester  after  representation  had  been  suspended  in  1880  with  the  seat  split  50/50  between  the  parties.

Balthazar  was  born  in  Cambridge  but  mainly  brought  up  in  Ireland. He  was  educated  at  Drogheda  Grammar  School  and  Trinity  College, Dublin  where  he  studied  medicine. He  became  an  academic  rather  than  practitioner, He  worked  as  a  Demonstrator  of  Practical  Anatomy  at  Queen's  College Birmingham  . In  1870  he  published  Method  and  Medicine  , a  defence  of  scientific  research  in  medicine.  An  interest  in  public  health  led  him  towards  politics.

Balthazar  was  an  advocate  of  free  education  and  improving  dwellings  and  began  as  a  strong  supporter  of  Chamberlain.  In  1886  he  became  President  of  the  National  Liberal  Federation  to  try  and  keep  it  loyal  to  Gladstone  and  he  was  unseated  by  the  influence  of  the  Duke  of  Westminster  that  year. He  was  knighted  then  returned  to  Parliament  for  Ilkeston  the  following  year.

Balthazar  opposed  efforts  by  the  Tories  to  put  more  university  men  on  the  Medical  Council.

In  1892  Balthazar  was  appointed  Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the  Local  Government  Board  making  him  the  first  doctor  to  hold  a  ministerial  post. He  was  credited  with  preventing  the  1893  cholera  epidemic  reaching  Britain.He  acquired  the  reputation  of  a  competent  and  hard  working  minister.

After  Balthazar's  re-election  in  January  2010  he  was  approached  to  stand  down  for  the  war  minister  Seely  who  had  lost  his  own  seat. Balthazar  did  so  and  was  granted  a  peerage  as   Baron  Ilkeston.

Balthazar's  health  was  already  in  decline. He  had  an  operation  to  remove  a  bowel  obstruction  in  1911  but  died  of  bowel  cancer  two  years  later  aged  72.  

1054 Charles Fenwick

Constituency : Wansbeck  1885-1918

Charles  took  the  new  seat  of  Wansbeck  as  a  Liberal-Labour  candidate.

Charles  was  a  miner  from  Northumberland  and,  like  John  Wilson  ,  also  a   Methodist   lay preacher. He  became  a  prominent  official  of  the  Northumberland  Miners  Association  and  was  a  close  ally  of  Thomas  Burt.

Charles'  first  parliamentary  speech  was  supporting  a  motion  against  royalty  rents  to  landowners  with  mines  on  their  estates. He  supported  old  age  pensions.

In  1887  Charles  was  chairing  the  TUC  conference  at  Swansea  when  Keir  Hardie  criticised  Henry  Broadhurst. He  described  Hardie  as  a  revolutionary  and  a  nuisance.

From  1890  to  1894  he  became  Secretary  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  of  the  T.U.C.  and  held  the  post  till  1894  despite  his  opposition  to  the  eight  hour  day. He  was  eventually  ousted  for  his  opposition  to  a  separate  labour  party. In  1890  he  was  also  appointed  the  leasder  of  the  union  representatives  on  the  Labour  Conciliation  Board.

Charles  was  a  supporter  of  William  Cremer's  International  Arbitration  League.

 Charles  refused  to  go  over  to  the  Labour  party  when  the  NMA  affiliated  in  1907. He  remained  a  staunch  Gladstonian.

Charles  announced  his  retirement  shortly  before  his  death  in  1918.

1053 John Wilson

Constituency : Houghton-le-Spring  1885-6, Mid  Durham  1890-1915

John  took  the  new  seat  of  Houghton-le-Spring  as  a  Liberal-Labour  candidate.

John  was  a  miner  from  Hartlepool  who'd  also  spent  four  years  as  a  merchant  seaman.  He  spent  three  years  working  in  mines  in  the  USA  in  the  1860s. In  1869  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of   the  Durham  Miners   Association  which  affected  his  employment  prospects. He  became  a  full-time  organiser in  1878. He  was  a  Primitive  Methodist by  conversion  after  a  past of  drinking  and  gambling..

John  was  very  much  a  local  politician. He  led  the  north  east  miners  in  their  resistance  to  the  eight  hour  day. He  was  there  to  advance  the  interests of  the  "people  among  whom  I  was  born  and... among  whom  I  have  lived  and  struggled  after  a  better  life". He  was  pugnacious  and  sharp-tongued  and  a  fierce  opponent  of  socialism. He  believed  that  if  a  man  went  to  Parliament  to  advance  working  class  interests  alone  it  would  put  him  "on  a  level  with  the  landowner  and  aristocrat".

John  was  a  temperance  advocate  and  supported  the  closing  of  public  houses on  a  Sunday.

John  was defeated  by  the  Conservatives  in  1886  but  returned  for  Mid-Durham  in  1890.

John  became  General  Secretary  of  the  Durham  Miners  Association  in  1896  and  remained  in  the  post  until  his  death  in  1915.

John  defied  the  instruction  from  the  Miners  Federation  of  Great  Britain  to  join  the  Labour  party  in  1909 and  continued  to  sit  as  a  Liberal. He  had  opposed  the  DMA  joining  the  MFGB  because  he opposed  government  intervention  on  hours  and  wages  which  they  supported.

In  1910  John  published  his  autobiography  "Memories  of  a  labour  leader".

He  died  in  1915  aged  77.

1052 Miles MacInnes

Constituency : Hexham  1885-92, 1993-5

Miles  won  the  new  seat  of  Hexham.

Miles  was  the  son  of  a  general  attached  to  the  East  India  Company. He  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  Oxford. He  started  work  in  a  bank  but  later  became  a  corn  trader  then  railway  director. He  inherited  an  estate  near  Carlisle  in  1876.

Miles  said  the  Welsh  church  needed  to  reform  itself  but  did  not  endorse  disestablishment.

Miles  was  defeated  in  1892  but  his   opponent's  election  was  declared  void. He  held  it  until  1895.

He  died  suddenly  in  1909  aged  79. His  son  and  grandson  became  Anglican  bishops.

1051 William Crawford

Constituency  : Mid  Durham 1885-90

William  took  the  new  seat  of  Mid  Durham  as  a  Liberal-Labour  candidate.

William  was  born  in  Northumberland  and  worked  in  Hartley  Coal  Mines  from  the  age  of  10. He  was  General   Secretary  of  the  Durham  Miners  Association  from  1871  to  his  death. He  was  a  Primitive  Methodist

William  asked  a  few  questions  on  mining  issues  but  made  no  real  speeches  in  Parliament.

William  promoted  the  College  of  the  Venerable  Bede  as  part  of  Durham  University  and  was  its  treasurer  at  his  death.

He  died  in  1890  aged  57  as  a  result  of  injuries  sustained  during  his  working  life.

1050 Llewellyn Atherley-Jones

Constituency : North West  Durham  1885-1913

Llewellyn  won  the  new  seat  of  North  West  Durham  with  62 %  of  the  vote.

Llewellyn  was  the  son  of  the  Chartist  leader  Ernest  Jones. He  was  educated  at  Manchester  Grammar  School  and  Oxford. Like  his  father  he  became  a  barrister. He  represented  the  Miners'  National  Union  at  an  accident  inquiry  in  1880. He  became  Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Westminster Committee  supporting  Gladstone  on  the  Eastern  Question. He  was  approached  by  radicals  in  Leeds  to  put  up  against  Herbert Gladstone  in  1881  but  declined. He  was  adopted  for  Ealing  in  1884  but  North  West  Durham  was  a  much  better  prospect.

Llewellyn  was  a  proponent  of  the  New  Liberalism  believing  that  the  party  had  to  cultivate  working  class  appeal  and  not  be  diverted  by  other  issues. His  first  speech in  the  Commons protested  at  the  inequitable  rating  of  mansions. He  questioned  the  Home  Secretary  about  the  arrest  of  socialist  lecturers  for  obstruction. In  1904  he  introduced  amendments  to  a  bill  on  copyright   with  the  aim  of  making  music  cheaper.

Llewellyn  was  a  long  standing  supporter  of  female  suffrage  and  was  thought  to  entertain  thoughts  of  leading  the  Women's  Emancipation  Union, an  idea  angrily  rejected  by  Elizabeth  Elmy  who  said  the  movement  needed  "no  master". She  described  him  as  a  party  man  who  had  none  of  the  courage  of  his  father. Llewellyn  did  succeed  in  detaching  Mary  Cozens  and  with  her  formed  the  Parliamentary  Committee  for  Women's  Suffrage  in  1894.

In  1897  Llewellyn  secured  a  government  defeat  over  the  Home  Secretary's  flippant  treatment  of  a  case  of  wrongful  arrest  that  he  had  raised.

In  1898  in  a  debate  on  the  Prisons  Bill,  Llewellyn  declared " A  sentence  of  two  years'  hard  labour  is  a  sentence  which  no  judge, in  my  judgment, and  in  the  judgment  of  persons  more  capable  than  myself, should  impose  on  a  fellow-creature."

In  1905  Llewllyn  was  appointed  Recorder  of  Newcastle. In  1913  he  resigned  his  seat  to  become  a  judge. In  the  1920s  he  became  known  for  his  leniency  towards  homosexual  offences.

He  died  in  1929  aged  78.

1049 Henry Pease 2

Constituency : Cleveland  1885-96

Henry  took  the  new  seat  of  Cleveland  with  an  easy  victory  over  the  Conservatives.

Henry  was  another  member  of  the  Pease  dynasty,  the  son  of  Henry  Pease, former  MP  for  South  Durham.  He  was  privately  educated. He  was  a  director  of  Pease  and  Partners  ( Limited )  mining  coal  and  ironstone  and  a  director  of  Tees  Valley  Railway. He  was  twice  mayor  of  Darlington .  In  1881-82  he  was  President  of  the  National  Liberal  Federation. He  was  a  Quaker.

In  1890  Henry  introduced  a  bill  for  the  registration  of  midwives.

He  died  in  1897  aged  58.

1048 James Joicey

Constituency : Chester-le-Street  1885-1906

James  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  Chester-le-Street. His  uncle  was  previously  MP  for  North  Durham. He  defeated  an  independent  Liberal  backed  by  Parnell.

James  was  chairman  of  a  family  mining  company  which  ownded  several  collieries  in  the  Durham  area.  He  was  educated  at  Gainford  Academy . He  bought  estates  in  the  area  which  remain  in  the  possession  of  his  family. He  was  President  of  the  Newcastle  on  Tyne  Chamber  of  Commerce.He  was  a  director  of  the  North  eastern  Railway.

James  was  a  supporter  of  Gladstone. He  contributed  to  party  funds  and  maintained  a  supportive  newspaper, the  Newcastle  Daily  Leader  from  1885  to  1904. He  was  staunchly  anti-socialist  and  resisted  any  suggestions  of  making  way  for  Labour.

James  was  created  a  baronet  in  1893. In  1896  he  bought  Lambton  Collieries  and  in  1911  Hetton  Collieries. In  1901  he  was  a  partner  in  setting  up  the  Albyn  Line.

James  stood  down  in  1906. He  became  Baron  Joicey  after  the  election. He  gradually  pulled  away  from  the  party  in  response  to  its  increasingly  radical  bent.He  did  not  support  the  People's  Budget  or  female  suffrage. In  1931  he  endorsed  the  Conservative  party  "in  an  independent  capacity".

James  had  good  relations  with  his  workers  and  was  a  noted  philanthropist.  He  was  keen  on  cricket, tennis  and  shooting.

He  died  in  1936  aged  90.

1047 James Paulton

Constituency  :  Bishop  Auckland  1885-1910

James  was  the  first  MP   for  the  new  seat  of  Bishop  Auckland.

James  was  the  son  of  a  newspaper  editor  who'd  been  active  in  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League. He was  educated  at  London  International  College  And  Cambridge. He  trained  as  a  barrister but  became  a  journalist. He  was  war  correspondent  for  the  Manchester  Examiner  in  Egypt  in  1884, reporting  on  the  battle  of  El  Teb.

James  favoured  the  evacuation  of  Egypt  as  soon  as  practically  possible. He  also  supported  amendments  to  the  public  rights  of  way  law  to  make  establishing  them  easier  and  less  costly.

James  became  private  secretary  to  Hugh  Childers  during  Gladstone's  brief  third  ministry. He  was  assistant  private  secretary  to  Asquith  from  1893  to  1895.

James  stepped  down  before  the  January  1910  election.

He  died  in  1923  aged  66.

1046 Sir Edward Grey

Constituency  :Berwick-upon-Tweed  1885-1916

Berwick  was  reduced  to  a  single  member  constituency  in  1885 . Neither  of  the  incumbents  - the  Liberal  was  Hubert  Jerningham  stood  and   Sir   Edward  triumphed  over  the  Conservative  candidate. He  was  only  23  at  the  time  and  became  the  youngest  MP  in  the  House.

Sir  Edward  was  the  grandson  of  the  former  Home  Secretary  George  Grey. He  was  educated  at  Winchester  College  and  Oxford. In  1882 he  inherited  his  grandfather's  baronetcy  and  estate.  He  was  a  lazy  student  who  left  Oxford  with  a poor  degree. He  became  private  secretary  to  Evelyn  Baring,  the  British  consul  in  Egypt,  through  an  introduction.

Sir  Edward  was  an  old-fashioned  moderate  Liberal  who  believed  in  cautious  reform  underpinned  by  a  fatalistic acceptance  that  the  future  shape  of  politics  would  not  be  kind  to  his  class. He  supported  women's  suffrage.

In  1892  Sir  Edward  became  under  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs   after  Herbert  Gladstone  had  declined  the  post. He  retained  the  post  when   Rosebery  stepped  up  to  P.M.  and  made  his  first  big  impression  with  a  statement  in  1895  about  French  activity  in  West  Africa  which  contributed  to  Anglo-French  tension  although  Edward  blamed  Hansard  for  not  reporting  his  statement  accurately. Edward  left  office  in  1895  expecting  to  lose  his  seat  but  his  majority  actually  increased.

While  the  Liberals  were  in  opposition  Edward  became  identified  with  the  Liberal  Imperialist  faction  and  was  part  of  the  so-called  Relugas  Compact  to  force  Campbell-Bannerman  into  the  Lords. Instead  Edward  accepted  the  post  of  Foreign  Secretary  , the  first  holder  of  the  post  to  sit  in  the  Commons  since  1868  and  still  holding  the  record  for  the  longest  tenure  in  the  post.

Edward's  stint  in  the  job  is  still  surrounded  by  controversy  over  whether  he  kept  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  dark  about  military  commitments  to  France  in  the  years  preceding  World  War  One. Edward  certainly  helped  develop  the  Anglo-Russian  Entente  as  a  means  of  maintaining  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe. In  the  Agadir  Crisis  of  1911  he  generally  supported  France  against  Germany  without  wanting  the  situation  to  escalate.

In  July  1914  Edward's  offer  to  mediate  between  Austria-Hungary  and  Serbia  was  rebuffed.  He  also  failed  to  make  it  clear  to  the  German  ambassador  that  Britain  would  not  ignore  a  breach  of  the  Treaty  of  London  in  relation  to  Belgian  neutrality. When  Germany  invaded  Belgium  on  3  August  1914  he  made  his  famous  remark  to  a  newspaper  editor, " The  lamps  are  going  out  all  over  Europe. We  shall  not  see  them  lit  again  in  our  lifetime"  which  certainly  proved  true  on  many  levels.

Edward's  main  activity  during  the  War  was  concluding  secret  agreements  with  new  allies  such  as Italy  or  the  Arab  rebels. One  significant  agreement  conceded  control  of  the  Straits  to  Russia  if  the  Ottoman  Empire  was  overthrown. His  main  concern  was  holding  the  Triple  Entente together. In  1916  he  resisted  Robertson's  suggestion  of  a  separate  peace  with  Turkey  or  Bulgaria. In  July  that  year  he  went  to  the  Lords as  viscount  Grey  of  Fallodon,  a  decision  which  may  have  been  influenced  by  his  failing  eyesight.

In  December  1916  Edward  decided  to  go  into  opposition  with  Asquith. Despite  this  he  accepted  the  job  of  Ambassador  to  the  USA  from  Lloyd  George  in  1919  and  served  for  a  year. Lord  Robert  Cecil,  the  rogue  Tory  opposed  to  the  Coalition  with  Lloyd  George ,  wanted  him  to  lead  the  opposition when  he  returned  believing  that  Asquith  was  too  damaged  by  the  past. Edward  was  flattered  and  made  a  couple  of  well-received  public  speeches  but,  hampered by  near-blindness, decided  the  task  was  too  much  and  withdrew. He  was  Liberal  leader  in  the  Lords  between  1923  and  1924. He  published  his  memoirs  in  1925  and  became  Chancellor  of  Oxford  University   in  1928.

By  1931  Edward  was  the  most  respected  elder  statesman  in  politics  and  his  public  endorsement  of  the  idea  of  a  National  Government  gave  Baldwin  and  MacDonald's  administration  a  major  boost.  It  was  his  last  intervention  in  public  affairs.

Edward  was  described  by  the  Kaiser  as  "a  capable  sort  of  country  gentleman". Lloyd  George  admired  his appearance : "the  thin  lips, the  firmly  closed  mouth, and  the  chiselled  features  give  the  impression  of  cold  hammered steel".  He  was  a  reserved  man, notably  calm   under  pressure.  Despite  his  position  he  hated  socialising  and  foreign  travel  preferring  to  spend  his leisure  time   at  a  cottage  on  the  Itchen,  particularly  with  his  first  wife  who  died  in  a  carriage  accident  shortly  after  he  became  Foreign  Secretary. As  a youth,  he  excelled  at  football  and  tennis  but  later  in  life  settled  into  bird  watching  and  fly-fishing, publishing  books  on  both.

He  died  two  years  later  aged  71.

1045 William Abraham

Constituency  : Rhondda  1885-1909,  1909-18,    Rhondda  West  1918-20   ( Labour  )   

William  is  our  fourth  Liberal- Labour  MP  and  the  first  MP  to  serve  beyond  World  War  One.

William  was  elected  for  the  new  seat  of  Rhondda . His  candidature  had  been  opposed  by  a  majority  of  the  newly  formed   local  Liberal  Association. The  president  was  a  local  coal  owner  and  put  up  his  nephew  Frederick  Davis  instead.  The  miners  refused  to  accept  this  on  the  grounds  that  Mabon  had  been  effectively  adopted  before  the  Association  was  established.
Therefore  the  two  men  went  head  to  head. They  actually  disagreed  on  little  apart  from  the  payment  of  MPs. Both  sides  accused  each  other  of  intimidation  during  the  campaign. William  won  by  867  votes. To  their  credit  Davis's  camp  accepted  the  result  and  joined  with  the  Rhondda  Labour  and  Liberal  Association  set  up  to  run William's  campaign. William  was  unopposed  in  1886  and  on  most  subsequent  occasions.

William  was  born  in  Cwmafan  and  educated  at  the National  School  there.  He  found  work  in  the  local  mines  as  a  "door  boy" at  the  age  of  ten. In  1864  he  was  part  of  a  group  of  12  miners  who  sailed  to  Chile  to  take  up  work  there  and  then  had  to  work  his  passage  back  home  when  the  job  offer  evaporated. In  1869  he  started  working  at  a  tinplate  firm  in  Swansea. Around  this  time  he  began  earning  some  extra  money  as  a  tenor  singer  and  poet  attracting  the  nickname  "Mabon"  after  a  Welsh  bard. Despite  this  he  was  generally  an  opponent  of  Welsh  nationalism. In  1871  he  started  work  at  the  Caergynnydd  pit  near  Swansea  and  became  the miners'  representative  in  a  management  dispute.  Following  that  William  became  an  agent  for  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Miners  until  it  was  bankrupted  by  a  strike  in  1875  Nevertheless  it  did  lead  to  the  establishment  of  the  Joint  Sliding  Scale  Association  on  which  he  represented  the  miners  until  its  abolition  in  1903. In  1877  he  moved  to  the  Rhondda  and  built  up  the  Cambrian  Miners'  Association.

William  was  never  convinced  by  the  idea  of  separate  Labour  representation  and  always  wanted  to  work  within  the  Liberal  party. He  supported  Lloyd  George's  newspaper  venture.A  staunch  Nonconformist, in  his  maiden  speech  he  called  for  Welsh  disestablishment.

William  always  opposed  strike  action  believing  that  compromise  could  be  reached  without  it. From  1892  to  1898  the  South  Wales  miners  didn't  work  on  the  first  day  of  each  month  to  limit  output  and  so  maintain  wages  and  allow  miners'  meetings. It  became  known  as  "Mabon's  Monday".

In  1898  William  was  one  of  the  negotiators  in  the  Welsh  coal  strike  which  led  to  the  foundation  of  the  South  Wales  Miners'  Federation  of  which  he  became  president.

In  1909  the  Miners  Federation  of  Great  Britain  affiliated  to  the  Labour  party  and  demanded  that  miners'  MPs  make  the  switch. William  reluctantly  complied  although  it  had  little parliamentary  effect  at  the  time. He  omitted  the  word  "Labour  from  his  election  address  in  1910.

William  stood  down  in  1920  and  died  two  years  later  aged  79.  He  left  a  considerable  fortune  in  his  will  which  has  excited  some  suspicion  that  his  opposition  to  strikes  was  purchased.

1044 Marshall Warmington

Constituency  : West  Monmouthshire  1885-95

Marshall  took  the  new  seat  of  West  Monmouthshire..

Marshall  was  a  barrister  from  Essex. He  was  the  son  of  a  leather  merchant. He  was  an  expert  on  directors'  liability.

Marshall  supported  Welsh  disestablishment  and  maintained  that  Monmouthshire  was  part  of  Wales  for  the  purpose.

Marshall  stood  down  in  1895  to  give  Harcourt  a  safe  seat.

Marshall  was  created  a  baronet  in  1908, six  months  before  his  death  aged  66.

1043 Thomas Price

Constituency :  North  Monmouthshire  1885-95

Thomas  won  the  new  seat  of  North  Monmouthshire.

Thomas  was  a  vicar's  son  from  Llanarth. In  1867  he  inherited  a  fortune  from  his  uncle. B  that  time  he  had  already  opened  his  own  colliery.

Thomas  later  became  a  county  councillor  for  Essex.  He  spent  much  of  the  year  in  Italy  for  the  sake  of  his  second  wife's  health.

He  died  in  1932  aged  88. He  left  his  Essex  estate  to  the  county.

1042 Frank Yeo

Constituency  : Gower  1885-88

Frank  won  the  new  seat  of  Gower.

Frank  was  born  in  Devon  and  educated  at  Bideford  School  and  abroad. He  set  up  business  in  Swansea  as  a  colliery  owner and  director  of  the  Swansea  Bank  and  a  blast  furnace  company. He  was  mayor  of  the  city  in  1874  and  chairman  of  Swansea  Harbour  Trust  in  1878.

Frank  supported  the  construction  of  more  safe  harbours  for  shipping  along  the  coast.

He  died  in  1888  aged  55.

1041 Arthur Williams

Constituency : South  Glamorgan  1885-95

Arthur  was  the  first  MP  for  South  Glamorgan.  He  won  by  594  votes.

Arthur  was  a   doctor's  son  from  Bridgend.  He  was   a  Unitarian.. He  started  out  apprenticed  to  his  father  but  then  moved  to  the  law  and  became  a  barrister,  He  cultivated  an  image  of  the  bluff  country  squire. He  was  on  the  executive  committee  of  the  Liberation  Society  and  supported  Welsh  disestablishment.  In  1869  he  published  The  Appropriation  of  the  Railways  by  the  State  , the  first  of  a  number  of  works  on  legal  and  economic  issues.  In  1878  he  became  secretary  to  the  Royal  Commission  on  Accidents  in  Mines. He  stood  for  and  nearly  won  Birkenhead, a   safe  Tory  seat  in  1880. He  had  a  large  role  in  establishing  the  National  Liberal  Club.

In  1886  Arthur  proposed  a  fund  to  help  working  class  candidates  meet  electoral  expenses.  He  defeated  the  Liberal  Unionist  candidate  by  1.320 votes  that  year.

Arthur  was  angered  by  Alfred  Thomas's   National  Institutions  (Wales  )  bill  as  he  had  not  been  consulted  on  it.

Arthur  supported  proportional  representation  and  the  abolition  of  hereditary  peerages.

In  1892  Arthur's  majority  was  reduced  by  a  determined  Conservative  campaign.

Arthur  was  defeated  in  1895  by  825  votes.

He  died  in  1911  aged  81. His  son  Elliott  was  also  a  Liberal  MP.  

1040 Alfred Thomas

Constituency : East  Glamorganshire  1885-1910

Alfred  won  the  new  seat  of  East  Glamorganshire.

Alfred  was  born  in  Cardiff  but  educated  in  Wales. He  started  work  in  his  father's  business  as  a  contractor  of  some  sort . He  was  a  Baptist  who studied  under  the  biblical  scholar  Joseph  Angus. He  was  elected  to  Cardiff  Borough  Council  in  1875. He  was  mayor  of  Cardiff  in  1881-82  and   influential  in  the  decision  to  locate  the  University College  of  South  Wales  there  rather  than  Swansea. He  was  a  wealthy  man.

In  1886 Alfred  became  president  of  the  Baptist  Union  for  Wales.  Alfred  remained  a  sunday  school  teacher  throughout  his  parliamentary  career  and  composed  hymn  tunes. He  was  also  a  temperance  enthusiast.

In  1891 Alfred  introduced  the  unsuccessful  National  Institutions  ( Wales  )  Bill  calling  for  a  Secretary  of  State  , a  University  of  Wales  and  a  Welsh  Parliament  to be  located  in  Aberystwyth.  He  was  a  patron  of  Cymru  Fydd, the movement  to  gain  self-government  for  Wales  and  became  president  of  the  Welsh  National  Federation  which  succeeded  it. He  was  elected  chairman  of  the  Welsh  Parliametary  Liberal  Party  in  1898.

Alfred  was  knighted  in  1902. That  year  he  had  an  amendment  to  the  Education  Act  accepted  which  extended  the  principle  of  local  education  authorities  to  Wales.

Alfred  stood  down  in  December  1910. He  was  elevated  to  the  peerage  in  1912  as  Baron  Pontypridd.

He  died  in  1927 aged  87.