841 Lewis Fry

Constituency : Bristol 1878-85 , Bristol North 1885-92 , 1895-1900 ( from  1886  Liberal Unionist )

Lewis  took  over  at  Bristol  after  the  resignation  of  Kirkman  Hodgson.

Lewis  was  a  scion  of  the  famous  chocolate  manufacturing  family  but  earned  his  living  as  a  solicitor  in  Bristol.  He  also  served  on  the  town  council  from  1866  to  1884.

Lewis  was  very  interested  in  education ; he  was  the  first  chair  of  the  Bristol  School  Board  and   of  the  Council  of  the  University  of  Bristol.  He  supported  a  number  of  public  institutions  in  the  city.

Lewis  went  over  to  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886. He  was  ejected  by  a  Gladstonian  in  1892 but  won  the  seat  back  in  1895.

Lewis  was  chairman  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  on  Town  Holdings  from  1886  to  1892.

In  1888  Lewis  went  to  America  where  he  called  on  Walt  Whitman  who  was  favourably  impressed.

Lewis  was  a  keen  amateur  painter. The  picture  above  is  a  self-portrait.

He  died  in  1921 aged  89. An  annual  lecture  at  the  university  is  still  held  in  his  honour.

840 George Courtauld

Constituency : Maldon  1878-85

George  won  Maldon  after  the  resignation  of  the  Tory  victor  of  1874.

George  was  the  grandson  of  the  founder  of  the  famous  textile  company. He  was  educated  at  University  College  London. He  was  a  Unitarian  philanthropist.

George's  maiden  speech  in  1880  was  against  a  resolution  calling  for  the  closing  of  public  houses  on  a  Sunday. He  was  a  strong  supporter  of  female  suffrage.

George  became  a  Liberal  Unionist  but  was  never  elected  as  such.

He  died  in  1920  aged  89.

839 John Wentworth-Fitzwilliam

Constituency : Peterborough  1878-89

John  took  over  at  Peterborough  after  the  death  of  George  Whalley.

John  was  a  son  of  Earl  Fitzwilliam.

John  didn't  speak  in  the  Commons. In  1885  he  stood  as  an  Independent  Liberal  with  Tory  support  and  went  over  top  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886.

He  died  in  1889  after  falling  from  a  horse  on  the  family  estate.

838 Lord Colin Campbell

Constituency : Argyllshire  1878-85

Lord  Colin  took  over  from  his  older  brother the  Marquis  of  Lorne  who  was  appointed  Governor-General  of  Canada,

Colin  was  the  fifth  son  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll  and  a  cousin  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge. He  qualified  as  a  barrister

In  1882  Lord  Colin  spoke  against  making  the  licensing  laws  in  Scotland  too  strict. In  1883  he  spoke  in  favour  of  a  tougher  policy  which  might  mean  war  against  the  Boers. In  1884  he  spoke  against  immediate  acceptance  of  the  recommendations  of  a  Royal  Commission  on  the  crofting  issue.

Lord  Colin  had  a  fierce  parliamentary  tussle  with  Donald  McFarlane , an  ex-patriate  Scot  representing  the  Home  Rule  League, defending  the  Scottish  landlord  class  against  his  championing  of  the  Crofters. McFarlane  stood  in  Argyllshire  in  1885  as  the  Crofters  candidate  and  won  but  Colin  had  already  stood  down. Having  returned  from  Canada , Lorne  stood  unsuccessfully  in  Hampstead  apparently  believing  that  Colin's  tenure  had  poisoned  his chances  in  his  former  seat.

Lord  Colin's   dissolute  behaviour  offended  many  in  the  constituency. He  and  his  wife  Gertrude  separated  in  1884  amid  mutual  recriminations. They  had  married  despite  Colin's  already  suffering  from  syphilis; he  produced  a  doctor's  note  saying  that  sex  would  benefit  his  health . He  was  sometimes  violent  towards  his  nurses. Two  years  later  they  had  an  acrimonious  court  battle  where  each  the  accused  the  other  of  adultery  and  Gertrude  was  granted   a  separation  rather  than  a  divorce.

Lord  Colin  retreated  to  a   legal  career  in  Bombay.

Lord  Colin  died  in  Bombay  from  pneumonia  in  1895  aged  42. Gertrude  survived  until  1911.

837 Samuel Edge

Constituency : Newcastle-under-Lyme  1878-80

Samuel  won  the  by-election  following  the  resignation  of  Newcastle's  Tory  MP.

The  Edges  were  in  the  pottery  business. Samuel  was  educated  at  Oxford.

He  died  in  1936  aged  88.

836 John Roberts

Constituency : Flint  Boroughs  1878 - 92

John  took  over  at  Flint  Boroughs  after  the  death  of  Peter  Eyton.

John  was  the  son  of   a  Welsh  timber  merchant  operating  from  Liverpool. He  was  educated  at  Brighton. He  built  a  big  mansion  near  Abergele.

John  was  a   Calvinistic  Methodist  who  spoke  for  the  Burial  Law  Amendment  Bill  in  1879. He  supported  the  Sunday  closing  of  public  houses  in  Wales.

In  1884  John  became  the  Honorary  Treasurer  of  the  fledgling  Bangor  University.

John  stepped  down  in  1892.

He  died  in  1894  aged  58. His  son  John  became  an  MP  and  later  Baron  Clwyd.

835 Isaac Wilson

Constituency : Middlesbrough  1878-92

Isaac  took  over  at  Middlesbrough  following  the  death  of  Henry  Bolckow.

Isaac  was  born  in  Kendal.  He  was  a  staunch  Quaker. He  was  distantly  related  to  the  Pease  family  and  originally  came  to  Middlesbrough  in  1841  to  manage a  pottery. He  later  established  an  engine  works  to  build  locomotives  and  became  a  railway  magnate. He  was  a  director  of  the  Stockton  and  Darlington  railway. He  contributed  to  building  a  school  at  Nunthorpe  in  1855, a  year  after  his  term  as  Mayor  of  Middlesbrough.

Just  after  his  election  Isaac  became  chairman  of  the  Teesside  Chamber  of  Commerce. He  was  a  fierce  advocate  of  temperance  though  ironically  there's  still  a  pub  named  after  him  in  the  town.

He  died  in  1899  aged  77.

834 George Palmer

Constituency : Reading 1878-85

George  took  over  at  Reading  after  the  death  of  Sir  Francis  Goldsmid.

George  was  a  60  year  old  biscuit  manufacturer , a  partner  in  Huntley  and  Palmer. Huntley  was  the  innovator ; George  had  the  manufacturing  and  distribution  nous. He  was  mayor  of  Reading.

George  was  a  supporter  of  female  suffrage  and  made  his  maiden  speech  on  the  subject.

George  gifted  Palmer  Park  to  the  town.

He  died  in  1897  aged  79. His  son  George  was  also  an  MP  for  the  seat.

833 Benjamin Williams

Constituency : Carmarthen 1878-82

Benjamin  took  over  at  Carmarthen  after  the  resignation  of  absentee  MP  Emile  Cowell-Stepney.He  was  unopposed.

Benjamin  was  educated  at  Glasgow  University. He  became  a  barrister  in  1859  and  was  Recorder  of  Carmartthen  from  1872  until  his  election. He  sought  nomination at  Merthyr  in  1868  and  cried  foul  when  his  public  meeting  was  hi-jacked  by  supporters  of  the  sitting  MP  Richard  Fothergill.

In  1881  Benjamin  made  his  one  parliamentary  speech  in  supporting  a  resolution  to  reform  the  law  of  entail.

Benjamin  resigned  his  seat  in  1882  to  become  a  County  Court  judge.

He  died  in  1890  aged  57.

832 Hamar Bass

Constituency  : Tamworth  1878 - 85, Staffordshire  West  1885-98 ( from  1886  Liberal  Unionist ) 

Hamar  took  over  at  Tamworth  after  the  resignation  of  Robert  Hanbury.

Hamar  was  the  son  of  the  brewer  and  Staffordshire  East  MP, Michael  Bass. He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  played  cricket  for  the  MCC.

Hamar  switched  seats  when  Tamworth  was  reduced  to  one  member  in  1885, about  which  he  made  his  one  parliamentary  speech. His  victory  by  714  votes  was  attributed  to  the  miners  of  Cannock  Chase.

Hamar  became  a  Liberal  Unionist  in  1886  and  was  returned  unopposed. The  Gladstonians  mustered  a  candidate  against  him  in  1892  but  they  were  trounced. They  did  not  oppose  him  in  1895.

Hamar  claimed  at  a  banquet  in  1889  that  the  morality  rate  amongst  total  abstainers  was  higher  than  among  the  intemperate.

Hamar  bred  and  raced  horses , one  of  which  won  the  Ascot  Gold  Cup  in  1896. He  was  also  a  hunt  master.

He  died  of  rheumatic  fever  in  1898  aged  56.

831 Andrew Grant

Constituency : Leith  Burghs  1878-85

Andrew  took  over  at  Leith  after  the  resignation  of  Donald  McGregor. His  majority  was  3,141.

Andrew  was  the  son  of  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of Scotland. He  was  educated  at  Leith  High  School  and  Edinburgh  University. He  was  an  international  merchant  who  went  to  China  in  1854  then  Bombay  in  1858.He  helped  found  the  University  of  Bombay  . chair  of  its  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  first  chair  of  the  Royal  Bank  of  India. He  returned  to  Britain  operating  from  Liverpool  until  retiring  in  1872. He bought  himself  a  county  seat  in  Scotland  in  1875.

Andrew  was  unopposed  in  1880. He  stepped  down  in  1885.

Andrew  bought  more  property. In  1907  he  forked  out  £10,000  for  the  building  of  Edinburgh  College  of  Art. He  left  a  substantial  bequest  in  his  will  to  fund  travelling  scholarships  for  students  there.

He  died  in  1924  aged  94.

830 James Stewart

Constituency : Greenock  1878-84

James  took  over  at  Greenock  after  the  resignation  of  James  Grieve.

James  raised  questions  about  the  defence  of  commercial  harbours  in  the  House.

James  resigned  his  seat  in  1884.

He  died  in  1895  aged  67.

829 Alfred Watkin

Constituency  : Great  Grimsby  1877-80

Alfred  took  Great  Grimsby  from  the  Tories  despite  a  challenge  from  an  independent  Liberal , Dr  Sayles.  Alfred  had  a  fleet  of  wagons  to  bring  voters  to  the  polls  and  his  opponents  claimed  some  of  his  supporters  did  not  live  in  the  borough. Despite  only  getting  97  votes  Sayles  was  able  to  raise  a  drunken mob  against  Alfred  who  was  besieged  in  the  Royal  Hotel. He  was  eventually  rescued  by  the  Army  but  the  hotel  was  trashed.

Alfred  was  the  son  of  Edwin  Watkin  the  MP  for  Hythe. He  was  an  engineer  and  the  author  of  several  treatises  on  railway  engineering. He  was  the  son-in-law  of  the  Dean  of  Canterbury. He  was  a  director  of  the  Manchester, Sheffield  and  Lincolnshire  Railway  Company.

In  1901  Alfred  succeeded  to  his  father's  baronetcy.

He  died  in  1914  aged  68.

828 Frederick Hanbury-Tracy

Constituency  : Montgomeryshire  1877-85, 1886-92

Frederick  took  over  from  his  elder  brother  Charles  when  the  latter  became  Baron  Sudeley.

In  1879  Frederick  spoke  on  a  motion  for  improving  higher  education  in  Wales.

He  died  in  1906  aged  57.

827 John Hutchinson

Constituency : Halifax  1877-82

John  took  over  at  Halifax  following  the  resignation  of  John  Crossley.

John  was  educated  at  Hipperholme  Grammar  School. He  was  a  proprietor  of  the  Halifax  Courier  and  mayor  of  Halifax  twice.

John  was  known  as  a  Radical  and  the  vicar  of  Halifax  complained  in  1878  that  they  were  more  interested  in  disestablishing  the  church  than  getting  the  bishopric  ahead  of  Wakefield.

He  resigned  his  seat  shortly  before  his  death  aged  60.

826 Leonard Courtney

Constituency : Liskeard  1876-85,  Bodmin 1885-1900  ( from  1886  Liberal  Unionist )

Leonard   won  Liskeard  in  1876  after  an  unsuccessful  challenge  to  the  now  deceased   Adullamite  Edward  Horsman  in  1874.

Leonard  was  a  Cornishman  from  a  distinguished  family. He  was  educated  at  Cambridge  and  became  a  barrister. From  1872  to  1875  he  was  professor  of  political  economy  at  University  College  London.

Leonard  began  a  ministerial  career  in  1881  when  Gladstone  appointed  him  under-secretary  of state  at  the  Home  Office.  He  was  quickly  switched  to  the  Colonial  Office  and  then  in  1882   became  Financial  Secretary  to  the  Treasury.   In  1884  he  resigned  in  protest  at  the  Third  Reform  Bill  containing  no  proposals  for  proportional  representation  which  he  saw  as  necessary  for  the  survival  of  political  economy.

Leonard  held  Liskeard  until  it  was  merged  into  the  Bodmin  seat  which  he  won  in  1885.

Leonard  became  a  Liberal  Unionist  in  1886  which  boosted  the  rebel  faction's  credibility. He  retained  his  seat. He  was  appointed  Deputy  Speaker  but  never  became  Speaker  because  too  many  Conservatives  were  suspicious  of  his  radical  views.  In  1895  he  was  re-elected  after  standing  under  the  confusing  banner  of  "Liberal  Unionist  and  Independent  Liberal".

Leonard  was  visibly  uncomfortable  with  the  Liberal  Unionists  joining  the  government  in  1895  and  became  a  strong  critic  of  Chamberlain  at  the  Colonial  office. He  was  strongly  pro-Boer  , becoming  leader  of  the  South  African  Conciliation  Committee,.  He  wrote  to  Morley  that  "our  moral  claim  ... is  so  far  satisfied  by  what  has  been  conceded  that  to  fight  for  more  is  an  atrocious  crime"  . In  his  view  imperialism  was  only  justified  if  it  helped  the  territories  towards  self-government  through  education. This  stance ,  along  with  his  failing  eyesight , persuaded  him  that  he  must  step  down  in  1900.

Leonard  was  a  strong  supporter  of  female  suffrage  through  his  marriage  to  Beatrice  Webb's  elder  sister  Catherine  although  he  did  feel  that  if  married  women  got  the  vote, "politics  may  become  a  subject  of  domestic  dissension". He  wrote  a  number  of  political  articles  for  The  Times  and  published  a  book  on  the  Constitution.

John  opposed  the  compulsory  purchase  of  land.

Leonard  found  his  way  back  into  the  official  Liberal  party and  stood  for  them  at  Edinburgh  West  in  1906.  Campbell - Bannerman  elevated  him  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Courtney.

He  died  in  1918  aged  85.

825 John Barran

Constituency  : Leeds  1876-85, Otley  1886-95

John  won  a  by-election  at  Leeds  following  the  resignation  of  Robert  Carter.

John  founded  a  successful  clothing  manufacturing  business in  Leeds. He  became  a  pioneer  in  ready  to  wear  clothing , coming  up  with  efficient  new  methods  of  cutting  cloth.He  was  mayor  from  1870  to  1871  when  he  supervised  the  purchase  of  Roundhay  Park. He  was  a  Baptist.

In  1877  John  took  up  the  cause  of  a  girl  expelled  from  school  for  refusing  to  curtsey  to  the clergyman's  wife. He  supported  extending  the  franchise  and  permissive  legislation  to  further the  temperance  cause. In  1879  he  spoke  in  favour  of  putting  the  public  accounts  in  public libraries.

John  was  made  a  baronet  in  1895.  He  was  a  Member  of  the  Council  of  Yorkshire  College  which  became  Leeds  University.

He  died  in  1905  aged  83. His  son  Rowland  also  became  an  MP.

824 Emile Cowell-Stepney

Constituency : Carmarthen  Boroughs  1876-8, 1886-92

Emile  reclaimed   Carmarthen  Boroughs , which  had  been  held  by  his  father  prior to  1874,  when  the  Conservative  victor  retired.  The   Tories  did  not  contest  the  by-election.

Emile  was  a  baronet's  son  educated  at  Eton. His  father held  substantial  land  in  Carmarthenshire. Emile  became  a  clerk  at  the  Foreign  Office. He  accompanied  LOrd  Clarendon

Almost  as  soon  as  he  was  elected  Emile  abandoned  his  wife  and  newborn  daughter  for  a  life  of  travel  and  adventure  abroad. He  succeeded  to  the  baronetcy  in  1877, his  elder  brother  having  died. He  resigned  his  seat  in  1878  but  stood  again  in  1886  and  was  elected. He  never  spoke  in  the  Commons;  in  fact  he  hardly  set  foot  in  the  place.

Emile  had  a  mixed  reputation  locally. He  was  known  to  be  an  unrelenting  rent  collector  but  also  a  generous  benefactor  to  schools, libraries  and  the  local  Mechanics  Institute.

Emile  acquired  estates  in  Australia  and  Canada. He  eventually  became  a  US  citizen  and transferred  the  management  of  his  Welsh  estates  to  his  daughter  who  married  the  East Cumberland  MP  Edward  Howard. He  got  a  divorce  in  Idaho  in  1901. Because  this  had  no force  in  English  law,  his  wife  got  a  judicial  separation  in  1903.

In  1909  Emile  travelled  to  Yuma, Arizona  in  search  of  a  rare  butterfly. He  was  discovered  dead at  the  station. He  was  75.  

823 Joseph Chamberlain

Constituency : Birmingham  1876-85,  Birmingham  West  1885-1912 ( from  1886  Liberal  Unionist )  , 1912-14  ( Conservative )

There's  no  doubt  who  the  most  significant  by-election  victor  of  the  1870s  was. Joseph  Chamberlain  would have  a  major  bearing  on  the  shape  of  British  politics  for  decades; not  until  his  son  was  toppled  in  1940  did  his  influence  start  to  wane.

Joseph  came  in  at  Birmingham  after  the  retirement  of  George  Dixon.  He  was  unopposed  after  publicly  apologising  for  describing  Disraeli  as  "a  man  who  never  told  the  truth  except  by  accident".

Joseph  was  a  Unitarian  shoemaker's  son  from  Birmingham. He  was  educated  at  University  College  School, London. He  became  an  apprentice  in  the  family  business  at  16 . Two  years  later  he  switched  to  his  uncle's  screwmaking  business  which  eventually  became  the  biggest  in  Britain  with  Joseph  as  a  partner.

Joseph  became  active  in  politics  in  the  1860s , agitating  for  parliamentary  reform  and  supporting  the  campaigns  of  John  Bright  and  George Dixon. In  1867  he  founded  the  Birmingham  Education  League  with  Jesse  Collings  calling  for  compulsory  secular  education  for  all, funded  by  rates  and  NEL  was  nhappy  with  the  Education  Act  of  1870  and  grants , managed  by  local  authorities  and  inspected  by  government. It  soon  became  the  National  Education  League  and  held  its  first  conference  in  Birmingham  in  1869.   The   NEL  was  unhappy  with  Forster's  Education  Bill  and  Joseph  was  part  of  a  delegation  which  met  Gladstone  in  1870. The  NEL  campaigned  against  the  clause  allowing  school  boards  to  fund  poor  children  at  voluntary  schools  and  contested  some  by-elections  against  unsympathetic  Liberals. Joseph  became  chairman  of  the  Birmingham  School  Board  in  1873.

That  same  year  he  became  mayor  of  Brmingham.  He  set  about  transforming  the  city  with  civic  improvements. Most  radically  he  compulsorily  purchased  the  gas  and  waterworks  companies  to  improve  supply  to  the  city  and  its  public  health. His  Conservative  opponents  called  him  " a  monopoliser  and  a  dictator " .  In  1875  he  co-operated  with  the  Tory  Home  Secretary  Richard  Cross  on  a  massive  slum  clearance  scheme .

To  secure  his  position  Joseph  created  a  powerful  political  machine  to  ensure  continued  Liberal  success  in  the  city  which  became  known  as  the  "Birmingham  caucus". He  dressed  up  in  response  to  the  national  attention  he  was  receiving  with  a  monocle, black  velvet  coat. orchid  buttonhole   and  red  necktie  and  ring.

In  1874  the  Sheffield  Reform  Association  invited  him  to  stand  in  the  city  but  he  was  beaten  off  by  Roebuck  and  Mundella  after  a  rough  campaign.

Once  in  Parliament  Joseph  immediately  set  about  trying  to  organise  fellow  Radicals  to  wrest  control  from  the  Whigs. He  disliked  Hartington  from  pure  class  feeling. He  saw  the  necessity  of  co-operating  with  Gladstone  when  the  latter  returned  to  prominence  over  the  Eastern  Question  and  secured  his  blessing  for  the  founding  of  the  National  Liberal  Federation  in  1877  to  co-ordinate  the  various  Liberal  Associations  throughout  the  country. The  Birmingham  men  quickly  colonised  it  and  Chamberlain  became  president  with  a  policy  of   spreading  Radical  influence  in  the  party.  It's  an  open  question  whether  Joseph  sought  power  to  promote  Radicalism  or  wished  to   use  Radicalism  to  achieve  the  leadership.  He  criticised  some  of  Disraeli's  foreign  policy  but  did  support  the  purchase  of  the  Suez  Canal  shares.

The  NLF  played  a  part  in  Gladstone's  triumph  in  1880  but  he  was  already  suspicious  of  it. On  Bright's  recommendation  he  appointed  Joseph , President  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  He  worked  on  patents, electric  lighting  and  the  over-insurance  of ships. Significantly  he  did  not  resign  with  his  friend  Bright  over  the  occupation  of  Egypt. In  1882  he  helped  broker  the  "Kilmainham  treaty"  with  Parnell  and  was  thought  to  be  in  line  for  the  Chief  Secretaryship  after  Cavendish's  murder but  it  went  to  George  Trevelyan  instead.

In  1884  Joseph  became  involved  in  the  tussle  over  the  Third  Reform  Act  when  Salisbury  threatened  to  block  the  Bill  in  the  Lords. Joseph  described  him  in  a  speech  as  the  representative  of  " a  class  to  which  he  himself  belongs, who  toil  not  neither  do  they  spin". The  Tories  likened  him  to  Jack  Cade. Gladstone  allowed  him  to  run  amok  because it  strengthened  his  own  position  as  linchpin  of  the  party.

1885  was  a  crucial  year  for  Joseph. In  May  he  came  up  with  plans   for  an  Irish  Central  Board  to  forestall  Home  Rule  and  National  Councils  for  the  other  three  kingdoms. The  Cabinet  Whigs  rejected  his  proposals. He  and  Dilke  presented  their  resignations  to  Gladstone  but  the  fall  of  the  government  over  the  budget  eclipsed  them.

Joseph  now  set  to  work  on  the  Radical  Programme  as  a  party  manifesto  for  the    imminent  election. It  called  for  land  reform, universal  male  suffrage, disestablishment  of  the  church  of  England, free  compulsory  education  and  protection  of  trade  unions.He  wrote  to  Morley  "we  will  utterly  destroy  the  Whigs  and  have  a  Radical  government  before  many  years  are  out".  Joseph  saw  it  as  pre-emptive  politics  to  prevent  class  polarisation  and  socialist  dispossession ; it  was  primarily  aimed  at  the  newly  enfranchised  county  voters. His  Whig  opponents  re-christened  it    the  "Unauthorised  Programme". Unabashed , Joseph  went  out  on  the  stump  speaking  at  a  public  meeting  in  Hull  with  posters  proclaiming  him  "your  coming  Prime  Minister".   During  one  meeting  he  promulgated  the  idea  that  the  aristocracy  had  to  pay  a  "ransom"  to  hold  on  to  their  privileges.  He  tried  to  bargain  with  Hartington  on  three  core  objectives  , compulsory  land  purchase, free  public  education  and  graduated  income  tax  offering  to  drop  the  others  if  one  was  conceded. Gladstone  met  with  him  in  October  to  try  and  effect  a  reconciliation  with  little  effect.

In  view  of  such  flagrant  party  disunity  it's  surprising  that  the  Liberals  fell  just  short  of  a  majority. Joseph  initially  kept  his  own  counsel  when  Gladstone's  commitment  to  Home  Rule  became  known. Nevertheless  his  colleague  Collings  brought  the  party  crisis  closer  by  bringing  down  Salisbury's  government  with  his  "Three  Acres  and  a  Cow"  amendment  in  January  1886. Hartington  and  Goschen  voted  with  the  Conservatives.

Gladstone  offered Joseph  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  which  he  declined. Gladstne  then  turned  down  his  request  for  the  Colonial  Office  and  they  settled  on  President  of  the  Local  Government  Board.  Two  months  later  he  resigned  over  Gladstone's  Home  Rule  proposals  and  started  sending  out  feelers  to  the  Tories. In  April  he  attended  a  meeting  summoned  by  his  former  arch-rival  Hartington  to  oppose  Home  Rule ; this  gave  rise  to  the  Liberal  Unionist  Association. In  May  the  NLF  decided  to  back  Gladstone; Joseph  set  up  the  National  Radical  Union  in  response. This  helped  him  control  a  solid  bloc  of  seats  in  the  city  in  the  next  two  decades

Home  Rule  was  defeated  and  a  general  election  called. Gladstone  said  "There  is  a  difference  between  Hartington  and  Chamberlain, that  the  first  behaves  like  and  is  a  thorough  gentleman. Of  the  other  it  is  best  not  to  speak". Despite  Tory  suspicions  of   Joseph, Hartington  and  Salisbury  managed  to  construct  an  electoral  alliance  which  returned  most  of  the  Liberal  Unionists  and  an  anti-Home  Rule  majority.

Joseph  agreed  with  Hartington's  policy  of  remaining  on  the  Liberal  benches, not  wishing  to  alienate  his  Radical  supporters  and  aware  that  the  Tories  would  keep  him  at  arm's  length. He  participated  in  the  Round  Table  Conferences  of  1897  to  try  and  restore  Liberal  unity  in  good  faith  but  no  agreement  could  be  reached. Later  that  year  Salisbury  appointed  him  to  lead  a  British  commission  in  the  USA  to  settle  a  fishing  dispute. While  there  he  was  married  for  a  third  time  to  the  much  younger  daughter  of  the  US  Secretary  for  War.

Reliance  on  the  Liberal  Unionists  meant  Salisbury's  ministry  had  to  undertake  domestic  reforms  such  as  the  introduction  of  county  councils, encouraging  smallholdings  and  extending  education. Joseph  wrote  in  1891 "I  have  in  the  last  five  years  seen  more  progress  made  with  the  practical  application  of  my  political  programme  than  in  all  my  previous  life. I  owe  this  result  entirely  to  my  former  opponents  and  all  the  opposition  has  come  from  my  former  friends".  He  supported  workmen's  compensation  and  declared  in  favour  of  old  age  pensions  in  1891.   In  1892  Gladstone  clawed  back  enough  seats  to  form  an  administration with  the  support  of  the  Irish  and  he  led  the  fight  against  the  Home  Rule  Bill  in  the  Commons  as  Hartington  had  moved  into  the  Lords.

When  Gladstone  finally  retired  the  prospects  for  Liberal  unity  should  have  been  better  under  Rosebery  who  had  little  enthusiasm  for  Home  Rule  but   antagonism  between  Joseph  and  his  former  colleagues  ran  too  deep. In  1895  the  Conservatives  won  a  majority  on  their  own and  the  Liberal  Unionists,   reduced  to  around  half  their  original  number,  had  little  choice  but  to  accept  Salisbury's  offer  to  come  into  the  administration.

Salisbury  offered  Joseph  a  wide  choice  of  posts  and  he  took  Colonial  Secretary. Domestic  reform  started  to  take  a  back  seat  to  his  interest  in  expanding  the  British  Empire. His  writings  take  on  a  racist  tone  - "I  believe  that  the  British  race  is  the  greatest  of  the  governing  races  that  the  world  has  ever  seen. It  is  not  enough  to  occupy  great  spaces  of   the  world's  surface  unless  you  can  make  the  best  of  them. It  is  the  duty  of  a  landlord  to  develop  his  estate". He  was  at  once  involved  in  controversy  when  he  secretly  supported  the  Jameson  Raid  against  the  government  of  the  Transvaal. This  failed  but  Salisbury  protected  him  from  exposure  and  suppressed  incriminating  telegrams  revealing  Joseph's  support.

Having  survived  that  Joseph  sought  to  bring  the  Transvaal  under  British  control  by  supporting  the  rights  of  the  Uitlanders  against  the  Boers  and  massing  troops  around  the  border. It  finally  provoked  a  declaration  of  war  from  the  Boers  in  1899. While  public  opinion  favoured  the  war  Joseph  was  fiercely  denounced  by  former  admirers  such  as  the  young  David  Lloyd  George. In  September  1900  following  British  successes  the  Transvaal  was  formally  annexed  and  Salisbury  called  an  election  to  capitalise.

Joseph  fought  a  very  negative  campaign  with  phrases  such  as  "Every  seat  lost  to  the  government  is  a  seat  sold  to  the  Boers". Lloyd  George  responded  with  suggestions  that  some  firms  in  which  his  family  had  an  interest  were  profiting  from  the  war.  Observing  Joseph  during  the  campaign  the  young  Winston  Churchill  wrote  "Mr  Chamberlain  was  incomparably  the  most  live, sparkling, insurgent, compulsive  figure  in  British  affairs..."Joe"  was  the  man  who  made  the  weather. He  was  the  man  the  masses  knew". The  Unionists  won  this  "khaki"  election  and  Joseph's  position  was  greatly  strengthened.

In  1902  the  government  got  most  of  what  it  wanted  and  the  Boer  War  was concluded  although  Britain's  reputation  had  been  damaged  by  the  revelation  of  the  concentration  camps. Salisbury  retired  and  his  nephew  Balfour  became  prime  minister  after  his  uncle  took  advantage  of  Joseph's  indisposition  following  a  carriage  accident. Balfour  immediately  caused  Joseph  difficulties  with  the  1902  Education  Act  which  abolished  the  school  boards  replacing  them  with  local  education  authorities  supporting  voluntary  aided  schools  through  the  rates. Joseph  knew  what  his  nonconformist  followers  would  think  of  it  but  he  did  not  have  the  numbers  to  amend  it. He  wrote  at  the  time  " I  consider  the  Unionist  cause  is  hopeless  at  the  next  election ,  and  we  shall  certainly  lose  the  majority  of  the  Liberal  Unionists  once  and  for  all".

Painfully  aware  of  the  underlying  weakness  of  his  position  and  desperate  to  gain  the  initiative  Joseph  now  declared  himself  in  favour  of  imperial  preference  in  trade  influenced  by  Bismarck's  Germany. This  was  a  decisive  break  with  free  trade  which  the  Conservatives  had  endorsed  since  Derby's  capitulation  in  the  1850s. His  scheme  would  both  strengthen  imperial  bonds  and  provide  the  finance  for  progressive  schemes  such  as  old  age  pensions. Joseph  thought  he  had  the  Cabinet  on  board  when  he  went  to  South  Africa  in  1902  but  the  Chancellor  Charles  Ritchie  was  vigorously  opposed  and  won  the  majority  of  the  Cabinet  to  his  views.  When  Joseph  returned  he  publicly  announced  the  policy  in  May  to  the  dismay  of  Balfour  who  didn't  know  which  way  to  jump. He  hoped  to  persuade  Joseph  to  moderate  his  proposals  during  the  summer  recess  but  instead  he  got  a  letter  of  resignation  leaving  him  free  to  launch  a  campaign  in  the  country. Balfour's  cackhandedness  also  lost  him  Ritchie  and  Devonshire  , gravely  weakening  the  government.

This  left  Joseph  in  charge  of  what  remained  of  the  Liberal  Unionists  and  the  National  Union  of  Conservative  and  Unionist  Associations  endorsed  his  stance. Joseph  toured  the  country  as  money  poured  into  his  Tariff  Reform  League  drawing  large  crowds. This  transformed  the  political  situation. The  Liberals  rallied  round  Free  Trade  and  Asquith  began  to  shadow  him  around  the  country.The  Unionists  were  in  disarray, losing  by-elections  and unable  to  agree  on  a  fiscal  policy. Joseph  expected  electoral  defeat  and  hoped  to  lead  a  protectionist  opposition  to  the  Liberal  government. He  wrote  to  his  son  Neville  that  "the  Free  Traders  are  common  enemies. We  must  clear  them  out  of  the  party  &  let  them  disappear."

Joseph's  campaign  lost  momentum  as  his  health  began  to  fail  and  he  had  to  take  recuperation  breaks. The  arguments  eventually  got  too  much  for  Balfour  and  he  resigned  in  December  1905  allowing  the  Liberal  leader  Campbell-Bannerman  to  decide the  date  of  the  next  election. The  result  was  a  Liberal  landslide  far  bigger  than  Joseph  expected. Of  the  paltry  157  Unionists  elected  around  two-thirds  were  pro-tariffs  and  Joseph  seemed  set  to  become  the  party  leader.  However in  July  1906  he  suffered  a  severe  stroke  just  after  his  70th  birthday  which  paralysed  his  right  side  and  affected  his  speech  and  ability  to  walk. His  active  career  was  over  and  tariff  reform  slipped  off  the  agenda   for  nearly  twenty  years. He  made  no  oppsition  to  the  final  merger  of  the  Liberal  Unionists  and  Conservatives  in  1912  and  died  two  years  later  of  a  heart  attack  aged  77.

His  sons  Austen  and  Neville  remained  prominent  politicians  over  the  next  three  decades.



   

  



 

822 Lord Douglas Gordon

Constituency : Aberdeenshire  West  1876-80, Huntingdonshire  1880-85

Lord  Douglas  took  over  from  William  McCombie  at  Aberdeenshire  West.

Lord  Douglas  was  the  younger  brother  of  the  Marquess  of  Huntly. He  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  Coldstream  Guards.

Lord  Douglas  never  spoke  in  Parliament.

He  died  in  1888  aged  36.

821 Edward Howard

Constituency  : East  Cumberland  1876-85, Thornbury  1885-6

Edward  took  back  the  second  seat  at  East  Cumberland, lost  in  1868.

Edward  was  a  cousin  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk. He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Cambridge  and  became  a  barrister.

Edward  was  a  temperance  supporter. In  1878  he  tried  to  stop  the  Manchester  Corporation  Water  Bill  for  converting  Thirlmere  into  a  reservoir. He  was  a  trustee  of  the  Nationasl  Gal

Edward  was  briefly  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  India  in  1886. He  was  defeated  in  the  election  that  year.

Edward  kept  himself  busy  after  his  parliamentary  career , serving  as  an  ecclesiastical  and  forestry  commissioner  and  as  mayor  of  Llanelly  from  1913  to  1916.

He  died  in  1916  aged  64.

820 James Clifton - Brown

Constituency : Horsham  1876-80

Robert  Hurst  overturned  his  defeat  in  1874  by  petition  and  got  back  in  at  the  by-election  in  1875. However  his  victory  was  itself  overturned  on  petition  and  James  won  the  second  by-election.

James  was  from  a  banking  family . He  was  educated  at  Cambridge. He  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  1st  Lancashire  Royal  Garrison  Artillery.

James  came  to  the  fore  in  1879  with  frequent  interventions  on  the  Army  Discipline  and  Regulations  Bill.

James  was  defeated  in  1880.

James  and  his  wife  were  keen  proponents  of  homeopathy.

He  died  in  1917  aged  75. His  son  Howard  later  represented  the  constituency. He  is  a  direct  ancestor  of  the  current  Conservative  MP  Geoffrey  Clinton-Brown.

819 Thomas Blake

Constituency  : Leominster  1876-80,  Forest  of  Dean  1885-87

Thomas  won  the  hitherto  Tory  stronghold  of  Leominster  in  January  1876.

Thomas  was  from  Ross,  the  chairman  of  the  School  Board  there. He  began  life  as  a  post  office  clerk  and  worked  his  way  up  to  a  fortune. He  was  a  Baptist. He  stood  for  Herefordshire  in  1868.   In  1873  he  gave  a  free  library  to  Ross.

In  1880  Thomas  moved  that  the  immunity  from  arrest  enjoyed   by  peers  and  MPs  should  be  abolished.

Thomas  was  defeated  in  1880.

Thomas  resigned  his  seat  in  1887.

He died  in  1901  aged  75.

818 Alexander Hamilton-Gordon

Constituency : Aberdeenshire  East  1875-85 

Alexander  took  over  after  the  death  of  William  Fordyce.

Alexander  was  a  younger  son  of  the  former  Peelite  Prime  Minister  Lord  Aberdeen. He   went  into  the  army  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  General. He  was  an  honorary  equerry  to  Queen  Victoria.

Alexander  was  a  frequent  speaker  on  army  matters  and  the  game  laws.

He  died  in  1890  aged  73.

817 William Fuller-Maitland

Constituency : Breconshire  1875-95

William  became  the  first  Liberal  to  represent  Breconshire.

William  was  the  son  of  an  art-collecting  landowner  in  Essex. He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Oxford  for  whom  he  played  cricket  as  a  bowler. He  became  an  art  collector  himself.

Despite  his  20  year  stint  as  an  MP  William  did  not  speak  in  the  Commons.

He  died  in  1932  aged  88.

816 George Russell aka Marquis of Tavistock

Constituency : Bedfordshire  1875-85

George  came  in  at  Bedfordshire  when  Francis  Bassett  made  way  for  him.

George  was  the  son  and  heir  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford. He  was  educated  at  Oxford  and  became  a  barrister.  George  had  been  in  India  and  acknowledged  an  Indian  daughter  who  lived  on  the  Russell  estates  until  marriage.

George  did  not  speak  in  the  Commons.

George  stepped  down  when  his  seat  was  abolished  in  1885.

In  1891  George  became  Duke. He  died  two  years  later  from  diabetes  aged  40.

815 Sir George Campbell

Constituency : Kirkcaldy  Burghs  1875-92

Sir  George took  over  at  Kirkcaldy  after  the  death  of  Robert  Reid.

George  was  educated  at  Hamilton  Academy  before embarking  for  India. In  1871 he  became  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal  and  two  years  later  quelled  the  Pabna  uprising  with  a  declaration  of  government  support  for  their  complaints  which  displeased  the  Secretary  of  State  Lord  Argyll.

In  1877  George  expressed  dissatisfaction  with Hartington - "not  the  man  to  lead  them  to  great  progress"  - at  a  public  meeting  in  Dysart.

George  strongly  opposed  Gladstone's  policy  on  Egypt  and  welcomed  the  withdrawal  from  Sudan  in  1885.

George  proposed  a  Grand  Committee   for  Scotland  in  1882  arguing  that  it   was  "impossible  for  650  members  sitting  together  in  the  House  of  Commons  to  do  the  whole  details  of  the  work  of  the  Three  Kingdoms". In  1890  he  called  for  "Territorial  Standing  Committees"  with  "such  distinctive  institutions, laws  and  nomenclature  as  are  not  understood  by  the  more  southern  branches  of  the  Anglian  and  Celtic  races".

In  1887  George  published  a  book  on  the  problems  of  empire.

He  died  in  1892  aged  68.

814 Pandeli Ralli

Constituency : Bridport  1875-80 ; Wallingford  1880-85

Pandeli  came  in  at  Bridport  after  the  death  of  Thomas  Mitchell.

Pandeli  was  born  in  France  and  was  part  of  a  Greek  shipping  dynasty. He  was  educated at  King's  College  London. He  was  naturalised  as  a  British  citizen  in  1866. He  also  had  interests  in  banking.  He  was  a  trustee  of  the British  School  at  Athens  and  a  founder  member  of  the  Hellenic  Society.

In  1878  Pandeli  defended  London's  Metropolitan  Board  of  Works  claiming  it  had  been  given  too  many  duties  of  an  incongruous  character.

At   Wallingford  Pandeli  raised  concerns  about  the  agricultural  depression.

Pandeli  allowed  Lord  Kitchener  to  use  his  house  as  a  social  headquarters  during  the  First  World  War.

He  died  in  1928  aged  83.

813 Alfred Stanton

Constituency  : Stroud  1874-80

Alfred  came  in  at  Stroud  when  his  cousin  Walter's  election  was  voided  and  he  was  disqualified  from  standing  in  the  by-election.

Alfred  was  the  son  of  a  former  MP  for  the  seat. He  was  educated  at  King's  College  School, London .He  worked  a  cloth  mill  in  partnership  with  Walter.

In  1880  Alfred  relinquished  his  seat  to  Walter  and  their  partnership  was  dissolved, Alfred
working  the  mill  on  his  own.

He  died  in  1906  aged  81.

812 Farrer Herschell

Constituency  : Durham  1874-85

Farrer  was  the  other  new  Liberal  to  come  in  at  the  Durham  by-election.

Farrer  was  the  son  of  a  Polish  Jew  who  converted  to  Nonconformist  Christianity  and  became  a  minister. Farrer  was  educated  privately  then  at  University  College  London  where  he  made  his  name  in  debate. In  1860  he  became  a  barrister.

Farrer's  skill  in  debate, usually  on  legal  matters  such  as  a  resolution  to  abolish  the  action  of  breach  of  promise  of  marriage  in  1879 , was  noted  by  Gladstone  who  made  him  Solicitor-General  when  he  returned  to  power  in  1880.  He  drafted  a  number  of  the  government's  bills  including  the  Irish  Land  Act.

When  Durham  lost  one  of  its  members  in  1885  Farrer  moved  to  North  Lonsdale  banking  on  the  Cavendish influence  to  secure  him  the  seat  but  he  was  soundly  beaten. However  when  Lord  Selborne  and  then  Henry  James  declined  the  Lord  Chancellorship  Farrer  was  created  Baron  Herschell  and  filled  the  position.

Farrer  resumed  the  position  in  1892  and  held  it  until  the  fall  of  Rosebery.

Farrer  was  a  champion  of  the  NSPCC.

In  later  years  Farrer  had  a  tendency  to  interrupt  counsel  too  much. In  1893  he  became chancellor  of  the  University  of  London. in  the  late  1890s  he  sat  on  boundary  commissions  for  Venezuela  and  Alaska.

While  in  Washington  for  the  latter  in  February  1899  he  slipped  and  fractured  his  pelvis. He  died  of  heart  failure  just  two weeks  later  at  the  age  of  61.  President  McKinley  attended  his  funeral  service  before  his  body  was  removed  to  England.