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.

1039 William Cornwallis-West

Constituency : West  Denbighshire  1885-92

William  was  the  first  MP  for  West  Denbighshire.

William  was  a  grandson  of  Earl  De La  Warr. He  was  born  in  Florence.He  was  a  barrister  and  a  arge  landowner..

William  was  the  only  Welsh  MP  to  switch  to  the Liberal  Unionists. He  held  on  to  his  seat  unopposed. He defended  Welsh  landlords  against  accusations  of  tyranny  and  discrimination.

William  was  defeated  in  1892.

William  developed  Milford  as  a  seaside  resort.

William  died  in  1917  aged  82. His  son  George  became  Winston  Churchill's  stepfather.

1038 John Roberts

Constituency  : Eifion  1885-1906

John  took  the  new  seat  of  Eifion  ( South  Carenarvonshire  ).

John  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  local  tenant  farmer. He  was  a  Calvinistic  Methodist. John  was  educated  at  home  and  Cheltenham  Grammar  School. John  started  out  farming  his  father's  estates  but  in  1863  swapped  jobs  with  his  brother  Hugh  who  worked  for  a  solicitor.  He  eventually  became  a  barrister. He  was  adopted  as  a  candidate  for  Eifion   due  to  a  Methodist  caucus  in  the  local  Liberal  association  or  so  alleged  his  Congregationalist  rival  R  Pughe  Jones.

John  supported  Welsh  disestablishment, Free  Trade, pacifism   and  parliamentary  reform  to  restrain  obstructionism.

John  had  a  speech  impediment  which  restricted  his  oratorical  abilities. He  was  a  firm  Gladstonian  opposed  to  socialism   and  hostile  to  the  Welsh  radicals  and  particularly  their  leader  Lloyd  George  whom  he  described  as  the  "Welsh  Parnell" .  He  refused  to  campaign  for  him. He  accused  Lloyd  George of  conspiring  with  the  Tories  and  Parnell  in  the  disestablishment  rebellion  of 1895  which  helped  bring  down  the  Rosebery  government. He  was  unopposed  in  1895.

John  did  however  oppose  the  Boer  War like  his  rival  and  opposed  the  Liberal  Imperialism  of  Asquith  and  Grey.

John  resigned  his  seat  shortly  after  re-election  in  order  to  become  a  county  court  judge. He  built  up  a  reputation  as  being  anti-union  and  reluctant  to  apply  the  new  laws  on  workmen's  compensation.

John  retired  in  1921  and  died  ten  years  later  aged  88.

1037 Richard Haldane

Constituency : Haddingtonshire  1885-1911

Richard  was  one  of   the  most  important  of  the  new  crop  of  MPs  in   1885. He  easily removed  the  defector  Lord  Elcho  who  had  won  the  seat  in  a  by-election  in  1883.

Richard  was  born  in  Edinburgh.  He  was  a  cousin  of  the  Whig  peer  Lord  Camperdown. He  was  educated at  Edinburgh  Academy, fatefully  Gottingen  University  and  Edinburgh  University  where  he  studied  philosophy. He  became  a  barrister  in  London  in  1879. Richard  was  a  deep  thinker  who  was  particularly  interested  in  the  work  of  Schopenauer  and  Hegel. He  published  some  translations  of  Schopenauer  into  English. In  1881  he  joined  the  Eighty  Club,  a  dining  and  discussion  forum  for  Liberals  under  the  age  of  forty  where  he  met  and  befriended  the  young  Asquith.

In  1888  Richard  wrote  an  article  in  the  Contemporary  Review   entitled  The  Liberal  Creed   where  he  expounded  the  idea  that  it  was  Liberalism's  mission  to  relieve  frustration  among  the  masses. He  observed  that  public  opinion  is  "stimulated  and  shaped  out  of  a  mass  of  sentiment  , which  requires  moulding  by  men  occupying  commanding  positions  in  the  public  imagination  and  confidence".  In  an  1890  article  "the  Eight  Hours  Question "  he  rejected  the  idea.

In  1892  Richard  was  nearly  defeated  by  the  Liberal  Unionist  candidate.  He  was  not  given  a  government  post  when  Gladstone  returned  to  power   but  was  not  too  disappointed  since  this  allowed  him  to  make  more  money  at  the  bar.  He  specialised  in  appearing  before  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  which  dealt  with  colonial  matters. Richard  saw  the  British  Empire  as  a  vehicle  for  the  spread  of  Hegelian ideas  about  the  "Spirit  of  Freedom".     However  he  lobbied  for  the  inclusion  of  Arthur  Acland  and  the  establishment  of  a  Ministry  of  Labour  to  cultivate  working  class  support.  Acland  was  appointed  but  as  a  minister  of  education.   In  1893  he  wrote  an  approving  preface  to  L T  Hobhouse's  The  Labour  Movement   , seeing  collectivism  as  a  part  of  the  "New  Liberalism".  He  encouraged  Rosebery's  plans  to  reform  the  House  of  Lords. Despite  this  he  was  passed  over  for  Solicitor-General  in  1894  , a  decision  Asquith  described  as  "  a  very  wrong  decision  come  to  upon  inadequate  grounds".

In  1895 , Rosebery  and  Asquith  urged  him  to  take  the  Speakership  knowing  the  Tories  respected  him. He  turned  it  down  partly  for  financial  reasons  and  partly  because  it  would hamper  his  pursuit  of  social  and  education  reform. He   despaired  of  the  party  telling  Beatrice  Webb "Rot  has  set  in. There  is  now  no  hope  but  to  be  beaten  and  then  reconstruct  a  new  party."  That  same  year  he  helped  the  Webbs  found  the  London  School  of  Economics. He  sided  with  Rosebery  against  Harcourt  but  found  him  exasperating .

Richard  and  his  friends  Asquith  and  Grey  broadly  supported  the  government  position  in  the  Boer  War  and  were  perceived  as  leaders , along  with  the  erratic  Rosebery ,  of   the Liberal  Imperialist  wing  of  the party. As  it  became  increasingly  clear  that  the  Liberals  would  return  to  power  after  the  Tariff  Reform  issue  devastated  the  Conservatives  the  three  devised  the  so-called  "Relugas  Compact"  in  1905  whereby  they  would  refuse  to  serve  under  the  veteran  Radical  Campbell-Bannerman  unless  he  went  to  the  Lords  leaving  Asquith  in  control  of  the  Commons.  However  he  called  their  bluff  and  offered   Asquith  the  Chancellorship  of  the  Exchequer. Having  failed  to  arouse  any  lead  from  Rosebery,  Asquith  accepted  and  Grey  and  Richard  soon  followed  suit  the  latter  accepted the  War  Office.

In  his  five  years  there  Richard  worked  to  remedy  the  deficiencies  exposed  by  the  Boer  War . He  established  the  Imperial  General  Staff, the  Officer  Training  Corps, the  Territorial  Army  and  the  Advisory  Committee  on  Aeronautics.

Richard  disliked Lloyd  George ,describing  him  as " an  illiterate  with  an  unbalanced  mind " and  favoured  a  tactical  retreat  on  the  Peoples  Budget. In  1911   Richard  went  to  the  Lords  as Viscount  Haldane  to  steer  the  passage  of  the  Parliament  Act. In  1912  Lord  Loreburn  retired  and  Richard  became  Lord  Chancellor.  He  is  remembered  in  Canada  for  some  controversial  judgments  on  constitutional  issues  there.

Richard  fatally  accepted  a  mission  from  Grey  in  1912  to  go  to  Germany  in  a  bid  to  dampen  down  friction  between  the  nations  caused by  the  naval  arms  race.  The  mission  completely  failed  and  whilst  over  there  Richard  made  his  ill-fated  remark  that  Gottingen  University  was  his  "spiritual  home".  

When  the  War  minister  Seely  resigned  over  the  Curragh  mutiny  in  March  1914  Asquith  took  over  the  running  himself  formally  though  he  placed  much  in  Richard's  hands. When  war  broke  out  he  was  offered  the  job  but  perhaps  sensing  the  trouble  ahead  he  declined.  He  came  under  fierce  attack  from  the  right  wing  press  particularly  Northcliffe's  Daily  Mail   and  Beaverbrook's  Daily  Express  for  his  supposed pro-German  sympathies  with  the  "spiritual  home"  remark  taken  out  of  contest  and  used  against  him. Asquith  refused  his  resignation  in  September  1914  and  denounced  the  press  campaign  against  him.

When  Asquith  was  forced  by  events  to  construct  a  coalition  in  May  1915,  the  Tories  made  the  removal  of  Haldane  and  Churchill  a  condition  of  their  participation  and  Asquith  concurred , a  decision  that  considerably  weakened  the  personal  loyalty  of  many  Liberal  MPs  towards  him.  Asquith  continued to  seek  his  advice  informally  during  the  remainder  of  his  premiership.  Richard  had  no  interest  in  helping  Lloyd  George  but  did  accept  an  appointment  as  chair of  a  committee  on  the  machinery  of  government  on  which  his  friend  Beatrice  Webb  also  served.  Its  report  coincided  with  the  Armistice  and  was  virtually  ignored.

Over  the  next  few  years  Richard  gravitated  towards  the  Labour  party  encouraged  by  his  friends  the  Webbs. Although  the  Liberal  party  reunited  for  the  1923  election  campaign  this  was  also  when  Richard  broke  cover  and  supported  Labour  candidates. Mindful  of  his  Cabinet  experience  McDonald  appointed  him  Lord  Chancellor  once  more  in  the  first  Labour  government. He  remained  Leader  of  the  small  band  of  Labour  peers  after  the  government's  fall  and  supported the  miners  during  the  General  Strike.

Richard  was  a  large  clumsy  man  who  remained  a  bachelor. He  was  friendly  with  fellow  MP  Ronald  Ferguson  and  had  a  relationship  with  his  sister  Emma  who  subsequently   lampooned  him  in  her  novel  Betsy  of  1892.  He  was  friendly  with  Beatrice  Webb  but  never  became  romantically  involved  with  her. She  wrote  of  him  in  1897  :

"His  bulky  awkward  form  and  pompous  ways , his  absolute  lack  of  masculine  vices  and  manly  tastes  (  beyond  a  good  dinner  ) , his  intense  superiority  and  constant  attitude  of  a  teacher ,  his  curiously  woolly  mind  would  make  him  an  unattractive  figure  if  it  were  not  for  the  beaming  kindliness  of  his  nature,  warm  appreciation  of  friends  and  a  certain  pawky  humour  with  which  he  surveys  the  world .. He  was  made  to  be  husband , father  and  close  comrade. He  has  had  to  put  up  with  pleasant  intercourse  with  political  friends  and  political  foes".

He  died  in  1928  aged  72 . The  New  Statesman 's  obituary  declared  that  he  was  vastly  over-rated  as  an  intellectual  and  correspondingly  under-rated  as  a  practical  politician  and  administrator.

1036 George Harrison

Constituency : Edinburgh  South  1885 

George   won  Edinburgh  South  as  an   independent  Liberal,  defeating  another  Liberal.

George  was  an  Edinburgh  merchant . He  began  his  working  life  as  a  tailor  and  then  moved  into  selling  woollen  goods. He  was  Lord  Provost  of  the  city  from  1882  until  his  election. He  was  responsible  for  the  purchase  of  Blackford  Hill  by  the Corporation.

George  was  74  at  the  time  of  his  election  and  died  just  weeks  later  before  Parliament  had  assembled. A  memorial  arch  was  erected  to  him  three  years  later  and  two  streets  named  after him.

1035 John Wilson

Constituency  : Edinburgh  Central  1885-6

John  won  the  new  seat  of  Edinburgh  Central  as  an  "Independent  Liberal"  defeating  the  official  candidate  James  Renton.

In  1886  John  moved  for  a  select  committee  to  examine  the  Estimates  before  they  were  presented  to  the  Commons.

John  contested  the  seat  in  1886  as  a  Liberal  Unionist  but  was  defeated. In  1892  he  contested  the  seat  on  behalf  of  the  Scottish  United  Trades  Councils  Labour  Party  but  received  a  derisory  vote.

1034 William Jacks

Constituency  : Leith  Burghs  1885-6,  Stirlingshire  1892-5

William  took  over  from  Andrew  Grant  at  Leith  Burghs.

William  was  a  farmer's  son  from  Northumberland. He  was  educated  locally  and  then  apprenticed  to  a  shipyard. He  studied  foreign  languages  in  his  spare  time.  He  became  manager  of  Sunderland  and  Seaham  Engine  Works  and  was  sent  on  international  errands. In  1880  he founded  the  iron  and  steel  merchants  firm  William  Jacks  &  Co. In  1885  he  took  as  a  junior  partner  the  future  Conservative  prime  minister  Andrew  Bonar  Law.


William  joined  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886  despite  being  in  favour  of  home  rule  for  Scotland. Because  Gladstone  was  not  sure  of  getting  re-elected  in  Midlothian  that  year  he  stood  for  Leith  as  well  as  an  insurance  policy , the  so-called  "Leith  dirty  trick ". William  declined  to  stand  against  him  and  Gladstone  was  unopposed. When  Gladstone  decided  to  represent  Midlothian  instead   William  stood  again  in  the  by-election  but  came  third  behind  Ronald  Ferguson  and   an  Independent  Liberal  Unionist.

By  1892  William  was  reconciled  with  his  former  party  and  won  in  Stirlingshire. He  was  defeated  in  1895.

William  pressed  Mundella  at  the  Board  of  Trade  to  do  something  about  the  exorbitant  rail  rates  in  1892.

In  1893  William  was  elected  Chairman  of  the  British  Iron  Trade  Association. He  later  became  President  of  the  Glasgow  Chamber  of  Commerce.

William  became  a  man  of  letters, publishing  a  translation  of  Lessing's  Nathan  the  Wise  in  1894.  He  later  wrote  biographies  of  Bismarck  and  Kaiser  Wilhelm II  and  the  inventor  James  Watt.

In  1898  William  chaired  a  public  meeting  in  support  of  a  memorial  to  William  Wallace  at  Stirling.

He  died  in  1907  aged  66,  leaving  a  large  collection  of  books  to  Glasgow  University  Library.

1033 John Kinnear

Constituency : East  Fife  1885-6

John  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  East  Fife.

John  was  educated  at  Edinburgh  and  St  Andrews  Universities. His  family  were  involved  in  banking  and  he  was  a  local  laird.. He  became  a  Scottish  barrister  and  political  secretary  to  the  Lord  Advocate  in  the  1850s. He  wrote extensively  on  jurisprudence ,  religion  and  women's  rights. In  1877  he  published  a  book  supporting  Gladstone  on  the  Eastern  Question.  In  1883  he  argued  in  the  Manchester  Examiner  that  courts  should  decide  custody  issues  in  the  best  interests  of  the  child.

In his  only  parliamentary  contribution  John  supported  an  amendment  to  the  Queen's  Speech  which  would  give  the  crofters  more  protection  from  eviction.

John  was  a  radical  and  supporter  of  Chamberlain  and  followed  him  in  opposing  Home  Rule. He   was  wary  of  Scottish  home  rule  as  well.

Having  been  disowned  by  the  local  Liberal  association, John  stood  as  Liberal  Unionist  candidate  in  1886  but  was  narrowly  defeated  by  the  young  Herbert  Asquith.

He  died  in  1920  aged  92.

1032 Archibald Corbett

Constituency  : Glasgow  Tradeston  1885- 1911

Archibald  was  the  first  MP  for  Glasgow  Tradeston  by a  slim  majority  over  the  Conservatives.

Archibald  was  the  son  of  a  Glasgow  merchant  and  philanthropist.He  was  educated  at  the  Glasgow  Academy.  He  travelled  widely  and  studied  sculpture  for  a  time  before  becoming  a  property  developer, building  on  his  father's  estates. He  contested  North  Warwickshire  in  a  by-election  in  1884.

Archibald  joined  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886. In  19808  he  crossed  the  floor  of  the  house  and  sat  with  the  Liberals,  defending  his  seat  successfully  as  an  Independent  Liberal  against  both  Liberal  and  Conservative  challenges. By  the  December  election  he  was  an  official  Liberal  once  more  and  saw  off  a  Liberal  Unionist.

In  1901  Archibald  bought  an  estate  in  Ayrshire  and   donated  his  former  home  to  the  people  of  Glasgow.  He  developed  an  estate  in  Essex  which  had  no  pub  because  Archibald  was  a  committed  temperance  reformer.

Archibald  stood  down  in  1911  and  became  Baron  Rowallan.

He  died  in  1933  aged  76.

1031 John McCulloch

Constituency : Glasgow  St  Rollox  1885-6

John  narrowly  won  the  new  seat  of  Glasgow  St  Rollox.

John  was  educated  at  a  parochial  school  and  became  a  land  valuer. He  was  an  inspector  for  Dundee  land  and  mortgage  companies  in  America  and  a  vice -president  of  the  Scottish  Chamber  of  Agriculture.

Most  of  John's  parliamentary  interventions  were  on  land  questions.

John's  behaviour  in  1886  is  hard  to  understand  . He  voted  for  the  Home  Rule  Bill  and  then  stood  down  for  the  Liberal  Unionist  candidate   James  Caldwell   in  1886  and  joined  the  party. In  the  late 1880s  the  Liberal  Unionists  were  defeated  in  two  Glasgow  constituencies  where  they  put  up  non-local  candidates. John  commented  that  he  "did  not  see  why  it  should  be  that  a  certain  coterie  or  number  of  gentlemen  should  choose  a  candidate  for  a  district  without  taking  the  constituency  into  its  confidence. He  felt  Sir  John  Pender's  campaign  in  Govan  in  1889  simply  hadn't  been  Liberal  enough.

He  died  in  1912  aged  70.

1030 Gilbert Beith

Constituency : Glasgow  Central  1885-6, Inverness  Burghs  1892-5

Gilbert was  the  first  MP  for  Glasgow  Central.

Gilbert  was  a  Presbyterian  minister's  son. He  was  an  export  merchant, a  partner  in  Beith, Stevenson  &  Co  and  a  director  of  Glasgow  Chamber  of  Commerce

Gilbert  supported  Scottish  disestablishment  and  the  endowments  used  to  support  social  improvements  in  the  Highlands.

In  1886  Gilbert  lost  his seat  in  a  huge  swing  to  the  Conservatives.  He  returned  for  Inverness  Burghs  in  1892  but  stood  down  in  1895.

He  died  in  1904  aged  77.

1029 Hugh Watt

Constituency : Glasgow  Camlachie  1885-92

The  amusingly-named  Hugh  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  Glasgow  Camlachie.

Hugh  was  the  son  of  the  Sheriff  of  Ayrshire. He  was  educated  at  Kilmarnock  Academy  and  the  University  of  Geneva. He  was  a  merchant  involved  in  ship  owning  and  the  energy  business. He  was  chairman  of  Maxim-Weston  Electricity  Co. and  the  New  Chile  Mining  Co.

In  1888  Hugh  sued  his  fellow  Glaswegian  MP  Charles  Cameron  for  libel  for  claiming  that  an  address  he  gave  was  plagiarism. In  1892  he  himself  was  sued  for  libel  in  a  business  dispute  and  had  to  settle. By 1892  he  had  fallen  out  with  the  local  party  and  stood  as  an  independent  Liberal  coming  a  poor  fourth.

In  1896  Hugh's  wife  petitioned  for  divorce  on  the  grounds  of  adultery  and  cruelty. She  was  found  to  have  condoned  her  husband's  adventures  and  had  to  make  do  with  a  judicial  separation.  After  Hugh  was  named  in  another  divorce  case  in  1901,  her  petition  was  successful. She  then  successfully  sued  her  rival  Violet  Beauchamp  for  libel  afte  being  accused  of  gold-digging. In  1905  Hugh  was  found  guilty  of  trying  to  procure  her  murder  and  imprisoned  for  a  year. He  married  the  lady  in  the  other  divorce  case  on  his  release.

He  died  in  1921  aged  73.

1028 Edward Russell

Constituency  : Glasgow  Bridgeton  1885-87

Edward  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  Glasgow  Bridgeton.

Edward  was  a  self-made  man  ,  a  journalist  who rose  to  become  the  long-serving  editor  of  the  Liverpool  Daily  Post.  He  founded  the  Liverpool  Parliamentary  Debating  Society. He  spent  time  in  London  writing  parliamentary  reports  for  the  Morning  Star.  Through  this  he  came  to  know  many  of  the  leading  politicians  including  Gladstone.

Edward  resigned  his  seat  in  1887.

Edward  was  knighted  in  1893.

Edward  was  interested  in  the  theatre  and  published   works  on  Ibsen, Irving  and  Garrick.

Edeard  published  a  gossipy  memoir  That  Reminds  Me  in  1899.

In  1919  Edward  was  elevated  to  Baron  Russell  of  Liverpool.

He  died  in  1920  aged  85.

 

1027 Stephen Mason

Constituency : Mid Lanarkshire  1885-88

Stephen  was  the  first  MP  for  mid  Lanarkshire.

Stephen  was  a  privately  educated  merchant. He  was  at  one  time  chairman  of  the  Glasgow  Chamber  of  Commerce.

Stephen  retained  his  seat  against  a  Liberal  Unionist  challenge  in  1886.

Stephen  was  interested  in  technical  education.

Stephen  resigned  his  seat  in  1888   on  grounds  of  ill  health.  He  then  travelled  to  Australia  where  he  was  managing  director  of  the  English  and  Australian  Mortgage  Bank  Limited.

He  died  of  heart  failure  at  57  in  1890  having  been  thought  to  be  in  good  health. His  son  David  was  a  later  Liberal  MP.

1026 Donald Crawford

Constituency : North  East Lanarkshire  1885-95

Donald  was  the  first  MP  for  North  East  Lanarkshire.

Donald  was  educated  at  Oxford  and  became  a  barrister. He  was   political  secretary  to  the  Lord  Advocate  Sir  John  Balfour  in  the  1880s. In  1884  he  was  appointed  by  Charles  Dilke, a  distant  relative, to  the  Scottish  Boundary  Commission. The  Tory  leader  Stafford  Northcote  objected  to  his  appointment  on  the  grounds  that  he  was  a  partisan  Liberal,  an  objection  seemingly  borne  out  by  his  standing  for  and  winning  one  of  the  new  seats  created.

Donald  was  a  lukewarm  supporter  of  the  crofters'  cause.

Donald's  biggest  impact  on  the  party  was  entirely  negative. In  1886  he  sued  his  much-younger  wife  Virginia   for  divorce  and  named  Dilke  as  her  lover. He  was  successful  in  gaining  his  divorce  but  the  publicity  around  the  trial  ended  Dilke's  ministerial  career.

Donald  stood  down  in  1895.

He  died  in  1919  aged  82.

1025 Edmund Robertson

Constituency  : Dundee  1885- 1908

Edmund  was  the  other  Liberal  victor  at  Dundee.

Edmund  was  the  son  of  a  parish  schoolmaster  from  Perthshire . He  was  educated  at  St  Andrews  and  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister  and  legal  author. he  was  a  moderate  Anglican.

Edmund  was  a  radical  who  supported  the  abolition  of  the  game  laws, temperance  and  local  government  reform. He  did  not  support  female  suffrage.

Edmund  was  Civil  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  from  1892  to  1895. He  was  Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty  in  Campbell-Bannerman's  government.  He  was  a  plain-speaking  man  who  had  little  time  for  circumlocution.

In  1908   Edmund,  who  was  in  poor  health, was  elevated  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Lochee.

He  died  in  1911  aged  66.

1024 Charles Lacaita

Constituency : Dundee  1885-8

Charles  was  one  of  two  new  Liberals  in  Dundee  replacing  George  Armitstead  and  Frank  Henderson.

Charles  was  the  son  of  an  Anglo-Italian  writer  who  was  friendly  with  Gladstone. He  was  educated  at  Oxford  and  became  a  barrister.

Charles  became  assistant  Private  Secretary  to  Lord  Granville  in  1885. He  made  a  long  speech  in  favour  of  Home  Rule  in  1887.

Charles  resigned  his  seat  in  1888.

Charles  was  more  notable  as  a  botanist  and  nineteen  plant  species  are  named  after  him.

He  died  in  1933  aged  80.

1023 William Barbour

Constituency : Paisley  1885-91

William  took  over  from  Stewart  Clark  after  the  latter  found  it  too  difficult  to  combine  business  with  politics. William  had  wanted  to  stand  in  the  1884  by-election  but  deferred  to  Clark  on  that  occasion. Clark's  cousin  contested  the  selection  but  William  won  the  nomination.

William  was  a  merchant's  son  from  Paisley. He  was  educated  privately  then  went  into  the  family  business. He  later  headed  the  firm  of  Barbour, Barclay  & Co.  He  lived  in  Brazil  for  a  time. He  retired  from  business  in  1874.

William  was  active  in  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  and  the  Royal  Society  of  Arts.

He  died  in  1891  aged  62.

1022 James Finlayson

Constituency :  East  Renfrewshire  1885-6

James  won  the  new  seat  of  East  Renfrewshire.

James  only  speech  was  on  the  Glasgow  Bridges  &c  Bill  where  he  objected  to  Glasgow  Town  Council   trying  to  put  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  central  bridges  on  the  rates  where  suburban  burghs  like  his  would  end  up  paying  for  them.

James   didn't  stand  in  1886.

James  died  in  1903  aged  80.

1021 Eugene Wason

Constituency  :  South  Ayrshire  1885-6, 1892-5, Clackmannanshire  and  Kinross-shire  1899-1918  

Eugene  dislodged  the  Tories  in  South  Ayrshire  which  they  put  down  to  the  large  mining  vote  in  the  constituency.

Eugene  was  the  son  of  a  previous  MP  for  Ipswich. He  was  a  giant  of  a  man  described  by  one  of  the  Speakers  as  "the  largest  and  tallest  man  in  the  House," He  had  a  large  appetite   though  he  was  fond  of  football, rowing  and  fishing. He  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  Oxford  and  became  a  barrister  though  he  switched  to  becoming  a  solicitor  in  1876  though  he  eventually  returned  to  the  Bar. From  1878  he  was  Assistant  Examiner  to  the  Incorporated  Law  Society  in  Common  Law.

Eugene  was  a  supporter  of   Home  Rule  for  Scotland  and  headed  a  delegation  to  Asquith  asking  for  a  Bill  on  the  subject  in  1912.  He  was  generally  a  Radical.  He  was  in  favour  of  women's  suffrage.

In  1886  Eugene  lost  out  to  a  Liberal  Unionist  by 5 votes. He  regained  it  by  197  votes  in  1892  and  lost  it  again  by  550  votes  in  1895.

Eugene  returned  at  a  by-election  in  1899  when  John  Balfour  resigned  to  become  a  judge. He  won  Clackmannanshire  by  516  votes. He  held  the  seat  with  increasing  ease  until  being  returned  unopposed  in  December  1910.  He  then  became  Chairman  of  the  Scottish  Liberal  members until  1918.

In  the  summer  of  1914  Eugene  was  one  of  a  number  of  holidaymakers  caught  out  by  the  outbreak  of  war  while  taking  the  waters  at  Marienbad  in  Austria-Hungary  and  detained  as  an  enemy  alien. He  was  allowed  to  travel  to  Switzerland  a  few  weeks  later. In  1915  Eugene  was  appointed  chairman  of  a  Committee  on  Food  Production  in  Scotland

Eugene   stood  down  in  1918  when  the  seat  went  to  Labour.

In  the  elections  of  1923  and  1924  when  no  Liberal  candidate  could  be  found  for  South  Ayrshire   Eugene  supported  the  Conservative.

He  died  in  1927  aged  81.

1020 Hugh Elliott

Constituency : North  Ayrshire  1885-92  ( from  1886  Liberal  Unionist )

Hugh  took  North  Ayrshire  from  the  Tories.

Hugh  was  an  old-fashioned  Whig  candidate, the  son  of  Earl  Minto  and  connected  to  the  Russells. He  was  educated  at  Cambridge. He  worked  as  a  clerk  to  the  Commons  and  then  as  private  secretary  to  William  Adam  between  1873  and  1874.

Hugh  defected  to  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886  and  switched  to  the  Glasgow  Rollox  constituency for  the  1892  election  but  was  defeated.

He  died  in  1932  aged  84.

1019 Donald Macfarlane

Constituency : County  Carlow  1880-5 ( Home  Rule  League  ),  Argyllshire   1885-6 , 1892-5

Donald  was  one  of  three  Liberals  contesting  Argyllshire  after  the  retirement  of  Sir  Colin  Campbell. He  defeated  the  official  Liberal  and  allied  himself  with  the  Crofters  Party.

Donald  was  the  son  of  a  Scottish  magistrate. He  became  an  East  India  merchant  with  interests  in  tea  and  indigo. He  was  an  early  amateur  photographer.  He  was  a   recent  convert  to   Catholicism  and  first  elected  to  Parliament  under  Home  Rule  colours  although  he  was  fairly  moderate  as  far  as  Irish  home  rule  was  concerned.  He  came  to  Scotland   to  support  Roderick  McDonald  in  the  Ross-shire  by-election  of  1884. When  Carlow  lost  one  of  its  members  he  moved  across  to  Scotland.

Donald  proposed  an  amendment  to  the  Queen's  Speech  in  1886  highlighting  the  condition  of  the  population  in  the  highlands  and  islands.

In  1886  Donald  was  the  only  Liberal  candidate  but  was  defeated  by  the  Conservative  in  a  campaign  dominated  by  anti-Catholicism  with  Donald  attacked  by  Presbyterian  clergy  and  in  Gaelic  poems . He  narrowly  won  the  seat  back  in  1892  but  lost  it  again  in  1895.

Donald  was  knighted  in  1894.

He  died  in  1904  aged  73.

1018 Robert Menzies

Constituency : East  Perthshire  1885-9

Robert  was  the  first  MP  for the  new  seat  of  East  Perthshire, easily  defeating  his  Conservative  opponent.

Robert  was  the  son  of  an  Edinburgh  distiller. He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Oxford  and  became  a  barrister.

Robert  spoke  in  favour  of  Home  Rule  and  against  coercion.

He  died  in  1889  aged  just  33.

1017 John Shiress-Will

Constituency : Montrose  Burghs  1885-96

John  took  over  at  Montrose  after  the  retirement  of  William  Baxter. He  defeated  both  a  Conservative  and  an  Independent  Liberal  challenger.

John  was  a  merchants's  son  educated  at  Brechin  Grammar  School  and  King's  College  London. He  became  a  barrister.

John  was  a  strong  supporter  of  Gladstone . He  protested  at  the  military  expedition  against  the  crofters.

John  resigned  his  seat  in  1896  to  allow  John  Morley  back  into  Parliament  after  his  defeat  in  Newcastle.

John  wrote  the  doubtless  scintillating  The  Law  Relating  to  Electric  Lighting.

He  died  in  1910  aged  70.

1016 William Hunter

Constituency : Aberdeen  North  1885-96

William  easily  won  the  new  seat  of  Aberdeen  North.

William  was  the  son  of  a  granite  merchant  from  Aberdeen. He  was  educated  at  Aberdeen  grammar  school  and  university. He  became  a  barrister  but  was  more of  a  law  professor. In  1869  he  was  appointed  professor  of  Roman  law  at  University  College, London  and  professor  of  jurisprudence  from  1878  to  1882. He  published  Roman  Law  in  the  Order  of  a  Code.

William  was  a  radical.  He  suppported  Scottish  home  rule  and  introduced  a  private  members  bill  for  it. He  supported  Charles  Bradlaugh  and  was  the  first  to  advocate  old  age  pensions. He  was  returned  unopposed  in  1886. In  1890  he  carried  a  proposal  for  free  elementary  education  in  Scotland.

In  1892 William  had  a  challenger  from  the  ILP  but  many  local  trades  unionists    remained
loyal  to  William  even  though  he  was  not  prepared  to  back  an  eight  hour  day. The  trades  council  decided  not  to  back  the  ILP  man  who  was  soundly  beaten.

William  bemoaned  the  emasculation  of  the  Crofter's  Bill  in  1886. He  put  down  a  motion  to charge  the  costs  of  the  military  annexation  of  Burma  to  the  India  budget.

In  1896  William  resigned  his  seat  on  health  grounds.Her  died  two  years  later  aged  54.