1254 William Kenny

Constituency : Dublin St  Stephen's  Green  1892-8  ( Liberal  Unionist )

William  removed  Ireland's  lone  Liberal  MP Thomas  Dickson  who  had  taken  the  seat  from  the  Nationalists  at  a  by-election  in  1888.

William  was  a  solicitor's  son  from  Dublin. He  was  educated  at  Trinity  College, Dublin. He  became  a  barrister.  Despite  his  Catholicism  he  was  a  staunch  Unionist  which  tended  to  make  both  sides  suspicious  of  him. After  the  Home  Rule  Bill  of  1886  he  set  up  the  Liberal  Union  of  Ireland  and  arranged  the  visit  of  Hartington  and  Goschen  in  1887.

William  supported  land  reform  and  peasant  ownership  but  disliked  Chamberlain's  county  council  scheme  for  Ireland  describing  it  as  "an  awful  scheme  of  provincial  councils".

In  1895  William  was  made  Solicitor-General  for  Ireland   in  Salisbury's  government.  He  also  sat  on  the  Tourist  Committee  for  Ireland.

William  resigned  his  seat  to  become  a  High  Court  judge  in  1898.

He  died  in  1921 aged  75.

1253 Hugh Arnold-Forster

Constituency  : West  Belfast  1892-1906,  Croydon  1906-09  ( Liberal  Unionist )

Hugh  took  West  Belfast  from  the  Nationalists.

Hugh  was  the  son  of  an  Indian  civil  servant  and  a  grandson  of  the  famous  headmaster  of Rugby  School , Thomas  Arnold . His  father  died  when  he  was  four  and  he  was  adopted  by W.E. Forster.  He  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  Oxford  and became  a  barrister. He  acted  as private  secretary  to  his  adoptive  father  in  Ireland. In  1884  he  published  The  Citizen  Reader,  a guide  to  civic  duties  and  responsibilities. In  1885  he  joined  a  publishing  company producing educational  manuals.  He  also  married  the  daughter  of  the  Liberal   MP  Nevil  Story-Maskelyne that  year. He   also  agitated  for  naval  reform.

In  1900  Salisbury  made  Hugh  Parliamentary  and  Financial  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty. In   1903  he  joined  Balfour's  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  State  for  War  and  started  reorganising  the War  Office  in  the  wake  of  the  Esher  Report .

Hugh  wrote  pamphlets  on  a  number  of  subjects  such  as  Ireland  and  the  army. He  also  wrote school  text  books.

He  died  in  1909  aged  53.

1252 Thomas Shaw

Constituency  : Hawick  Burghs  1892-1909

Thomas  took  over  from  Alexander  Brown  at  Hawick.

Thomas  was  educated  at  Dunfermline  High  School  and  Edinburgh  University. He  became  a  Scottish  barrister.

Thomas  was  an  advanced  Liberal  but  not  hostile  to  the  empire.

In  1894  Thomas  was  appointed  Solicitor-General  for  Scotland  and  increased  his  majority  at  the  resultant  by-election.

Thomas  was  instrumental  in  obtaining  a  major  donation  towards  upgrading  the   Scottish  universities  from  Andrew  Carnegie  in  1901  after  writing  an  article  in  1897  for  the  Nineteenth  Century  magazine.

In  1906  Thomas   saw  off  a  challenge  from  Arthur  Conan  Doyle  for  the  Liberal  Unionists.

Thomas  became   Lord  Advocate  in  1905. He  resigned  his  seat  in  1909  to  become  an  Appeal  Court  judge. He  was  created  Baron  Shaw. He  retired  in  1929  and  was  uplifted  to  Baron  Craigmyle.

Thomas's  last  speech  in  the  Lords  was  a  long  one  on  the  merits  of  the  alternative  vote.

He  died  in  1937  aged  87.

1251 Mark Napier

Constituency : Roxburghshire  1892-5

Mark  took  back  Roxburghshire  from  the  Liberal  Unionist  Arthur  Elliott  at  the  second  attempt. He  won  by  158  votes.

Mark  was  a  friend  of  Rosebery.

Mark  was  defeated  by  the  Conservatives  in  1895  by  561  votes.

He  died  in  1917  aged  65.

1250 William Maxwell

Constituency : Dumfriesshire  1892-5, 1900-06  ( Liberal  Unionist )

William  kept  hold  of  Dumfriesshire  for  the  Liberal  Unionists  after  the  retirement  of  Robert  Jardine  by  274  votes.

William  largely  confined  his  interventions  to  Scottish  matters.

William  was  defeated  by  13  votes  in  1895  but  won  it  back  by  449  votes  in  1900. He  stepped  down  before  the  1906  election.

He  died  in  1933  aged  81.

1249 Herbert Paul

Constituency : Edinburgh  South  1892-5, Northampton 1906-10

Herbert  took  over  from  Hugh  Childers

Herbert   was   an  English  vicar's  son. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Oxford  where  he  was President  of  the  Oxford  Union  and  a  friend  of  Asquith. Herbert  was   a  barrister  who   became  an  outstanding  journalist  instead. He  was  known  for  brilliant  epigrams. He  was  a  leader-writer  of  the  Daily  News.

Herbert  was  defeated  by  a  Liberal  Unionist  in  1897.

Herbert  wrote  a  number  of  books  including  the  first  biography  of  Gladstone.

Herbert  returned  to  the  House  in  1906  replacing  Henry  Labouchere  at  Northampton.

He  died  in  1935  aged  52.

1248 Harry Smith

Constituency : Falkirk  Burghs 1892-5

Harry  took  Falkirk  Burghs  from  the  Liberal  Unionist  William  Sinclair  with  a  majority  of  639  having  failed  to  beat  him  by  19  votes  in  1886.

Harry  was  defeated  in  1895  by  253  votes.

He  died  in  1910  aged  81.

1247 John Sinclair

Constituency : Dunbartonshire  1892-5,  Forfarshire  1897-1909

John  scored  one  of  the  Liberals'  most  striking  gains  when  he  took  Dunbartonshire  which  had  been  solidly  Conservative  since  1841. He  won  by  293  votes.

John  was  the  son  of  a  Scottish  baronet  and  officer  in  the  Bengal  army. He  was  educated  at Edinburgh  Academy  and  Wellington  College. He  went  on  to  Sandhurst  and  took  part  in  the Sudan  campaign. He  became  a  captain  in  1887. He  served  as  aide  de  camp  to  Lord  Aberdeen  in  Ireland  and  India. He  was  a  Progressive  councillor  in  London  from  1889  to  1892.

John  was  defeated  in  1895  by  33  votes   but  came  back  in  for  Forfarshire  in  1897. He  was  parliamentary  secretary  to  Campbell-Bannerman  for  a  number  of  years.

In  1904  John  married  Aberdeen's  daughter  Marjorie.

The  following  year  John  became  Secretary  of  State  for  Scotland, a  post  he  held  until  1912.

In  1909  John  was  elevated  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Pentland . He  oversaw  the  introduction  of  female  suffrage  in  local   authorities  but  his  attempts  at  land  reform  through  the  taxation  of  land  values  were  thwarted  by  the  Lords.

John  resigned  in  1912  to  become  Governor  of  Madras.  He  oversaw the  industrialisation  of  Madras  to  serve  the  British  war  effort leading  to  the  shelling  of  the  oil  plant  at  Madras  by  the  German  cruiser  SMS  Emden. He  also  authorised  the  arrest  of  the  suffragette  Annie  Besant  who  was  agitating  for  Indian  Home  Rule  in  1917. John  thought  the  Indians  were  easy  to  appease  and  advised  Montagu  in  1917  "We  ought  to  play  with  them, humour  them in  politics  and  discuss  with  them  industrial  development, education  and  social  reform ; but  there  is  no  necessity  for  doing  anything".  He  retired  in  1919.

He  died  in  1925  aged  64.

1246 Sir James Carmichael

Constituency  : Glasgow  St  Rollox  1892-5

James  took  over  from  James  Caldwell  , the  Liberal  Unionist  who  had  defected  back  but decided  to  contest  Glasgow  Tradeston  instead. He  defeated  the  Liberal  Unionist  Hugh  Elliott by  1,356  votes.

James   was  the  son  and  heir  of  a  Scottish baronet. He  was  educated  at  Radley  College   and  became  a  civil  servant, beginning  in  the  Admiralty. He  was  private  secretary  to  a  number  of  prominent  Liberals, William  Hutt, Hugh  Childers  and  finally  Gladstone  himself. He  contested  Northamptonshire  North  in  1885  and  Northamptonshire  South  in  1886.

James's  parliamentary  interventions  were  on  Scottish  affairs.

James  was  defeated  in  1895  due  to  the  unhelpful  intervention  of  an  I.L.P. candidate.

James  was  an  art  collector.

He  died  in  1902  aged  57.

1245 Alexander Cross

Constituency : Glasgow  Camlachie  1892-1910  ( Liberal  Unionist  until  1909 )

Alexander  scored  a  gain   against  the  trend   for  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  rather  fortunate circumstances. The  incumbent  Liberal,  Hugh  Watt  had  been  disowned  by  the  Liberals  after becoming  enmeshed  in  scandal  but  stood  as  an  independent. The  former  Liberal  Robert Cuninghame -Graham  also  chose  this  seat  to  seek  re-election  for  his  Scottish  Labour  Party and  it  was  probably  their  intervention  that  allowed  Alexander  to  top  the  poll.

Alexander  was  a  senior  partner  in  a  fertiliser  manufacturing  firm. He  was  a  member  of  the  Navy  League.

Alexander  retained  his  seat  easily  in  1895  and  more  so  in  1900  when  his  only  opponent  was  a  Scottish  Workers  candidate  that  the  Liberals  only  endorsed  at  the  last  minute. A  strong  vote  for  the  I.L.P  candidate  in  1906  helped  him  survive.

In  1909  Alexander  went  over  to  the  main  party.

In  January  1910  the  strong  showing  of  a  Labour  candidate   now  worked  against  Alexander  who  lost  to  a  Liberal  Unionist. Labour  said  that  adopting  Alexander  had  abrogated  Liberal  claims  to  the  seat.

Alexander  was  created  a  baronet  in  1912.

He  died  in  1914  aged  66.

1244 John Bruce

Constituency : Greenock  1892

John  was  declared  the  winner   over  the  Liberal  Unionist  Sir  Thomas  Sutherland  but  the  result  was  overturned  on  petition.

John was  a  barrister.

1243 William Birkmyre

Constituency : Ayr  Burghs  1892-5

William  recaptured  Ayr  Burghs  after  the  Tory  by-election  gain  of  1890. His  majority  was  just  7.

William's  family  had  a  rope-making  business  and  were  of  Huguenot  stock. He  spent  time  in  India. He  was involved  in  the  Cobden  Club.

William  gave  a  large  park  to  the  town  of  Port  Glasgow.

William  wrote  pamphlets   on  the  development  of  India  and  old  age  pensions.

William  was  defeated  by  the  Conservatives  in  1895.

He  died  in  1900  aged 61.

1242 Thomas Cochrane

Constituency : North  Ayrshire  1892-1910  ( Liberal Unionist )

Thomas  took  over  from  Hugh  Elliott  who  had  chosen  to  contest  Glasgow  St  Rollox  instead  ( unsuccessfully ).

Thomas  was  the  younger  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Dundonald. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cheltenham  College. He  became  a  soldier  with  the  93rd  Highlanders  and  Scots  Guards. He  served  in  the  Boer  War  as  Deputy  Assistant  Adjutant  General. He  was  a  lieutenant  colonel  with  the  2/7  Black  Watch  from  1914  to  1917.

Thomas  served  as  parliamentary  private  secretary  to  Joseph  Chamberlain  from  1895  to  1901. Balfour  made  him  under-secretary  of  state  for  the  Home  Department  in  1902  and  he  served  until  1905,

Despite  holding  quite  comfortably  in  1906  Thomas  was  defeated  in  January  1910.

Thomas  was  elevated  to  Baron  Cochrane  in  1919.  Despite  having  a  seat  in  the  Lords  for  32  years , Thomas  never  spoke  there.

He  died  in  1951  aged  93.
 

1241 John Crombie

Constituency : Kincardineshire  1892-1908

John  took  over  from  George  Balfour  at  Kincardineshire  easily  seeing  off  a  Liberal  Unionist opponent  by  1.068  votes.

John  was  from  Aberdeenshire,  the  son  of  a  woolen  manufacturer. He  was  educated  at  the  Gymnasium  School  and  Aberdeen  University. He  was  the  son-in-law  of  the  Mp  for  South  Ayrshire  , Eugene  Wason. He  went  into  the  family  business  and  became  a  director  but  retired  to  go  into  politics.

John  held  on  by  583  votes  against  a  Tory  in  1895. He  nearly  trebled  this  in  1900.

John  served  as  private  secretary  to  James  Bryce  both  as  Chancellor  to  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  ( 1892-4 )  and  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  (  1894-5 ). He  sat  on  committees  relating  to  dog  licensing  and  the  economic  effects  of  the  eight  hour  day.

John  was  a  fairly  orthodox  Liberal  supporting  Home  Rule  and  Free  Trade.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Parliamentary  Temperance  Group. In  1901 he  sponsored  a  bill  to  prevent  the  sale  of  alcohol  to  under  16s  but  it  was  later  amended  to  under  14s.

John  wrote  on  poetry  and  folklore  as  well  as  politics.

John  fell  ill  in  1908  and  was  confined  to  bed. He  died  after  three  weeks  aged  50.

1240 Donald MacGregor

Constituency : Inverness-shire  1892-5

Donald  unseated  the  Crofter turned  Liberal  Unionist  Charles Fraser  Macintosh  by  329  votes . Both  men  were  members  of  the  Highland  Land  League.

Donald  was  from  Rannoch, the  son  of  a  merchant  and  small  farmer. He  was  educated  privately  and  qualified  as   a  surgeon  at  Edinburgh  Medical  College. He  had  a  large  practice  in  1880  but  ironically  had  to  give  it  up  through  ill  health.  He  went  on  a  world  tour  with  his  wife  to  recuperate  which  lasted  for  two  years.

Donald  was   very  active  in  putting  questions, largely  on  Scottish  matters, in  the  House.

Donald  resigned  his  seat  in  1895, the  Tories  winning  it  at  the  by-election/

He  died  in  1911  aged  72.

Donald  should  not  be  confused  with  the  MP  of  the  same  name  who  sat  for  Leith  Burghs  in  the  1870s.

1239 James Weir

Constituency  :  Ross  and  Cromarty  1892-1911

We  now  come  to  the  new  Liberal  winners  in  the   1892 election. The  Liberals  recovered sufficiently  to  just  nudge  ahead  of  the  Tories  in  terms  of  seats  with  a  net  gain  of  80. Their recovery  was  particularly  marked  in  the  North  West, Eastern  England, London  and  the  South West. The  Liberal  Unionists  had  a  tough  time. Their  numbers  had  already  been  diminished  by defections  and  by-election  defeats  and  now  they  were  down  to  44  seats. Only  in  Scotland   and  the  Midlands  did  they  have  10  or  more  seats  and  in  Wales, the  North  East  and   Yorkshire  they  had  no  representation  at  all. The  Irish  MPs  not  them  now  held  the  balance  of  power.

James  took  over  from  the  former  Crofter  MP  Roderick  McDonald  with  a  sound  enough   victory  over  a  Liberal  Unionist.

James  was  a  builder's  son  educated  at  Dollar  Academy  before  moving  to  London  as  a  young man. He  worked  as  a  sales  rep  before  setting  up  his  own  business  in  1863  importing  sewing machines. He  made  enough  money  to  retire  in  1880  and  pursue  a  political  career.  He  stood against  John  Ramsay  at  Falkirk  Burghs  as  an  Independent  Liberal  but  came  a  distant  third. In 1892  he  became  a  Progressive   councillor  on  the  LCC.

James  scored  consistently  easy  victories  and  was  unopposed  in  December  1910.

James  racked  up  nearly  5,000  contributions  to  Parliament, many  of  them  questions  on Highland  concerns.

He  died  in  1911  aged  71.

1238 Austen Chamberlain

Constituency : East  Worcestershire  1892- 1912  ( Liberal  Unionist ) , 1912-14 , Birmingham  West  1914-37  Conservative

Austen  succeeded  the  imprisoned  George  Hastings  as  Liberal  Unionist  MP  for  East Worcestershire. The  fact  that  he  was  unopposed  masks  a  protracted  wrangle  between  the Liberal  Unionists  and  their  Tory  allies. Austen.s  father  Joseph  was  keen  to  keep  the  Midlands a  Liberal  Unionist  stronghold  and  pushed  for  his  son  to  succeed  Hastings. The  Tories  wanted Austen  to  pledge  outright  opposition  to  disestablishment  of  the  church  but  Joe  argued  that this  would  alienate  nonconformist  support  for  his  party , some  branches  of  which  might  seek to  extract  contrary  pledges  before  supporting  Conservative  candidates. The  Tories  eventually backed  down  and  accepted  Austen.

Austen  was  Joe's  eldest  son  by  his  first  marriage. His  mother  died  in  childbirth.  He  was educated  at  Rugby  and  Cambridge. He  then  spent  time  in  Paris  and  Germany  meeting important  politicians  like  Clemenceau  and  Bismarck.  He  returned  to  England  looking  for  a parliamentary  seat.

Austen  affected  to  look  like  his  father  with  the  monocle. He  made  his  maiden  speech opposing  Gladstone's  Second  Home  Rule  Bill  after  which  he  was  congratulated  by  the  P. M. himself. Austen  was  made  a  junior  whip  for  the  Liberal  Unionists  and  after  1895  became Civil  Lord  of  the  Admiralty. In  1900  he  was  promoted  to  Financial  Secretary  to  the  Treasury, Balfour  made  him  Postmaster  General  when  he  took  over  in  1902.

In  1903  Austen  was  made  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  as  Balfour  tried  to  hold  the  Unionist coalition  together  in  the  wake  of  Tariff  Reform. His  father's  stroke  in  1906  made  Austen  the effective  leader  of  the  Tariff  Reform  movement  and  therefore  a  contender  for  leadership  of the  Unionists  when  Balfour  resigned  in  1911. He  was  challenged  by  Walter  Long , Bonar  Law and  Edward  Carson.  When  a  canvas  of  MPs   revealed  Long  slightly  ahead  Austen  persuaded him  that  they  should  both  withdraw  and  back  Bonar  Law  as  a  compromise  candidate  for  the sake  of  party  unity. Given  these  events  Austen  agreed  there  was  no  rationale  for  the  Liberal Unionists'  separate  existence  and  the  parties  merged  the  following  year.

When  Asquith  and  Bonar  Law  formed  a  coalition  government  in  1915 Austen  became Secretary  of  State  for  India. He  supported  the  Mesopotamian  campaign  of  1915  and  took responsibility  for  its  failure  as  it  had  been  undertaken  by  the  Indian  Army . He  resigned  in 1917. He  was  said  to  be  considering  withdrawing  his  support  for  the  government  because  he felt  that  Lloyd  George  was  undermining  the  generals  but  did  not  do  so, He  himself  joined   the  War  Cabinet  as  Minister  without  Portfolio  in  1918.

In  1919  Austen  returned  to  11  Downing  St  and  helped  repair  government  finances. In  1921 Bonar  Law  was  forced  to  step  down  through  illness  and  Austen  became  Leader  of  the Commons  and  Lord  Privy  Seal. He  became  friendlier  with  Lloyd  George  , seemingly  unaware of  increasing  Conservative  restlessness  with  the  coalition. He  called  the  Carlton  Club  meeting in  October  1922  in  a  bid  to  rally  support  for  the  government  and  resigned  immediately  when it  went  against  him. He  stayed  aloof  from  Bonar  Law's  new  government  and  rejected Baldwin's  offer  of  Lord  Privy  Seal  when  he  took  over  unless  other  Coalition  ministers  came back  on  board.

Baldwin's  conversion  to  protectionism  was  partly  motivated  by  the  need  to  detach  Austen from  Lloyd  George  and  it  had  the  desired  effect. When  Baldwin  returned  to  power  in  1924 Austen  became  Foreign  Secretary. He  won  the  Nobel  Peace  Prize  for  negotiating  the  Locarno Pact  between  France  and  Germany  in  1925  which  temporarily  reduced  tension  between  the two  countries  but  at  a  cost  of  encouraging  Germany  to  pursue  territorial  revision  in  Eastern Europe.

Austen  briefly  joined  the  National  Government  in  1931 as  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  but retired  after  the  Invergordon  Mutiny.  He  became  a  highly  respected  backbencher. He condemned  the  Hoare-Laval  Pact  of  1935  but  then  helped  save  the  government  in  a  vote  of censure  on  it. By  that  time  he  was  siding  with  Churchill  on  Britain's  need  to  rearm. He  led two  Conservative  delegations to  Baldwin  to  protest  about  government  failure  on  the  issue.

Austen's  death  in  March  1937  spared  him  the  embarrassment  of  arguing  against  his  own half-brother  Neville  as  P.M. , on  the  appeasement  issue.        

That  concludes  our  look  at  the  by-election  victors  of  the  1886-92  Parliament. We  now  look   at  the  victors  of  the  1892  election.

1237 James Dalziel

Constituency : Kirkcaldy  Burghs  1892-21

James  took  over  from  the  deceased   George  Campbell  with  an  easy  victory  over  the  Liberal Unionists.

James   was   a  shoemaker's  son . He  was educated  at  Shrewsbury  High  School  and  King's College London. He  was   originally  a  journalist  and  a  leading  advocate  for  devolution  all round.

James  was  an  advanced  Radical  and  a  friend  of  Lloyd  George  and  a  partner  in  his  gold  mining  venture  in  the  1990s. He  went  with  him  to  Argentina.  In  1894   bought  a  stake  in  Reynolds  Weekly  News  which  he  later  came  to  own.

In  1906  at  a  hearing  on  the  sale  of  milk-blended  butter  Jams  attacked  the  case  for  "paternal and  grandmotherly"  state  regulation  of  foodstuffs  and  said  consumers  could  make  their  own choices.

James  was  knighted  in  1908.

Like  Lloyd  George  James  thought  maximum  effort  was  necessary  to  win  the  war.He supported  conscription  in  1915  and  wanted  the  system  for  interning  enemy  aliens  tightened up.  He  was  also  a  conspirator  with  Sir  John French   and  T P O' Connor  to  expose  the  Shell Shortage  in  1915.  With  capital  advanced  from  the  munitions  organiser  Andrew Weir  he bought the  Daily  Chronicle  to  act  as  Lloyd  George's  mouthpiece  and  installed himself  as  chairman and  political  director. He  also  bought  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  in  1917. In 1918  he  was  created  a baronet.

James  was  unopposed  in  1918  as  he  had  been  in  December  1910. In  1921  he  was  created Baron  Dalziel   and  Labour  took  the  seat  in  the  by-election, one  of  a  string  of  defeats  which exposed  the  vulnerability  of  the  Coalition  Liberals. James  retired  from  the  newspaper  business the  following  year.

In  1924  James  joined  the  National  Party  of  Scotland, a  forerunner  of  the  SNP.

He  died  in  1935  aged  67.

1236 Harrington Broad

Constituency : Derbyshire  South 1892-5

Harrington  took  over  at  South  Derbyshire  after  the  death  of Henry  Wardle.

Harrington  was  a  chartered  accountant  from  Surrey.

Harrington  was  a  director  of  the  Debenture  Corporation  who  were  caught  up  in  the  Jabez  Balfour  scandal.

Harrington  was  defeated  in  1895.

He  died  in  1927  aged  83.

1235 John Maden

Constituency  : Rossendale  1892-1900  1917-8

This  one  turns  a  personal  corner  for  me  as  John  is  the  first  of  a  clutch  of  Lancashire  MPs whose  fortunes  I  covered  in  my  university  dissertation.

John  chalked  up  a  significant  victory  over  the  Liberal  Unionists, taking  Hartington's Rossendale  seat  when  the  latter  finally  became  Duke  of  Devonshire. John  headed  a  cotton spinning  and  manufacturing  firm. He  was  mayor  of  Bacup  thirteen  times  altogether.

John  stood  down  in  1900    before  the  election  and  was  replaced  by  William  Mather.

John  was  knighted  in  1915.

John  was  persuaded  to  stand  again  in  1917  when  Lewis  Harcourt  was  elevated  to  the peerage.  Despite  an  easy  victory  over  an  independent,  he  was  hammered  in  the  election  a year  later  when  he  came  third  behind  a  couponed  Conservative  and  a  Labour  candidate.

John  gave  land  in  Bacup  for  a  new  Liberal  club, baths  and  recreation  ground.

He  died  in  1920  aged  57.

1234 George Lambert

Constituency : South  Molton 1891-1924, 1929-45  ( from  1931  National  Liberal )

George  recaptured   South  Molton  from  the  Liberal  Unionist   Viscount  Lymington  when  he became  Earl  of  Portsmouth, the  beginning  of  an  inordinately  long  parliamentary  career. He defeated  a  Liberal  Unionist  by  1,212  votes.

George  was  a  farmer's  son  from  Devon. He  was  educated  at  local  schools  then  started  work on  the  farm  taking  over  on  his  father's  death  in  1885.  His  father  became  a   Methodist  after an  argument  about  church  pews . He  became  a  county  councillor  for  Devonshire  in  1888  and served  for  63  years.

George  supported  Home  Rule, manhood  suffrage, old  age  penions , parish  councils  and  tenant security. He  was  an  approachable  man  and  soon  became  known  as  "Farmer  George".

In  1905  Campbell- Bannerman  made  him  Civil  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  despite  him  having  no obvious  qualifications  for  the  post. George  was  unopposed  in  1906.  Asquith  described  him  in a  letter  to Venetia  Stanley  as  not  particularly  competent  but  he  remained  in  his  post  until 1915. He  was  later  offered  a  post  as  junior  agricultural  minister by  Lloyd  George  which  he declined  unless  Admiral  Fisher  were  reinstated.

After  that   George  became  an  independent-minded  backbencher  noted  for  plain  speaking  and integrity. He  remained  wedded  to  the  idea  of  independence  and  self-help  and  thus  fervently anti-socialist.

In  1918  he  held  his  seat  against  a  "couponed"  Conservative. After  the  election  of  Donald McLean  as  leader  of  the  "Wee  Frees "   he  declared  himself  a supporter  of  Lloyd  George's government.  In  fact  he  became  chairman  of  the  Coalition Liberals  and  convened  a  gathering of  100  of   them  in  1919.   He  had  the  independent  Liberal whip  withdrawn.  He  was unopposed  in  1923  and  1924  but  lost  to  the Tories  in  1924.

In  1929  George  recaptured  the  seat  despite  a  Labour  candidate  standing  for  the  first  time. He voted  against  the  Labour   King's  Speech  in  1930 .In  1931  George  allied  himself  with  Simon against  Lloyd  George  and  the  Labour  party  and  held  his  seat  with  a  massive  majority  against Labour  in  1931  and  again  in  1935.

George  stood  down  in  favour  of  his  son  in  1945. He  was  created  a  Viscount.

George  was a  keen  golfer  and  shooter.

He  died  in  1958  aged  91.

1233 Edward Holden

Constituency : Walsall  1891-2

Edward  took  over  from  the  deceased  Sir  Charles  Forster  who  had  been  a  close  friend. He  won  by  539  votes.

Edward  was  the  son  of  a  tanner  and  currier  in  the  town. He  was  educated  privately  and  went into  his  father's  firm. He  was  on  Walsall  Borough  Council  for  over  60  years  and  mayor  three times  between  1870  and  1905. He  was  president  of  the  Walsall  Liberal  Association  when Forster  died  and  unanimously  adopted  to  succeed  him.

Edward  supported  Home  Rule, manhood  suffrage, elected  parish  councils  and  Sunday  closing of  pubs.  In  June  1892  he  accused  the  government  of  incompetence  in  failing  to  keep  France  to  the  terms  of  commercial  treaties.

Edward  was  defeated  in  1892  but  the  result  was  overturned  on  petition. Edward  declined  to  stand  again  so  Arthur  Hayter  took  the  seat.

Edward  was  knighted  in  1907.

He  died  in  1926  aged  95.

1232 Arthur Brand

Constituency  :  Wisbech  1891-5, 1900-06

Arthur  recaptured  Wisbech  from  the  Tories.

Arthur  was  the  son  of  Viscount  Hampden, the  former  Liberal  Chief  Whip  and  brother  of Henry  Brand,  formerly  MP  for  Stroud.

Arthur  was  Treasurer  of  the  Household  in  Rosebery's  administration.

Arthur  was  defeated  in  1895  but   regained  the  seat  in  1900. He  stood  down  in  1906. All  his contests  were  very  tight  including  the  1894  by-election  to  take  up  his  government  post.

In  1902  Arthur  got  a  bee in  his  bonnet  about  Anglican  churches  becoming  too  Catholic  in their  practices  and  not  sticking  to  the  Prayer  Book. His  call  for  legislation  on  the  matter  was brushed  off  by  Balfour.

He  died  in  1917  aged  63.

1231 Victor Cavendish

Constituency : Western  Derbyshire  1891-1908  ( Liberal Unionist )

Victor  took  over  the  seat  on  the  death  of  his  father. He  was  unopposed. He  was  22  and  became  the  baby  of  the  house.

Victor  was  the  eldest  son  of   Lord  Edward  Cavendish  who  was  prospective  heir  to  the  Dukedom  of  Devonshire  given  that  Hartington  had  no children.  He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge.

In  1892  Victor  married  Evelyn  FitzMaurice, the  daughter  of  Lord  Lansdowne.

In  1900  Victor  was  made Treasurer  of  the  Household  and  in  1903  he  became  Financial  Secretary  to  the  Treasury  despite  his  uncle's  distancing  himself  from  the  party  over  Tariff  Reform.

In  1908  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  ( the  former  Lord  Hartington )  died  and  Victor  inherited  the  dukedom. From  1911  ( a  year  before  the  parties  formally  merged  ) he  became  the  Conservative  Chief  Whip  in  the  Lords  and  from  1915  he  held  that  position  in  the  coalition  government. He  was  also  Civil  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.

In  November  1916  Asquith  decided  to  make  Victor  Governor-General  of  Canada  without  consulting  the  Canadian  prime  minister  Robert  Borden  which  caused  some  tension. He  had  to  deal  with  the introduction  of  conscription  in  1917  which  caused  tension  between  the  two  linguistic  groups   but  the  Canadian  success  at  Vimy  Ridge made  things  much  easier. After  the  war  he  promoted  agriculture  and  the  arts  and  his  tenure,  which  came  to  an  end  in  1921,  was  widely  seen  as  a  success.

Victor  gave  some  help  to  the  League  of  Nations  before  Bonar  Law  made  him  Colonial  Secretary. In  that  post  he  opposed  the  plans  of  Lord  Delemere  for  white  settler  rule  in  Kenya.

He  died  in  1938  aged  69.

1230 William Dunn

Constituency : Paisley  1891-1906

William  took  over  at  Paisley  after the death  of  William  Barbour.

William  was  a  local  shop  keeper's  son.  He  was  educated  locally  and  started  work in  an  accountants'  office.  He  emigrated  to  South  Africa  in  1852  and  soon  became  partner  in  a  merchant  firm  there  which  he  inherited  after  six  years.  He  was  married  in  South  Africa  in  1859. He  built  up  an  international  trading  empire  from  there  and  eventually  re-located  to  London  where  he  became  an  alderman. He  had  interests  in  banking  and  insurance  as  well.  He  was  a  Presbyterian.

William  made  few  contributions  to  Parliament  besides  supporting  the  construction  of  a  railway  in  Uganda.

William  donated  a  Square  to  Paisley  in  1894.

William  was  consul general  of  the  Orange  Free  State  from  1895  until  1900.  He  was  also  created  a  baronet  in  1895.

William's  fortune  attracted  some  adverse  rumours. He  was  said  to  be  "pathologically  mean "  and  he  was  accused  of  selling  liquor  to  the Africans.

He  died  in 1912  aged  78. With  no  children  William  left  a  huge  sum  to  charity  which  funded  a  chair  of  New  Testament  theology  at  Cambridge  and  research  laboratories  at  both  Oxford  and  Cambridge.

1229 Herbert Leon

Constituency  : Buckingham  1891-5

Herbert  ensured  that  the  Liberals   held  on  to  Buckingham  after  Edmund  Verney  was  expelled.

Herbert  was  the  son  of  a  Jewish  stockbroker. He  himself  was  a  financier. He  was  a  director  of  the  Anglo-American  Telegraph  Company.

Herbert  increased  his  majority  in  1892   despite  a  newspaper  slander  that  he  advocated  horse  racing  and  debauchery  on  Sunays  for  which  he  later  won  damages . He  lost  in  1895.

Herbert  stood  unsuccessfully  at  Handsworth  in  1906.

Herbert  was  created  a  baronet  in  1911.

Herbert  developed  the  Bletchley  Park estate , of  WWII  code breaking  fame. He  entertained  Lloyd  George  when  he  was  Prime  Minister.

He  died  in  1926  aged  76.  A  school  is  named  after  him.

1228 John Logan

Constituency  : Harborough  1891-1904, 1910-16

John  took  Harborough  from  the  Tories. The  local  Tories  controlled  the  meeting  halls  so  he  held  his  rallies  under  canvas, what  he  called  the "free speech  tent" .

John  was  educated  at  King's  School  Gloucester. He  was  partner  in  a  civil  engineering  firm that  mainly  did  railway  contracts. He  lived  in  Harborough  and  provided  the  town  with  a cricket  ground  and  orphanage  for  the  children  of  navvies  who  were  killed  on  his  projects. He  acquired  the  nickname  "Paddy".

John's  health  was  poor   following  a  hunting  accident ,  prompting  his  temporary  retirement  in  1904.

John  championed  the  interests of   agricultural  labourers  particularly  in  regard  to  education  and  allotments.

When  his  health  permitted  John  was  a  keen  cricketer. He  was  also  a  pioneer  of  pigeon  racing  and  wrote  a  handbook  on  it.

In  1895  John  campaigned  against  the  "Penny  Dreadful"  sensationalist  literature of  a  "grossly  demoralising and  corrupting  character".

He  died  in  1925  aged  80.

 

1227 Sydney Stern

Constituency : Stowmarket  1891-5

Sydney  took  Stowmarket  from the  Tories  by  214  votes.

Sydney  was  the  son  of  Viscount  de  Stern, senior  partner  in  a  banking  firm. He  was  Jewish. He  was  educated at  Cambridge. He  specialised  in  Portugese  finance; his  father's  viscountcy  was in  Portugal. He was  a  perennial  candidate  before  the  by-election - Mid  Surrey  1880  and 1884, Tiverton  1885, Ipswich  1886.

Sydney  was  vice-president  of  the  London  and  Counties  Radical  Union. He  asked  a  few  questions  in  Parliament  but  made  no  real  speeches.

Sydney  won  in  1892 by  144  votes  but  stood  down  before  the  1895  election.

Sydney  was  raised  to  the  peerage  that  year as  Baron  Wandsworth. He  effectively  bought  it  by  contributing  to  party  funds, a  deal  arranged  by  Gladstone  and  reluctantly  rubber-stamped  by Rosebery.

He  died  in  1912  aged  67. Most  of  his  money  was  left  to  charity.

1226 Sir Moses Manfield

Constituency  : Northampton  1891-5

Sir  Moses  took  over  at  Northampton  after  death  ended  the  tempestuous  but  short  parliamentary career  of   Charles  Bradlaugh.

Moses  was  the  son  of  a  Unitarian  cordwainer  from  Bristol. He  was  privately  educated .He became  a  successful  boot  and  shoe  maker  in  the  town  after  introducing  the  Singer  sewing machine.

He  died  in  1899  aged  80.