Friday, 28 February 2014
434 Charles Moore
Constituency : Tipperary 1865-9
Charles came in at Tipperary when The O'Donoghue decided to switch seats to Tralee in Februrary 1865.
Charles was a Catholic who lived at Mooresfoot House.
He died in 1869 aged 65. At the by-election the Liberal was defeated by the imprisoned Fenian Jeremiah Rossa. His son Arthur was a Home Rule League MP from 1874.
Thursday, 27 February 2014
433 Nicholas Murphy
Constituency : Cork City 1865-74, 1874-80 ( Home Rule League )
Cork saw its second by-election of the Parliament when Francis Lyons resigned and Nicholas came in to replace him in February 1865.
Nicholas spoke frequently on Irish matters.
Nicholas was unopposed in 1865 and came out on top in 1868. In 1874 he stood for the Home Rule League and won again; there was no Liberal candidate.
In 1880 Nicholas stood as a Liberal, losing out to Parnell himself.
He died in 1890 aged 79.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
432 John Cheetham
Constituency : South Lancashire 1852-9, Salford 1865-8
John came in at Salford after William Massey resigned on appointment to the Council of India.
John was a wealthy Nonconformist cotton manufacturer from Stalybridge.
John was a bullish champion of Salford against Manchester. When a statue of Cobden was unveiled in Peel Park in 1867 he declared it superior to the one in Manchester. He was a philanthropist who established Salford Museum and Art Gallery.
He died in 1886 aged 84. His son John was also an MP.
Tuesday, 25 February 2014
431 William Morris
Constituency : Carmarthen Boroughs 1864-8
William came in unopposed at the end of October 1864 to replace the deceased David Morris. He also inherited half of his fortune.
William was David's cousin, a member of the banking family. He was educated at Carmarthen Grammar School. He was mayor of the town in 1841, 1844, 1851 and 1852. He was instrumental in the building of the South Wales Railway, founded a livestock market and improved the town's water supply.
William enjoyed his wealth and built a large country house. He was a genial, blunt man who enjoyed life.
He died in 1877 aged 66.
Monday, 24 February 2014
430 George Waldegrave-Leslie
Constituency : Hastings 1864-8
George came in at Hastings in October 1864 when Harry Vane succeeded to a peerage.
George himself was an aristocrat, a son of the Earl of Waldegrave. He added the Leslie from his marriage to the Countess of Rothes. He was a barrister.
George declined to contest the seat in 1868 and re-located to Fife.
He died in 1904 aged 78.
Saturday, 22 February 2014
429 Sir Hedworth Williamson
Constituency : North Durham 1864-74
Sir Hedworth surprisingly claimed the seat of North Durham unopposed in June 1864 after the death of the sitting Tory.
Hedworth was the son and heir of a baronet. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge. He became a diplomat and served at St Petersburg and Paris. In 1861 he inherited the baronetcy.
In 1864 Sir Hedworth's parliamentary question about "false lights" off the coast near Whitburn prompted the building of an additional lighthouse.
Sir Hedworth stepped down at the 1874 election.
Sir Hedworth donated the land for Roker Park , Sunderland in 1880.
Friday, 21 February 2014
428 Edward Watkin
Constituency : Great Yarmouth 1857, Stockport 1864-8, Hythe 1874-95 ( 1886-92 as Liberal Unionist )
Edward came in at Stockport following the death of James Kershaw.
Edward was the son of a cotton merchant active in the Anti-Corn Law League. He started out working in his father's business but in 1845 started to branch out. He founded the Manchester Examiner but more significantly took on the secretaryship of the Trent Valley Railway. He moved on to the LNWR and visited the USA and Canada studying their railways. In 1953 he became general manager of the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and eventually became its chairman. He went on to become a director of many other railway companies at home and abroad. In 1857 he became MP for Great Yarmouth but the result was voided on petition.
Edward was a philanthropist who supported a Saturday half day holiday , public wash-houses and public parks. He supported the extension of the franchise and female suffrage.
In 1868 Edward was defeated at Stockport. The constituency had been enlarged by the Second Reform Act and now included staunchly Tory areas. He unsuccessfully fought the East Cheshire by-election in 1869 and Exeter in 1873.
Edward was also involved in the affairs of Great Grimsby where the LNWR largely controlled the seat. His son Alfred was elected MP there in 1877.
Edward was elected for Hythe in 1874 confusingly describing himself as a "Conservative Radical" which was apparently enough to placate the Conservative voters. His obituary in the Blackburn Telegraph said "there was more of the old Whig than the new Radical in his political leanings". He was never a great party man although friendly with Gladstone
In 1875 Edward founded the Channel Tunnel Company In 1880 Edward started work on his Channel Tunnel scheme with digging at Shakespeare Cliff between Folkestone and Dover. This caused great alarm at the War Office as possibly facilitating a French invasion. A panicked mob stoned the window of Edward's London house. Edward lobbied hard and wined and dined Prince Edward, Gladstone and the Archbishop of Canterbury in the tunnel but it was to no avail as Parliament blocked the project on the grounds of national security.
Perhaps in response to this he stood as an independent Liberal in 1885. In 1886 he switched to the Liberal Unionists. He thought the idea of casting off Ireland into poverty was inherently wrong and her economy could be improved by a Stranraer - Larne tunnel and English investment in her infrastructure. By 1892 he had returned to the main party.
Edwin set out to create a public amusement park at Wembley with a tower to rival the Eiffel Tower as its centrepiece. The park was opened in 1894 but the tower ran into difficulties and only the base had been completed when he died; this was demolished six years later.
He died in 1901 aged 81.
Thursday, 20 February 2014
427 Robert Anstruther
Constituency : Fife 1864-80, St Andrews Burghs 1885-86
Robert came in at Fife to replace the deceased James Wemyss.
Robert was a baronet ; a number of his forefathers had been MPs for Fife before him. He was educated at Harrow. He joined the Grenadier Guards and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
In 1870 Sir Robert spoke out against the Irish land bill as a violation of the law of contract and something that would have to be extended to England if passed.
In 1880 Robert was displaced at Fife. He switched to St Andrews Burghs for the 1885 election. He scored the exact same number of votes as the sitting Liberal Steven Williamson but after a scrutiny of the papers the result was given to him.
Sir Robert declined to contest the 1886 election on account of his health and his son Henry won the seat as a Liberal Unionist. Sir Robert died shortly afterwards aged 51.
426 Edward Fenwick
Constituency : Lancaster 1864-66
Edward chalked up an increasingly rare gain when he won at Lancaster in April 1864 after the resignation of the Tory MP.
Edward was born Edward Reid to an Anglo-Jamaican merchant. He took the surname Fenwick on marrying a local heiress.
Edward was unseated when the borough was disenfranchised for corruption in 1866.
He died suddenly in 1877.
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
425 John Henderson
Constituency : City of Durham 1864-74
John came in at Durham following the death of William Atherton.
John was educated at Durham Grammar School. He was a carpet manufacturer . ironmaster and coal owner. He was chairman of the Steam Coal Association in the north of England. His brother William was a Conservative Mayor of Durham
In 1866 he spoke in favour of smoke abatement.
He died in 1884 aged 76.
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
424 Sir Charles Neate
Constituency : Oxford 1857, 1863-8
Sir Charles came in at Oxford in November 1863 following the death of James Langston. He had briefly served as MP in 1857 before being unseated on petition.
Sir Charles was a professor of political economy at Oxford. He had trade union sympathies but was hostile to parliamentary reform.
Sir Charles and Edward Cardwell were re-elected unopposed in 1865.
He died in 1879 aged 73.
Monday, 17 February 2014
423 (336a) Edward Divett
Constituency : Exeter 1832-64
Another from the crop of 1859 that I had down as a Tory.
Edward was an Anglican banker. He was the chairman of the South Australia Company.
He died in 1864 aged 67.
422 Thomas Lloyd
Constituency : Barnstaple 1863-4
Thomas was the short-term victor of the 1863 Barnstaple by-election following the death of George Potts. A petition was brought against his victory for bribery by his agents and the seat handed to his Tory opponent.
Thomas was from Birmingham.
421 Gorge Shaw-Lefevre
Constituency : Reading 1863-85, Bradford Central 1886-95
George came in at Reading when Gillery Piggott resigned his seat.
George was the nephew of a former Speaker of the Commons. His father was a barrister who worked for the government on various issues notably the First Reform Act. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge. He became a barrister. He stood unsuccessfully for Winchester in 1859.
George leaned towards Radical positions. He introduced the Married Women's Property Bill. In 1865 he co-founded the Commons preservation Society.
George's first office was Civil Lord of the Admiralty under Russell in 1866. Gladstone made him parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade until 1871 when he became Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty after a brief stopover at the Home Office. He secured a vote for the Alabama arbitration in the Commons
In opposition George chaired a parliamentary committee on Irish tenant purchase in 1877. He initially resumed his previous post in 1880 but was soon appointed First Commissioner of Works. He took on Postmaster General as well in 1884 which brought him into the Cabinet. He relinquished Works shortly before the government fell in 1885.
George was defeated in 1885 but got back in shortly afterwards at Bradford Central when Forster died. Forster's majority was halved despite the transfer of the Irish vote to the Liberals. In June 1886 he sought to reduce the naval estimates by cancelling ironclad construction.
George returned to First Commissioner of Works and the Cabinet in 1892 after much speculation that he would be given Chief Secretary for Ireland . He was the only Cabinet member to back Gladstone's position on the naval estimates in 1894, the issue which finally forced the old man's resignation. Rosebery moved him to President of the Local Government Board.
George's seat had never been completely secure and he lost to the Liberal Unionists in 1895 by 131 votes. He didn't stand for Parliament again but was elected a Progressive councillor for London in 1897. In 1906 he received a peerage as Baron Eversley.
He died in 1928 aged 96, the last survivor from the Palmerston era.
Sunday, 16 February 2014
420 Charles Hanbury-Tracey
Constituency : Montgomery Boroughs 1863-77
Charles chalked up a welcome gain for the Liberals and strengthened their hold on Wales by taking Montgomery Boroughs in August 1863.
Charles was the younger brother of Baron Sudeley. He is described by Gladstone's biographer Richard Shannon as a "rural backbencher of no particular opinion" but Gladstone still managed to offend him during his fumbled party management in 1866-7.
In 1877 Charles succeeded his brother as Baron Sudeley and resigned his seat where he was succeeded by another brother, Frederick.
As Baron, Charles served as a government whip in the Lords from 1880 to 1881 and briefly as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in 1886.
Charles was declared bankrupt in 1893 forcing the sale of Toddington Manor.
He died in 1922 aged 82 .
Saturday, 15 February 2014
419 Sir Colman O' Loghlen
Constituency : County Clare 1863-77
Sir Colman came in at Clare following the death of Francis Calcutt.
Sir Colman was an Irish baronet, the son of a distinguished Irish judge. He was educated by the Jesuits and became a lawyer.
Sir Colman spoke frequently in the Commons on Irish matters. In 1867 he introduced a bill on libel which favoured the press by protecting them in the reporting of public meetings.
Sir Colman was appointed Judge Advocate-General by Gladstone in 1868, holding the office until 1870.
He died in 1877 aged 57. He was succeeded by his son Bryen in the by-election.
Friday, 14 February 2014
418 George Colthurst
Constituency : Kinsale 1863-74
Sir George came in at Kinsale in June 1863 after the resignation of Sir John Arnott.
Sir George was an Irish baronet from Cork. He won in 1865 against Eugene Collins who took the seat for the Home Rule League in 1874.
He died in 1878 aged 54.
Thursday, 13 February 2014
417 George Goschen
Constituency : City of London 1863-80, Ripon 1880-5, Edinburgh East 1885-6, St George Hanover 1887-93 ( Liberal Unionist ), 1893-1900 ( Conservative )
George came in at City of London in June 1863 following the death of Western Wood. He was unopposed.
George was the son of a London merchant of German extraction. He was educated at Rugby and Oxford before joining his father's firm. In 1856 he became a director of the Bank of England.
George attracted attention straight away and in 1864 was asked to second the Address to the Queen's Speech. He had a meeting with Palmerston at which he queried the lack of domestic reform proposals. Palmerston gaily replied that they could not go on legislating for ever. He helped organise Garibaldi's reception in the City. He also published Theory of the Foreign Exchanges in 1864.
George had some Radical attitudes on church , administration and finance. He wanted to abolish religious tests and was a champion of university expansion. He loathed Bright's class consciousness but eschewed association with the Whigs as implying a connection with traditionalism and privilege
George was appointed Paymaster -General by Russell in 1865 then a few months later promoted to the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. This was expected to go to Hartington and many of the Whigs were upset.
George became President of the Poor Law Board in 1868 then First Lord of the Admiralty in 1871.
In 1874 George was narrowly re-elected when all the other Liberal MPs went down in City of London. In 1876 he went to Cairo as a representative of those holding Egyptian bonds and negotiated a deal with the Khedive. Around this time The Manchester Guardian reported a rumour that he was trying to organise a Palmerstonian third party.
George opposed the plans for equalising the county and borough franchises and for this reason turned down Gladstone's offer of office in 1880. He also declined to become Viceroy of India but he did accept a diplomatic mission to Turkey working out the Greek and Montenegrin frontiers. He declined the Speakership in succession to Henry Brand in 1884 and voted for the motion of censure over Gordon's death. He was appalled by Chamberlain's Unauthorised Programme ( a term he devised ) which he denounced as socialism.
George switched to Edinburgh East in 1885 where he described himself as an independent Liberal and saw off one of Chamberlain's henchmen B Costelloe in the contest thanks to the absence of a Conservative candidate. He saw the election result as a vindication of moderate Liberalism except in Ireland where the Liberals had been wiped out. He was approached by the queen about forming a coalition of moderates to keep Gladstone out. He sided with Hartington over Home Rule which he thought would show "that we were no longer able to cope with resistance if resistance were offered ".
In December 1886 George broke with the Liberal Unionist policy of not taking office under Salisbury when he accepted the offer to replace Randolph Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Churchill famously remarked that he had forgotten about George. He now needed a seat . He was defeated by 7 votes at Liverpool Exchange but got in at Tory stronghold St Georges Hanover. He converted the National Debt in 1888 and introduced the first road tax.
When Joseph Chamberlain became leader of the Liberal Unionists in 1893 George became a Conservative and in 1895 returned to the post of First lord of the Admiralty.
In 1900 George retired and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Goschen. He became a leading Free Trade Unionist when Chamberlain launched his Tariff Reform movement in 1903.
He died in 1907 aged 75.
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
416 Thomas O' Hagan
Constituency : Tralee 1863-5
Thomas came in unopposed at Tralee in April 1863 following the resignation of Daniel O' Connell junior.
Thomas was the son of a Belfast tradesman in spirits. He became an Irish barrister in 1836. He was also editor of the Newry Examiner from 1838 to 1841. Thomas supported continued union with England and in 1860 was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland despite not having a seat. He was appointed Attorney-General for Ireland in 1861.
Thomas clashed with Cardinal Cullen over the form of Irish education.
Thomas held the seat for a couple of years before becoming a judge of common pleas in 1865. The O' Donoghue switched to his seat.
In 1867 Thomas pressed Gladstone to call for a reprieve for the so-called "Manchester Martyrs" but his leader refused. In 1869 Thomas advised against a general amnesty for Fenian prisoners.
In 1868 Gladstone made Thomas the first Catholic Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In 1870 he was created Baron O' Hagan. He took the post again in 1880 but retired through ill-health in 1881.
He died in 1885 aged 72.
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
415 Richard Green-Price
Constituency : Radnor Boroughs 1863-9, Radnorshire 1880-5
Richard came in at Radnor Boroughs in April 1863 replacing the deceased George Cornewall-Lewis.
Richard was a solicitor from a fairly modest background. He inherited an estate from his uncle ( who had preceded Lewis as the MP ) and after shrewd investment in railways he became a wealthy man with a large estate. He was a philanthropist who rebuilt churches and provided good quality houses to his estate workers. He was Chairman of the local Board of Health and County Treasurer.
In 1869 Richard agreed to relinquish his seat to Hartington following his defeat in Lancashire in return for a baronetcy which he assumed in 1874. He returned to Parliament for Radnorshire in 1880, taking a long-term Tory seat. He was defeated there in 1885 and 1886.
He died in 1887 aged 83.
Monday, 10 February 2014
414 Frederick Fitzroy
Constituency : Thetford 1863-5
Frederick came in at Thetford to replace his brother who had become Earl of Grafton.
His Tory opponent in the by-election defeated him in 1865.
He died in 1919 aged 96.
Frederick came in at Thetford to replace his brother who had become Earl of Grafton.
His Tory opponent in the by-election defeated him in 1865.
He died in 1919 aged 96.
Sunday, 9 February 2014
413 John Barbour
Constituency : Lisburn 1863
John chalked up a short-lived gain at Lisburn in 1863 after the resignation of the Tory MP.
John was an Irish linen manufacturer. He pursued a policy of co-operation with his competitors and by 1898 got them all to combine in the Linen Thread Co Ltd.
A petition was brought against John victory and by June he was unseated for corrupt practices including locking some voters in his house under armed guard for the duration of the poll . The Tories won the new by-election with John receiving only two votes. He did a little better in 1865 but his opponent had double his total of votes
John moved to England and he was elected mayor of Leamington Spa in 1891.
He died in 1901 aged 77. His daughter Helen married Thomas Andrews, the designer of the Titanic but did not accompany him on the voyage.
Saturday, 8 February 2014
412 John Abel Smith
Constituency : Midhurst 1830-1, Chichester 1831-59, 1863-8
John came back in at Chichester in February 1863 after the resignation of Humphrey Freeland.
John originally succeeded his father at Midhurst but switched to Chichester and sat there for nearly 30 years until edged out by Freeland in 1859; the Tories always held one of the seats. He was a prominent advocate of the First Reform Act. John was a founding partner of the Hong Kong trading firm Jardine, Mathieson & Co and also the banking firm Magniac, Smith & Co. Palmerston acknowledged his help through expert knowledge on China in 1842. He was always interested in religious toleration and in 1858 he partnered Russell in presenting Lionel de Rothschild to the Commons. He said on his re-election in 1857 " it appears to me to be a flagrant wrong that religious opinion, be it what it may, is to have any influence upon the social position or the civil rights of any man ". Although of Low Church opinions himself he was a personal friend of Pius IX.
He died in 1871 aged 68.
Friday, 7 February 2014
411 Granville Leveson-Gower
Constituency : Reigate 1863-5
Granville came in at Reigate in February 1863 to replace William Monson who had succeeded to a peerage. His opponent William Wilkinson, a Liberal MP for Lambeth 1852-7 claimed bribery had won the election.
Granville was related to Lord Granville.
He was returned in 1865 but his election was declared void and the constituency suspended until 1885.
Granville stood in the Surrey East by-election of 1871. He was forced to fight a defensive campaign about the foreign policy of Gladstone and Granville. His address "said the Government had kept England going into that ( the American Civil War ), and had healed up the breach which existed with our American cousins , and in doing this the Government had laid the foundations for a lasting peace between two of the greatest nations of the world ".
He died in 1895 aged 57. His son Henry became an England cricket captain.
Thursday, 6 February 2014
410 Alfred Seymour
Constituency : Totnes 1863-8, Salisbury 1869-74
Totnes saw its second by-election in a month following the death of George Hay and once again the Liberals were victorious.
Alfred was a scion of the Seymours of Somerset though not closely related to the Duke. His father had been an MP and his brother Henry was the MP for Poole. He was a keen huntsman and once broke his collarbone in a fall during a hunt. Like his brother he was heavily involved in fighting off the Tichborne Claimant.
Alfred held on to his seat in 1866 when John Pender was disqualified but had to look elsewhere when the constituency was abolished in 1868. He came back in at a by-election in 1869 at Salisbury but lost it in 1874.
He died in 1888 aged 64.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
409 Sir Edward Dering
Constituency : Wexford Borough 1830, 1831, New Romney 1831-2 (Tory ) , Kent East 1852-7, 1863-8
After a bad year in 1862 where they lost 6 seats and gained none the Liberals got an early fillip in the new year when Sir Edward regained the Kent East seat.
Sir Edward was a baronet and most of his immediate predecessors had been MPs called Edward Dering which doesn't make it easy to research him. He started political life as a Tory and was elected for Wexford Boroughs when the original Tory victor was unseated. He lost it in the 1830 election then regained it on petition only to lose it to the Whigs in the 1831 election. He found a seat at New Romney and his maiden speech was against the Reform Bill. By 1852 he was a Whig in favour of parliamentary reform although he sought to delay it in 1854 until after the Crimean War. He retained his seat in the 1857 election but resigned it later in the year.
Edward was a middle of the road Liberal representing an agricultural constituency. He favoured the abolition of church rates.
Sir Edward failed to amend the 1867 Reform Act in Kent's favour which might have prolonged his political career. He lost in 1868 possibly due to the intervention of a "Protestant Liberal" candidate, Henry Tufton
He died in 1896 aged 88.
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
408 John Pender
John came in at Totnes after the death of Thomas Mills.
John was born in Scotland and became a textile merchant in Glasgow and Manchester.
John is more famous for his pioneering work in laying submarine cables. As a cotton merchant he was keen to improve transatlantic communications and sunk his money into communication ventures. After the failure of a cable in 1865 he had to give personal guarantee to contractors working for his new Anglo-American Telegraph Company. His venture laid a cable from Ireland to Canada in 1866 using Brunel's Great Eastern. . His Eastern Telegraph Company eventually became Cable and Wireless. He went on to develop an almost worldwide monopoly of telecommunications.He also had interests in railways in the Isle of Man and the United States. He was also a major art collector.
John pressed for the development of cotton supplies from India in the light of the American Civil War.
John's election was voided in 1866 when Totnes was disenfranchised by the Tory government to prove its claims to be opposed to rotten boroughs.
John was defeated at Wick in 1885 when a Crofter- Liberal candidate John Cameron unseated him.In 1886 he stood as a Liberal Unionist and was defeated. He was knighted in 1888. He lost heavily at a by-election in Govan in 1889 causing a lot of soul searching among the liberal Unionists. The former MP John McCulloch blamed his outsider status but also said "if Sir John had been able to adopt certain planks of the Liberal policy , which he did not do, , he would have carried a third more of the constituency" . The North British Daily Mail alleged that he had brought in Belfast Orangemen to fill out his meetings in poorer areas.
He resigned his seat on health grounds in 1896 and died a few months later aged 79.
Monday, 3 February 2014
407 Henry Grenfell
Constituency : Stoke-upon-Trent 1862-8
Henry came in at Stoke in September 1862 following the death of John Ricardo.
Henry was the son of a Bank of England director although the family background was in tin and copper mining.
Henry was a leading member of the Bimetallic League calling for a more flexible currency basis than the gold standard.
Henry was Governor of the Bank of England between 1881 and 1883.
He died in 1902 aged 78.
Sunday, 2 February 2014
406 Roger Aytoun
Constituency : Kirkcaldy Burghs 1862-74
Roger came in at Kirkcaldy Burghs after the resignation of Robert Ferguson.
Roger was born in Edinburgh to a wealthy landowning family and educated at Cambridge.
In 1868 Roger moved an amendment to the Irish Disestablishment Act stipulating that "no part of the secularised funds of the Anglican Chuirch, or any State funds whatever, be applied in any way, or in any form, to the endowment or furtherance of the Roman Catholic religion in Ireland".
Roger was addicted to gambling and went bankrupt in 1901 and lost his estates hence the inscription "Last Laird of Inchdairnie" on his gravestone.
He died in 1904 aged 81. A golf trophy competition, the Inchdairnie Trophy, that he instigated is still played for today.
Saturday, 1 February 2014
405 Henry Robertson
Constituency : Shrewsbury 1862-5, 1874-5 Merioneth 1885-6
Henry came in at Shrewsbury in June 1862 after the death of Robert Slaney.
Henry was an ironmaster, railway engineer and maker of locomotives from Scotland. He came to Wales to work on developing some mines for a Scottish bank. He developed the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway in the 1840s. He bought a country estate in Wales and enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Henry built the Iron Kingland Toll Bridge in Shrewsbury. He usually spoke on railways in the House.
Henry relinquished the seat in 1865 but stood again in 1874 to wrest the seat back from the Tories. He switched to Merioneth in 1885 because Shrewsbury lost one of its members.
Henry abandoned his seat in 1886 as a protest against Home Rule and left the party. He gave his support to Conservative and Liberal Unionist candidates in the election but does not appear to have formally joined the Liberal Unionists.
He died in 1888 after a paralytic stroke aged 72.
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