Constituency : Greenwich 1865-8
Charles replaced William Angerstein at Greenwich. He was the youngest Liberal MP at the time. He was opposed by a Reform League candidate.
Charles was better known as an electrical engineer. No relation to John, he was born in Essex and educated at the Merchant Taylor's School. He was clerk at the Electric Telegraph Company but soon appointed an engineer at the Magnetic Telegraph Company. In 1853 he supervised the laying of a telegraph cable between Scotland and Ireland which sparked off the idea of a transatlantic cable. He accomplished this with one between Ireland and Newfoundland in 1858 for which he was knighted. That cable soon failed through hasty manufacture and Charles moved on for a time to easier ventures in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.
In 1866 Charles managed to link up Britain and the USA after a near-miss the year before.
Charles was a moderate who feared an attack on existing wealth.
In 1868 Charles made way for Gladstone.
He died in 1888 aged 55.
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