652 David Chadwick

Constituency : Macclesfield  1868-80

David  took  the  second  Macclesfield  seat  from  the  Tories.

David  came  from  a middle  class  background. He  was  a  partner  in  a  large  accountancy  firm. He  unsuccesfully  contested  the  seat  in  1865. He  spent  time  in  America  observing  the  operation  of  the  ballot. His  firm  was  involved  in  many  company  flotations.

David  was  unseated  after  the  election   in  1880  after  the  Liberal  agent  was  found  to  have  operated  an  organised  system  of  bribery  and  treating.

David  wrote pamphlets  on  a  range  of  subjects  including  poor  rates, franchise  reform  and  education. He  supported  the  secret  ballot  and  retrenchment. When  invited  to  open  a  school  in  Sheffield  in  1875  he  remarked  "How  in  the  name  of  fortune  the  School  Board  have  persuaded  the  ratepayers  of  Sheffield  to  tolerate  their  extravagance  in  spending  £100,000  in  the  building  of  14  or  15  schools  as  substantial  as  so  many  castles 1"

David  submitted  evidence  to  the  1867  and  1877  Company  Law  Amendment  Committees  and  sat  on  the  latter.

David  was  responsible  for  building  the  Macclesfield  Free  Library.

He  died  in  1895  aged  73.