657 Alfred Illingworth

Constituency : Knaresborough  1868-74, Bradford 1880-85, Bradford West  1885-95

Alfred  took  over  from his  father-in-law , Isaac  Holden,  at  Knaresborough.

Alfred's  family  had  a  worsted  spinning  business  in  Bradford. In  1865  he  and  his  brother  set  up  a  large  new  mill  of  their  own. He  was  also  a  director  of  the  Bradford  District  Bank. He  was  either  a  Congregationalist  or  a  Baptist  ( sources  differ ) ; the  seizure  of  his  father's  goods  for  non-payment  of  church  rates  determined  his  political  outlook.

Joseph  Chamberlain  described  Alfred  as "the  truest, soundest  Liberal. His  principles  are   matters  of  belief  and  conviction  and  not  the  result  of  pressure".

Alfred  was  a  staunch  advocate  of  disestablishing  the  Church  of  England  and  became  the  Liberation  Society's  chief  advocate  in  Parliament  after  Edward  Miall  left  the  scene. He  was  treasurer  of  the  society  handling  his  own  donations  and  later  became  chairman. Nevertheless  his  views  on  education  fell  short  of  the  most  zealous  secularists.

Alfred  was  defeated  in  1874. He  switched  to  Bradford  and  ejected  Henry  Ripley  in  1880.

In  1886  Alfred  sponsored  a  women's suffrage  bill. He  opposed  an  increase  in  the  naval  estimates.He  declined  a  post  at  the  India  Office  because  he  was  not  prepared  to  defend  the  government's  military  policy  there.

Alfred  was  vice-president  of  the  Peace  Society  and  described  war  as  "the  pastime  of  the  governing  classes  but  the  masses  of  people  have  been  the  sufferers. He  was  a  fierce  critic  of  idle  aristocracy  and  even  royalty  describing  them  as  "only  a  set  of  outdoor  paupers".

In  1892  Alfred  was  opposed  by  Ben  Tillett  as  a  result  of  the  local  Liberals  support  for  troops  being  used  in  the  Manningham  mills  dispute. Tillett  unsuccessfully  tried  to  detatch  the  local  Nonconformists  and  temperance  confederation  from  supporting  Alfred. Sidney  Webb  came  up  to  help, with , he  claimed , the   backing  of  unnamed  prominent  Liberals  who  regarded  Alfred  as  "not  even  abreast  with  the  Liberalism  of  today". The  contest  sparked  a  surge  of  enthusiasm  for  Labour  in  Bradford.

In  1894  Alfred's  mill  became  infamous  for  a  dispute  about  manning  an  extra  machine  for  the  same  pay  and   he  announced  his  retirement  in  protest  at  the  Miners' Eight  Hour  Day  Bill. He  was  always  committed  to  laissez-faire  ideas  and  resisted  labour  demands.

He  died  in  1907  aged  80.