Constituency : Rochdale 1852-7, Bradford 1869-74
We now look at the by-election victors of the 1868-74 parliament, Gladstone's epochal first ministry. Each one of their great reforms produced some political damage so you'd expect the flow of new Liberals to tail off as the parliament progressed. The early by-elections were dominated by the casualties of 1868 such as Hartington and Henry Bruce getting back in for new seats although Lionel Rothschild was able to reclaim his old one at the City of London because the Tory interloper died.
Edward was the first victor that we haven't already discussed, coming in at Bradford in March 1869 when Henry Ripley's election was declared void. He was a moderate with little support among the party activists but had pushed Edward into third place in 1868. Edward's supporters successfully got up a petition against him. After two previous bruising battles Edward decided not to visit the constituency and let the local activists promote his cause. He easily defeated William Thompson, the former MP from the Ripley faction.
Edward was a familiar face. He was originally a lower middle class Congregationalist minister from Portsmouth. In 1841 he founded The Nonconformist , a weekly newspaper promoting his lifelong cause, the disestablishment of the Church of England. He was active in trying to get more nonconformists into Parliament; he was a friend of Cobden and Bright and helped to get the latter elected. In 1844 he founded the British Anti State-Church Association which eventually became known as the Liberation Society, one of the most formidable pressure groups of the Victorian era. He was keen to forge links with the working class, declaring for annual parliaments, payment of MPs and universal suffrage.. He stood at a by-election for Southwark in 1845 but was trounced by the Radical Sir William Molesworth after a bitter contest. Edward was himself elected for Rochdale in 1852 but paid the penalty for helping to bring Palmerston down in 1857 even though his opponent was a Tory rather than a Palmerstonian Whig. Later that year he stood in a by-election at Tavistock but was defeated by the Russell interest. Edward then spent a dozen years outside Parliament , concentrating his efforts in Bradford from 1861. He dropped out of the battle in 1865 but stood in the by-election of 1867 .
Edward was prominent in the debates on the Education Act introduced by his Bradford Colleague W E Forster pushing for an end to sectarian education. His series of disestablishment motions went nowhere against Gladstone's fierce opposition.
Edward stood down in 1874 on health grounds. His supporters raised a subscription of 10,000 guineas in appreciation of his efforts.
He died in 1881 aged 71.
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