Saturday, 7 March 2015
788 Charles Hopwood
Constituency : Stockport 1874-85, Middleton 1892-5
Charles took back the second seat at Stockport from the Tories.
Charles was a barrister educated at King's College, London. His mother was born in Dublin.
Charles supported Home Rule. He criticised the House of Lords as a court of appeal. He was a frequent speaker in the House on legal matters. He was a penal reformer and a founder of the Romilly Society. He was concerned about miscarriages of justice and argued for a ourt of Criminal Appeal writing frequent letters to the press on the topic. He was also an opponent of the Contagious Diseases Act and a supporter of female suffrage.
In 1885 Charles opposed the Criminal Law Amendment Act raising the age of consent to 16 saying "repressive legislation of this kind is not calculated to improve public morals". He also opposed the outlawing of brothels : "these poor girls would be hunted and chased about by the police ... They would be at the mercy of their landlords and landladies , who would naturally charge increased rents , to reimburse themselves for the risks run".
Charles also tried persistently to introduce a bill giving married women more control over the family purse.
Charles became the Recorder of Liverpool in 1886.
Charles won the Middleton seat by just 116 votes in 1892 but the Tory regained the seat in 1895.
He died in 1904 aged 75.
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