925 Henry Fowler

Constituency  : Wolverhampton  1880-85; Wolverhampton  East  1885-1908

Henry  took  over  from  Thomas  Weguelin  at  Wolverhampton.

Henry  was  the  son  of  a  Methodist  minister  from  Sunderland. He  was  educated  at  schools  in  Sunderland  and  Southwark  and  became  a  solicitor. He  became  active  in  local  politics  and  was  Mayor  of  Wolverhampton  in  1862. He  became  chair  of  Wolverhampton  School  Board  in  1870.

Henry's  able  maiden  speech  on  the  Irish  Land  Act  marked  him  down  as  a  useful  addition  to  the  Liberal  ranks. Henry  was  made  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Department  in  1884.

Henry  was  Financial  Secretary  to  the  Treasury  in  1886. He  resisted  a  further  inquiry  into  income  tax  on  administrative  grounds.

In  1892  Henry  was  unopposed.  Gladstone  appointed  him  President  of  the  Local  Government  Board  making  him  both  the  first  Methodist  and  first  solicitor  to achieve  Cabinet  rank. He  made  conditions  in  workhouses  less harsh   He  became  Secretary  of  State  for  India  in  1894  under  Rosebery. He  was  hard  working  and  capable.

During  the  Liberals'  period  in  opposition  he  was  identified  as  belonging  to  the  Liberal  Imperialist  wing. He  was  vice-president  of  the  Liberal  League. He  was  seen  as  a  genuine  contender  for  the  leadership  of  the party.

Henry  was  President  of  the  Law  Society  in  1901-02.

Henry  was  appointed  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  by  Campbell-Bannerman  in  1905. Asquith  raised  him  to  the  peerage  as  Viscount  Wolverhampton   and  made  him  Lord  President  of  the  Council in  1908.

In  January  1910  Henry's  daughter  wrote  of  him  addressing  a  public  meeting  in  Wolverhampton , "He  spoke  for  over  an  hour, though  he  mostly  read  his  speech,  but  it  was  an  infinitely  pathetic  sight  to  see  the  veteran  statesman , facing  for  the  last  time, the  men  of  his  old  constituency. His  voice  had  lost  much  of  its  old  force  , but  none  of  its  old  clearness"

Henry  supported  the  enfranchisement  of  single  women. He  argued  that  political  economy  rules  didn't  apply  to  land  because  it  was  fixed. He  was  described  by  Sydney  Webb  as  "the  greatest  enemy  of  municipal  enterprise"

He  stepped  down  through  ill  health  in   June  1910  and  died  aged  80  the  following  year