1084 Joseph Woodhead

Constituency  : Spen  Valley  1885-92

Joseph  took  the  new  seat  of  Spen  Valley.

Joseph  was  the  son  of  a  currier  and  leather  merchant  from  Holmfirth. He  was  educated  at  private  schools  then  became  apprenticed  to  a  wool  manufacturer. In  1851  he  was  part  of  a  group  that  founded  the  Huddersfield  Examiner. The  paper  became  a  success  and  he  went  ion  to  found  the  Dewsbury  Reporter. He  was  mayor  of  Huddersfield  in  1876-77.  He  had  a  long  battle  with  the  local  MP  and  landowner  Sir  John  Ramsden  over  the  siting  of  Huddersfield  Town  Hall.He  was  a  teetotal  Nonconformist.

Joseph  was  a  supporter  of  female  suffrage.

Joseph's  main  contributions  to  Parliament  centred  around  the  Technical  Instruction  Bill  of  1889  which  threatened  to  make  School  Boards  subject  to  other  authorities.

Joseph  stepped  down  in  1892  but  refused  a  baronetcy.

He  died  in  1913  aged  89.