1279 Alfred Hutton

Constituency  : Morley  1892-1910

Alfred  took  over  from  Charles  Gaskell  at  Morley.

Alfred  was  from  Bradford  and  educated  locally  before  going  to  Cambridge. He  was  a  textiles  magnate.He  was  a  Congregationalist.

In  1909  Alfred  got  facilities  for  juveniles  incorporated  in  the  bill  introducing  labour  exchanges.

Alfred  stood  down  in  January  1910.

He  died  in  1947  aged  81.

1278 Sir Clarence Smith

Constituency : Kingston  upon  Hull  East  1892-5 

Sir  Clarence  took  Hull  East  from  the  Tories.

Sir  Clarence  was  a  stockbroker  and  a  London  alderman. He  stood  in  West  Cambridgeshire  in  1886.

Sir  Clarence  was  defeated  in  1895.

Sir  Clarence  contested  Bristol  North  in  1900.

He  died  in  1941  aged  92.

1277 Charles Fleming

Constituency : Doncaster  1892-5

Charles  re-took  Doncaster  after  the  1888  by-election  win  of  the  Liberal  Unionists' s  Henry Wentworth-Fitzwilliam.

Charles  was  a  privately  educated  Mancunian  who  had  been  working  for  the  Indian  Civil  Service  in  Bombay. He  became  a  barrister. He  was  unsuccessful  at  Pontefract  in  1886.

Charles  made  only  three  contributions  in  Parliament  but  one  was  an  effective  speech  in  support  of  the  eight  hour  day  in  which  he  castigated  the  Lib-Lab  MPs  of  the  North East  for  seeking  to  maintain  the  Northumberland  miners'  competitive  advantage.

Charles  had  a  major  falling  out  with  the  Doncaster  Liberal  Council  who  de-selected  him  in  1894. In  1895  therefore  he  stood  unsuccessfully  in  Dudley.

Charles  had  largely  given  up  on  the  law  and  made  a  number  of  unwise  investments  in  a  newspaper, Australian  mines  and  French  musical  theatre  which  all  failed  making  him  bankrupt  in  1898.

He  died  in  1904  aged  65.

1276 Sir James Kitson

Constituency  : Colne  Valley  1892-1907

Sir  James  took  Colne  Valley  from  the  Liberal  Unionists.

James  was  the  son  of  a  locomotive  manufacturer. He  was  educated  locally  and  at  University  College, London. James  himself  developed  an  iron  foundry  into  a  large  company  with  his  brothers.  He  was  the  largest  employer  in  Leeds. He  was  a  Unitarian. He  became  President  of  the  Leeds  Liberal  Association  and  ran  campaigns  for  Herbert  Gladstone. In  1883  he  became  President  of  the  National  Liberal  Federation  and  held  the  position  for  the  next  seven  years. In  1886  he  was  created  a  baronet.

James  was  a  loyal  Gladstonian  supporting  Home  Rule, education  reform   and  old  age  pensions. He  supported  the  Yorkshire  College  which  became  Leeds  University. He  became  the  first  Lord  Mayor  of  Leeds  in  1896-7.

James  had  a  country  house  near  Leeds  where  he  entertained  the  Gladstones  and, on  one  occasion,  the  Prince  of  Wales.

In  1907  Sir  James  was  created  Baron  Airedale.

He  died  in  Paris  of  a  heart  attack  in  1911  aged  75.

 

1275 Thomas Little

Constituency : Whitehaven  1892-5

Thomas  took  Whitehaven  from  the  Tories.

Thomas  was  an  Irish  Protestant  from  Leinster. He  was  educated  at  Cambridge. He  was  active  in  Liverpool  Liberal  Association.

Thomas  was  an  enthusiastic  Home  Rule  supporter  though  he  called  for  a  system  of  proportional  representation  to  allow  the  Protestants  of  the  South  to  be  represented. He  also  supported  the  Employer's Liability  Bill.

He  died  in  1910  aged  64.

1274 Joseph Leigh

Constituency : Stockport  1892-5, 1900-06

Joseph  clawed  one  of  the  Stockport  seats  back  from  the  Tories.

Joseph  was  the  son  of  a  cotton  spinning  entrepreneur. He  was  educated  at  Stockport  Grammar  School. He  took  over  the  running  of  the  family  business  early  due  to  the  ill  health  of  his  father. He  served  as  an  alderman  on  Sockport  Borough  Council  and  was  Mayor  on  four  occasions.  He  was  a  director  of  the  Manchester  Ship  Canal   from  its  inception and  vice-chair  of  an  insurance  company. Joseph  stood  unsuccessfully  in  1885  and  1886. He  was  a  Nonconformist.

Joseph  was  knighted  in  1894  when  the  Ship  Canal  opened  for  business. He  was  defeated  in 1895  but  topped  the  poll  in  1900.

In  1897  Sir  Joseph  contributed  £3,500  towards  the  foundation  of  Stockport  Technical  School.
He  stood  down  in  1906  and  died  two  years  later  aged  67.

1273 William Holland

Constituency : Salford  North  1892-5 , Rotherham  1899-1910

William  took  Salford  North  from  the  Tories.

William  was  the  son  of   the  owner  of  a  Manchester  cotton  business. He  became  a  partner  in  1872. He  was  chairman  or  president  of  a  number  of  trade  organisations  and  the  Manchester  Chamber  of  Commerce.  He  was  an  alderman  on  Manchester  City  Council.

William  was  defeated  by  the  Tories  by   6  votes  in  1895.

William got  back  in  at  a  by-election  at   Rotherham  in  1899. He  was  knighted  in  1902  and  created  a  baronet  in  1907. William  headed  a  number  of  committees  and  was  a  commissioner  for  international  exhibitions. He  spoke  against  the  idea  that  Chamberlaiin's  tariff  reform  proposals  would  aid  the  British  cotton  industry.

In  1898  William  sold  the  family  business  and  made  unwise  investments  in  China  and  Japan.

After  retaining  his  seat  in  the  January  1910  election, William  resigned  it  almost  straight  away  to  give  Joseph  Pease  a  way  back  into  Parliament.  He  was  created  Baron  Rotherham.

In  1917  William  was  declared  insolvent  and  had  to  make  a  settlement  with  his  creditors.

In  1922  William  converted  to  Catholicism.

He  died  in  1927  aged 78.

1272 Joshua Cheetham

Constituency : Oldham  1892-5

Joshua  was  part  of  a  double  triumph  for  the  Liberals  at  Oldham, topping  the  poll  ahead  of  the  returning  John  Hibbert.

Joshua  was  chairman  of  the  Oldham  Joint  Stock  Bank. He  came  a  close  fourth  in  1886.

Joshua .made  one  four  word  contribution  to  Parliament  when  he  challenged  Chamberlain's assertion  that  the  government had  no  mandate  for  the  Home  Rule  Bill  in  1893.

Joshua  stood  down  in  1895.

He  died  of  pneumonia  in  1902  aged  77.

1271 Thomas Snape

Constituency : Heywood  1892-5

Thomas  took  over  from  Isaac  Hoyle  at  Heywood.

Thomas  was  born  in  Salford  and  started  working  at  a  chemical  firm. Eventually  he  set  up  his  own  works  which  by  1890  had  become  part  of  the  United  Alkali  Company.  He  was  a  Methodist.

Thomas  advocated  temperance  and  was  a  pacifist. He  supported  the  development  of  railways  in  British  East  Africa  to  help  the  Lancashire  cotton  trade  find  new  markets.

Thomas  was  defeated  by  a  Liberal  Unionist  in  1895.

Thomas  was  president  of  the  Liverpool  Peace  Society  but  he  did  not  oppose  the  Boer  War; indeed  he  said  "there  was  no  alternative  but  to  drive  the  Boers  back  to  their  own  land". he  accepted  the  nomination  to  contest  Bodmin  against  Leonard  Courtney  who  had  been  repudiated  by  the  Unionists  for  his  opposition  to  the  war.  The  Herald  of  Peace   referred  to  this  as  an  "unexpected  secession  to  the  war  party ".  In  the  event  Courtney  stood  down  and  Thomas  was  seen  off  by  the  Liberal  Unionists.

In  subsequent  years  Thomas  was   a  county  councillor.

He  died  in  1912  aged  77.

1270 William Smith

Constituency : North  Lonsdale  1892-5

William  took  North  Lonsdale  from  the  Tories  by  777  votes.

William  was  born  in  Lancaster  and  started  work  as  a  junior  in  a   firm  of  grain  merchants. When  the  owner  of  the  business  married  his  sister  William's  father  became  manager  of  the  business  and  it  greatly  expanded. He  was  Mayor  of  Lancaster  in  1891.

William  was  chairman  of  the  Federation  of  Tenant  Farmers' Clubs.

William  never  spoke  in  Parliament.

William  stood  down  in  1895. He  retired  from  the  business  in  1899.

He  died  in  1913  aged  64.

1269 Samuel Woods

Constituency :  Ince  1892-5, Walthamstow  1897-1900

Samuel  took  Ince  from  the  Tories  as  a  Lib-Lab  candidate.

Samuel   started  working  in  the  coal  mines  at  7. He  became  a  put  checkweighman  in  1871 and  joined  the  Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Miners  Federation  in  1881. When  this  became  the  Miners  Federation  of  Great  Britain  in  1889  he  became  its  first  vice-president. He  was  a  Baptist  and  temperance  supporter.

Samuel  supported  the  Eight  Hours  Bill  in  Parliament  and  in  1894  was  elected  as  Secretary  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  of  the  T.U.C.  He  supported  abolition  of  the  LOrds  veto, payment  of  MPs,  land  reform, Home  Rule  and  secondary  education.

Samuel  was  defeated  in  1895  but  came  back  for  Walthamstow  in  a  by-election  in  1897.  He  defeated  the  Tory  candidate  Thomas  Dewar  a  whiskey  brewer. His  campaign  was  organised  by  Herbert  Samuel. He  won  by  279  votes  .He  was  defeated  in  1900  for  his  attitude  to  the  Boer  War.

Samuel  was  generally  supportive  of  the  L.R.C.  but  stayed  a  Liberal  and  was  active  in  the  cross-party  National  Democratic  League.

As  his  health  declined  he  resigned  his  TUC  post  but  retained  his  MFGB  post  to  keep  out  Robert  Smillie.

He  died  in  1915  aged  69.

1268 Charles Huntington

Constituency : Darwen  1892-5

Charles  took  Darwen  from  the  Tories  by  214  votes.

Charles  was  a  wallpaper  manufacturer   and  large  employer  in  the  town. His  brother  William  was  a  Tory. His  business  partner  John  Potter  contested  numerous  elections  for  the  Liberals   from  1865  to  1885  but  never  became  an  MP.

Charles  never  spoke  in  Parliament.

Charles  was  defeated  in  1895  by  841  votes. He  stood  again  in  1900  and  reduced  the  Tory  majority  to  470.

Charles  was  Mayor  of  Darwen  in  1897-8.

Charles  was  created  a  baronet  in  1906  but  died  six  months  later

1267 Joseph Leese

Constituency  : Accrington  1892 -1910

Joseph  took  Accrington  from  the  Tories.

Joseph  was  born  in  Manchester, the  son  of  a  wealthy  cotton  merchant. He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  London  and  Cambridge. He  played  cricket  for  Lancashire  from  1865  to  1881.  He  became  a  barrister. He  first  stood  for  Preston  in  1868  when  he  came  third. He  did  not  stand  again  until  1886  when  he  contested  Accrington. He  was  a  close  friend  of  Herbert  Gladstone.

Joseph's  maiden  speech  was  in  favour  of  Gladstone's  Home  Rule  Bill  in  1893. He  won  the  by-election  consequent  on  his  becoming  Recorder  of  Manchester  in  1893.

Joseph  was  knighted  in  1895.

In  1899  Joseph  wrote  to  Herbert  Gladstone  saying  the  financial  burdens  of  the  seat  were  becoming  too  much  and  he  must  look  for  a  cheaper  one. Gladstone  found  some  money  to  persuade  him  to  stay  put. In  1902  he  said  the  same  thing. This  time  Gladstone  and  the  local  Liberals  were  inclined  to  accept  his  resignation  but  could  not  find  another  candidate  nor  Joseph  a  new  seat. After  another  round  of  horse  trading  involving  Gladstone  and  his  constituency  chair  he  gt  a  deal  to  persuade  him  to  contest  and  win  Accrington  in  1906.

In  1908  Joseph  voted  for  the  Womens  Emancipation  Bill. He was  created  a  baronet  that  same  year.

Joseph  stood  down  at  the  January  1910  election.

He  died  in  1914  aged  69.

1266 Joseph Pease 2

Constituency : Tynemouth  1892-1900, Saffron  Walden  1901-10, Rotherham  1910-17

Joseph  took  over  from  Wentworth  Beaumont  at  Tyneside.

Joseph  was  a  member  of  the  Quaker  railway  dynasty. He  was  the  son  of  Joseph  Pease  the  MP  for  Barnard  Castle  and  so  acquired  the  nickname  "Jack "  in  order  to  distinguish  them.  York. He  was  educated  at  a  Quaker  school  in  Tottenham  and  Cambridge.  In  1886  he  married  Henry  Havelock-Allen's  daughter. He  was  Mayor  of  Darlington  from  1889  to  1890. He  was  actually  more  involved  in  coal  mining  than  railways  and  was  Deputy  Chairman  of  the  Durham  Coal  Owners  Association. He  also  had  interests  in  electricity  companies  and  fisheries. He  himself  was  not  particularly  religious.

Joseph  was  private  secretary  to  John  Morley  as  Chief  secretary  for  Ireland  between  1893  and  1895. He  was  a  junior  opposition  whip  between  1897  and  1905.

Joseph  became  a  government  whip  when  the  Liberals  came  back  to  power. Asquith  promoted him  to  Chief  Whip  in  1908  although  he  had  begged  for  an  escape  from  the  Whips'  office.   He  denounced  Lloyd  George  to  his  face  for  raising  funds  for the  Budget  League  by  the  promise  of  honours. Asquith  asked  him  to  investigate  Lloyd George's  approach  to  Lady  Henry. Joseph  exonerated  him  despite  his  personal  dislike  for  the Welshman.

In  1910  Joseph  joined  the  Cabinet  as  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster. He  thought Seely should  succeed  him  as  Chief  Whip  but  Asquith  chose  Elibank  who  Joseph  thought  was  "a   bit  too  scheming".   He  then  became  President  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1911. Joseph  was  anti-women's  suffrage  and  the  NUWSS  plotted  with  Labour  to  unseat  him.

 He  physically  prevented  Kitchener  from  leaving  the  Cabinet's  discussion  of  the  Munitions  Committee's  powers.  He  ceased   to  hold  the  post  on  the  formation  of  the  Coalition  in  1915  but  served  as  Postmaster-General for  most  of  1916.

In  1917  Joseph  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Gainford.

In  1922  Joseph  became  chairman  of  the  BBC which  he  held  until  1926. He  then  became  its  vice-chair  until  1932.

He  died  in  1943  aged  83.

1265 Henry Fenwick

Constituency : Houghton-le-Spring  1892-5

Henry  took  Houghton-le-Spring  from  the  Tories  despite  the  intervention  of  an  independent  running  on  a  temperance  platform..

Henry  entered  the  army  in  1885  when  he  was  21  and  rose  to  become  a  Captain.

Henry  made  little  contribution  to  Parliament  and  stood  down  in  1895.

Henry  returned  to  active  service  in  1899  with  the  Royal  Horse  Guards. He  served  in  the  Boer  War  and  was  mentioned  in  despatches. He  became  the  Commander  of  the  Regiment  after  the  War. He  retired  in  1911.

He  died  in  1939  aged  75.

1264 Joseph Richardson

Constituency : South  East  Durham  1892-5, 1898-1900

Joseph  unseated  the  excitable  Liberal  Unionist  Henry  Havelock-Allen  by  164  votes.

Joseph  was  a  shipowner  and  represented  the  General  Shipowner's  Society. He  expressed  approval  of  Mundella's  Merchant  Shipping  Bill  in  1894.

Havelock-Allen  won  the  seat  back  in  1895 by  114  votes   but  when  he  died  in  1898  Joseph  won  the  by-election. He  then  lost  the  seat  to  a  Liberal  Unionist  in  1900.

He  died  in  1902  aged  72.

1263 Matthew Fowler

Constituency :  City  of  Durham 1892-8

Matthew  took  Durham  from  the  Tories.

Matthew  was  the son  of a  local  dignitary  who   was  five  times  Mayor  of  Durham. Matthew  had  held  that  office  himself  in  1890-91.The  family  had  local  estates.

He  died  in  1898  aged  53  from  throat  cancer .

1262 Robert Burnie

Constituency : Swansea  Town  1892-5

Robert  held  on  to  Swansea  as  the  replacement  for  Lewis  Dillwyn  who  died  just  before  the election. The  Conservatives  selected  Dillwyn's  nephew  Sir  John  Llewellyn  but  Robert  held  the  seat.

Robert  was  a  building  contractor's  son  from  Devon. He  worked  for  a  railway  firm  as  a  manager  in  Cheltenham. The  company  re-located  to  Swansea  in 1870  and  he  became  general  manager  in  1876. In  1877  he  was  elected  to  Swansea  Town  Council  and  later  served  as  Mayor  although  he  stood  down  in  1879  when  it  became  a  county  borough. Robert's  radical  activities  made  him   well  known  and  he  became  treasurer  of  the  Welsh  Farmers' Defence  Fund  fighting  the  tithe. At  the  beginning  of  1892  he  made  a  speaking  tour  of  the  Welsh  counties.  He  sought  the  Liberal  nominations  at  Chelsea  and  Mid  Glamorgan  losing  out  in  the  latter  seat  to  Samuel  Evans  because  he  was  a  Welshman.

Robert  supported  disestablishment  , Home  Rule  for  Wales  and  Ireland  and  social  reform  which  gave  him  a  working  class  following. His  last  parliamentary  contribution  was  a  question  asking  for  a  May  Day  bank  holiday  to  which  Harcourt  responded  in  the  negative.

Robert  lost  out  to  Llewellyn  in  1895. In  1900  the  local  Liberals  refused  to  adopt  him  because  of  his  anti-Boer  War  views.
 
He  died  in  1908  aged  65.

1261 William Rees-Davies

Constituency : Pembrokeshire  1892-8

William  succeeded  his  father  as  MP  for  Pembrokeshire.

William  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge.  He  became  a  barrister.

From  1893  to  1895  William  was  private  secretary  to  William  Harcourt  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.

In  1898  William  resigned his  seat  to  become  Attorney  General  of  The  Bahamas. He  held  that  job  until  1902  and  sometimes  acted  as  Chief  Justice. In  1902  he  became  King's  Advocate  in  Cyprus  and  held  that  job  for  five  years. In  1907  he  was   made   Attorney  General  of  Hong  Kong  rising  to  Chief  Justice  there  in  1912. He  was  knighted  a  year  later.

William  retired  in  1924  and  returned  to  England.

He  died  in  1939 aged  75. His  son  William  became  a  Conservative  MP.

1260 Charles Allen

Constituency : Pembroke  and  Haverfordwest  1892-5

Charles  recovered   Pembroke  and  Havefordwest  from  the  Tories  by  195  votes. He  was  a  distant  relative  of  the  previous  Liberal  MP  Henry  Allen.

The  Allens  were  a  prominent  gentry  family  in  Pembrokeshire. Charles'  father  was  a  civil  servant  in  India. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge  and  became  a  barrister. He  worked  in  India  for  a  number  of  years  becoming  a  judge  in  the  Calcutta  Court  of  Small  Causes  and  Recorder  of  Rangoon.

Charles'  maiden  speech  highlighted  the  grievances  of  the  dockyard  workers  at  Pembroke  where  the  Admiralty  treated  them  as  if  they  were  subject  to  naval  discipline. His  last  speech  was  in  favour  of  Welsh  disestablishment.

Charles  was  defeated  in  this  always  finely  balanced  seat  by  169  votes  in  1895.

He  died  in  1927  aged  80.

1259 Albert Spicer

Constituency : Monmouth  Boroughs  1892-1900, Hackney  Central  1906-18

Albert  recovered  Monmouth  Boroughs  from  the  Conservatives.

Albert  was  born  in  Brixton, the  son  of  a  wealthy  paper  merchant. His  elder  brother  James was the  great  grandfather  of  Labour's  Harriet  Harman. In  1888  their  father  died  and  the  brothers turned  the  firm  into  the  biggest  paper  company  in  the  world. He  was  a  Congregationalist.

Albert  was  defeated  in  1900. He  narrowly  lost  a  by-election  there  in  1901.He  switched  to  Hackney  Central  in  1906  , taking  it  from  the  Tories  by  616  votes.  He  held  off  Liberal  Unionist  and  then  Conservative  challenges  in  1910  by  similar  margins

Albert  was  created  a  baronet  in  1906. In  1909  he  chaired  the  Congress  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the  Empire  as  he  was  president  of  the  London  body.

Albert  chaired  the  Enquiry  into  the  Marconi  affair.

In  1918  Albert's  last  Commons  speech  was  in  opposition  to  a  proposal  for  a  lottery  to  raise funds  for  the  Red  Cross  because  it  endorsed  "the  spirit  of gambling".  He  stood  down  at  the General  Election.

Albert  was  Treasurer  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  and  entertained  King  Khama  of  Bechuana  at  a  dinner  party

He  died  in  1934  aged  87.

1258 Herbert Lewis

Constituency : Flint  Boroughs  1892-1906, Flintshire  1906-18,  University  of  Wales  1918-22

Herbert  took  over  from  John  Roberts  at  Flint  Boroughs.

Herbert  was  born  at  Mostyn  Quay to  a  successful  shipping  magnate and  was  educated  at  McGill  University  ( Montreal )  and  Oxford.  He  became  a  solicitor . He  was  the  first  chairman  of  Flintshire  County  Council  where  he  worked  hard  to  improve  education  in  the  county. He  was  a  Calvinistic  Methodist.  He  was a  teetotaller.  In  1886  he  was  narrowly  beaten  by  Samuel  Smith  for  the  Flintshire  nomination. He  was  not  a  fluent  Welsh  speaker  though  improved  over  the  years.

In  1894  Herbert  was  part  of  the  "Welsh  Revolt "  on  disestablishment  alongside   lifelong  friend   Lloyd  George  and  Frank  Edwards.  Lloyd  George  wrote  to  his  brother  "Herbert's  presence  amongst  us  will  in  itself  be  a  source  of  great  strength ". He  wrote  to  Thomas  Ellis  "I  will  never  again  fight  a  constituency  as  an  official  Liberal"  although  he  later  changed  his  mind. He  was  an  enthusiastic  supporter  of  Cymru  Fydd. He  was  opposed  to  the  Boer  War.  He  was  a  prominent  champion  of  intermediate  and  higher  education  in  Wales.

In  1896  Herbert  was  suspended  alongside  Lloyd  George  for  his  protests  against  the  Agricultural  Ratings  Bill.

In  1897  Herbert  too  married  a  daughter  of  William  Caine. Ruth  Lewis  became  very  prominent  in  the  Welsh  Folk-Song  Society.

In  1905  Herbert  was  made  a  Whip.

Herbert  switched  to  Flintshire  for  the  1906  election  and  had  an  easy  victory.

In  1909  Herbert  became  parliamentary  secretary  to  the  Local  Government  Board.

Herbert's  majority  was  barely  dented  in  January  1910  and  the  Tories  did  not  bother  to  put  up  a  candidate  in  December.

In  the  reshuffle  on  the  formation  of  the  Coalition  government  in  1915  Herbert  was  shifted  to Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Education,  a  post  he  held  right  through  to 1922.


In  1918  Herbert  shifted  seats  again, this  time  to  the  new  University  Of  Wales  seat  which  he won  easily  over  a  Labour  candidate  as  a  Coalition  Liberal.  He  said  that  coalition  "embodied  the  spirit  of  accommodation".

The  only  time  when  Herbert  seriously  opposed  Lloyd  George  was  in  1920  when  he  rejected  the  proposal  for  fusion  with  the  Coalition  Unionists. He  said  that  "In  Wales  it  would  be  practically  impossible  to  get  anything  in  the  shape  of  fusion  between  the  local  Associations."

Herbert  retired  in  1922. He  was  knighted  but  refused  a  peerage.

Herbert  was  a  great  supporter  of  the  National  Library  of  Wales  in  Aberystwyth, which  was  set  up  after  he  persistently  argued  for  Wales  to  have  a  share  of  the  museum  grants  and  in  1909 became  a  Vice  President. In  1925  he  was  walking  above  the  town  before  a  meeting  of  the  library  council  and  suffered  a  fall  which  left  him  permanently  paralysed. He  was  made  President  of  the Library  the  following  year.

Herbert  was  a  humourless  hpochondriac. Lloyd  George  said  he  would  live  to  see  all  his  contemporaries  die  and  write  a  letter  of condolence  to  their  relatives.

He  died  in  1933  aged  74.

1257 John Roberts

Constituency : Denbighshire  West  1892-1918

John   removed  the  last  Liberal  Unionist   William  Cornwallis-West   at  West  Denbighshire  by  a  big  margin.

John  was  the  son  of  the  Flint  MP  of  the  same  name  who  had  just  stepped  down  . He  was  educated  at  Cambridge. He  travelled  the  world  in  1884-85  and  published  an  account  of  it. He  was  an  elder  at  the  Calvinist  Mynydd  Seion  chapel  for  68  years.

John's  particular  interests  were  India  and  temperance. He  sat  on  the  Royal  Commission  on  the  Licensing  Laws  between  1996  and  1999, He  supported  disestablishment  in  Wales  and  was  a  commissioner  for  the  property  of  the  church  in  Wales  fin  1914. He  pressed  for  parliamentary  representation  for  the  University  of  Wales.

In  1893  John  married  the  daughter  of  his  fellow  MP  William  Caine.

John  was  created  a  baronet  in  1903.

John  didn't  make  his  maiden  speech  until  1912  when  he  expressed  concern  abut  increased  liquor  consumption  in  India.

John  was  chairman  of  the  Welsh  Liberal  Parliamentary  Party  from  1912  to  1918  when  he  stood  down  as  an  MP.

John  was  raised  to  the  peerage  in  1918  as  Baron  Clwyd.

He  died  in  1955  aged  92.

1256 Evan Jones

Constituency : Carmarthen 1892-95

Evan  took  over  from  Emile  Cowell-Stepney  at  Carmarthen.

Although  Evan  was  born  in  Wales  the  family  emigrated  to  Wisconsin.  He  fought  in  the Union  Army  at  Gettysburg  and  Williamsburg. He  rose  to  the  rank  of  Major  and  had  the  title of  American  Consul  for  South  Wales. In  1880  he  published  a  guide  to  America  The Emigrant's Friend.

Evan  joined  with  Lloyd  George  and  others  in  purchasing  the  Welsh  language  paper  Y  Genedi Cymreig  and  starting  the  Welsh  National  Press.

Evan  turned  to  journalism  after  losing  his  seat  in  1895. He  put  together  a  book  on  the  life and  speeches  of  Joseph  Cowen. He  was  founding  editor  of  Shipping  World.

He  died  in  1920  aged  80.

1255 Francis Edwards

Constituency : Radnorshire  1892-5, 1900-10, 1910-18

Francis  recovered  Radnorshire  for the  Liberals  for  the  first  time  since  1885.

Francis  was  educated  at  Shrewsbury  School  and  Oxford.

Despite  being  an  Anglican  himself  Francis  was  a  strong  supporter  of  disestablishing  the Church  in Wales  and  was  an  early  ally  of  Lloyd  George. He  joined  the  protest  of  Lloyd George  and  others  at  Rosebery's  delay  in  addressing  the  issue  in  1894.

Francis  was  defeated  in  1895  and  so  avoided  getting  too  involved  in  the  power  struggle  over Cymru  Fydd. He  was  an  opponent  of  the  Boer  War  but  that  didn't  prevent  him  winning Radnorshire  again  in  1900  by  166  votes. His  majority  increased  by  a  mere  8  votes  in  1906.

Francis  was  created  a  baronet  in  1907.

Francis  was  defeated  in  January  1910  by  just  14  votes  but  edged  another  knife-edge  contest   by  42  votes  in  December.

Francis  published  a  volume  of  translated  Welsh  poetry  in  1913.

Francis  was  seriously  ill  at  the  beginning  of  1914  but  recovered,

Francis  stood  down  in  1918.

He  died  in  1927  aged  75.