691 Sir Charles Wingfield

Constituency : Gravesend 1868-74

Charles  was  the  first  MP  for  the  new  seat  of  Gravesend.

Charles  was  the  son  of  a  judge  and  MP  for  Bodmin.  Richard  Wingfield-Baker  MP  for  Essex  South  was  his  older  half-brother. He  worked in  the  Bengal  Civil  Service  from  1840  to  1866. He  was  knighted  in  1864. There  is  a  park  named  in  his  honour  in  Lucknow.

Charles's  interventions  were  usually  concerned  with  India. In  1870  he said  experience  had  convinced  him  "that  the  moderate  use  of  this  drug ( opium ) is  not  more  prejudicial  or  injurious  than  the  moderate  use  of  alcoholic  drinks".

Charles  was  pro-Russian. In  1873  he  declared  Russia's  annexation  of  Khiva  was  "in  the  interests  of  humanity"  and  would  restore  "this  degraded  population  to  order  and  civilisation".
Charles  was  defeated  by  the  Tories  in  1874.

He  died  in  1892  aged  71.

690 George Jessel

Constituency : Dover  1868-73

George  was  a  rare  Liberal  victor  in  Dover.

George  was  the  son  of a  Jewish  coral  merchant. He  was  educated  at  a  Jewish  school  then  went  to  University  College, London. He  became  a  barrister  in  1847. Palmerston's  Lord  Chancellor  Lord  Westbury  disliked  him  and  tried  to  impede  his  career.

George  made  an  impression  during  debates  on  the  Bankruptcy  Bill  in  1869. Two  years  later George  was  made  solicitor-general  becoming  the  first  practising  Jewish  government  minister  which  was  made  possible  by  the  Promissory  Oaths  Act  of  that  year. He  was  knighted  in  1872.

In  1873  George  succeeded  Lord  Romilly  as  Master  of  the  Rolls  and   resigned  his  seat  though  this  was  not  strictly  necessary  at  the  time. He  is  remembered  for  being  extremely  efficient  and  able  to  master  the  complexities  of  the most  difficult  cases.

George  suffered  from  diabetes  and  died  in  1883  of  cardiac  syncope  aged  59.

689 Theodore Brinckman

Constituency : Canterbury  1868-74

Theodore  regained  one  of  the  Canterbury  seats  for  the  Liberals.

Theodore  was  the  son  of a  baronet  and  a  grandson  of  Baron  Godolphin. He  was  educated  at  Eton  then  joined  the  17th  Regiment  of  Foot. He  served  in  the  Crimean  War  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain. He  married  the  daughter  of  Marquess  Conyngham.

Theodore's  only  speech  in  Parliament  was  on  a  trivial  issue  of  sherrifs' appointments  in  Ireland.

He  died  in  1905  aged  74.

688 Nathaniel Lambert

Constituency : Buckinghamshire  1868-80  

Nathaniel  captured  one  of  the  three  Buckinghamshire  seats  for  the  Liberals  that  had  been  lost  in  1863.

Nathaniel  was  a  privately  educated  mineowner. He  was  captain  commandant  of  the  Buckinghamshire  Yeomanry  from  1863  to  its  disbandment  in  1871.

In  1869  and  1870   Nathaniel  made   speeches  in  favour  of  reducing  the  national  debt  during  peacetime. In  1872 he  moved  for  a  select  committee  to  look  at  ministerial  salaries. He  also  called  for  majority  verdicts  in  Irish  trials  to  increase  the  conviction  rate.

He  died  in  1882  aged  71.

687 James Howard

Constituency :  Bedford  1868-74, Bedfordshire  1880-85  

James  took  the  second  Bedford  seat  from  the  Tories.

James  was  a  Bedford  man  educated  locally. With  his  brother  he  set  up  a  business  making  agricultural  machinery. In  1862  he  bought  a  large  part  of  the  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Ashburnham  and  set  up  a  model  farm  there. He  was  a  noted  pig  breeder. He  was  mayor  of  Bedford  in  1863-4. In  that  capacity  he  entertained  Garibaldi  in  1864.

James  was  defeated  in  1874. In  1879  he  founded  the  Farmers' Alliance  to  rally  support  for  more  flexible  land  laws.

He  died  in  1889  aged  68.

686 William McArthur

Constituency : Lambeth  1868-85

William  and  the  returning  James  Lawrence  replaced  Frederick  Doulton  and  Thomas  Hughes  at  Lambeth.

William  was  born  in  Donrgal  the  son  of  a  Methodist  minister  in  Londonderry.  He  started  out  as  a  draper's  apprentice  but  eventually  went  into  business  himself. In  1841  his  brother  went  to  Australia  helping  William  establish  a  number  of  trading  links  there. In  1857  he  relocated  his  business  to  London. He  had  interests  in  banking  and  insurance. He  was  originally  a  Conservative  but  considered  Derby's  Irish  views  "anti-Protestant"  and  admired  Palmerston. He  stood  unsuccessfully  for  Pontefract  in  1865. He  travelled  to  the  USA. He  was  teetotal. He  supported  equalization  of  the  poor  rates.

William  advocated  disestablishment  in  both  Ireland  and  England  because  he  felt  it  would  strengthen  Protestantism. In  Ireland  he  thought  it  would  strengthen  the  position  of  the  Ulster  Protestants  and  aid  the  conversion  of  Ireland  from  Catholicism. He  described  Methodism  as  "  a  breakwater  against  Popery, Puseyism  and  infidelity".

William  became  an  alderman  in  1872  and  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in  1880. He  helped  found  the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  1881.He  was  knighted  in  1882.

William's  parliamentary  interventions  were  mainly  on  imperial  questions. He  pressed  for  the  annexation  of  Fiji  which  would  help  his  business  interests  in  the  Pacific  as  well  as  missionaries  working  on  the  island. He  was  noted  for  a  rather  fumbling  manner  when  he  spoke.

William  supported  Gladstone  over  the  Eastern  Question. He  voted  against  payment  for  MPs.

Lambeth  was  scrapped  in  1885. William  stood  as  an  independent  Liberal  candidate  which  helped  the  Conservatives  take  the  seat.

William  was  involved  in  the  Aborigines  Protection  Society  and  the  City  of  London  Committee  for  the  Repeal  of  the  Contagious  Diseases  Act.

He  died  in  1887  aged  78.

685 Sir Charles Reed

Constituency : Hackney  1868-74, St Ives  1880-81

Charles   was  the  other  Liberal  victor  at  Hackney.

Charles   was  the  son  of  a  well  known  Congregationalist  minister  and  philanthropist. He  married  the  daughter  of  Edward  Baines. He  had  a  successful  typefounding  business  in  London.

In  1869  Charles  moved  a  bill  to  protect  Sunday  schools  from  being  rated.

In  1870  Charles  was  elected  to  the  newly-founded  London  School  Board  and  in  due  course  became  its  chairman.  He  also  founded  the  City  of  London  Library

Charles  was  involved  in  the  preservation  of  two  important  London  cemeteries.

Charles  was  knighted  in  1874  on  Gladstone's  recommendation.  He  collected  autographed  letters  and  keys  and  had  a  lifelong  interest  in  antiquities.

In  1874  the  election  result   at  Hackney   was  voided  and  at  the  by-election  Charles  made  way for  Henry  Fawcett.  He  returned  for  St  Ives  in  1880.

Charles  voted  against  the  party  in  the  Bradlaugh  debates  as  he  detested  atheism.

He  died  in  1881 aged  62.