Alexander Henry (1783 – 4 October 1862)
was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Radical politician.
Life
Alexander Henry of Woodlands, near
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, was born in
County Down. He moved to England in 1804, and with his brother Samuel, established ''A & S Henry & Co Ltd'', a dealer in cotton. The firm was very successful, having branches in
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
and elsewhere and they became very wealthy. Samuel Henry used to travel to Alabama to buy cotton. He died in 1840 when the steamship
''Lexington'' caught fire and sank in Long Island Sound.
Alexander was a member of the Cross Street congregation, a Unitarian chapel. He married Elizabeth, daughter of George Brush of Willowbrook,
Killinchy
Killinchy () is a townland and small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is two miles inland from the western shores of Strangford Lough in the Borough of Ards and North Down. It is situated in the townland of the same name, the civil p ...
,
County Down. Henry was active in the postal reform movement
''Bond of Brotherhood'', Issues 13-28, 1851, p. 107
/ref> and a supporter of the Anti-Corn Law League
The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a tim ...
.
Henry was elected Radical Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for South Lancashire
South Lancashire is a geographical county area, used to indicate the southern part of the historic county of Lancashire, today without any administrative purpose. The county region has no exact boundaries but generally includes areas that form t ...
at a y-election in 1847 —caused by Charles Pelham Villiers' decision to sit for another seat—and held the seat until 1852 when he did not seek re-election.
See also
* Mitchell Henry
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Alexander
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1847–1852
1783 births
1862 deaths