Alfred Barnes (1823 – 28 November 1901) was a British

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and later

Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

politician.

Biography

Barnes was the youngest son of John Gorrell Barnes, of Ashgate, Derbyshire, and was educated at a private school at

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from the nor ...

. He married, in 1854, Charlotte Wilson, daughter of Thomas Wilson, of Liverpool. In 1846 he leased a large area of coal-ground in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, and was one of the first to develop the Derbyshire coalfield. He was successful, owning one of the finest

collieries Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...

in the county at the time of his death. He was also a large shareholder in several railway companies. At the 1880 general election, he was elected as

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 of ...

for Derbyshire East. When that constituency was abolished in the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, he was returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for the new Chesterfield constituency. When the Liberal Party split over the Irish Government Bill 1886, Barnes was re-elected at the 1886 general election as a

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

, and held his seat until the 1892 general election. In 1893 he was president of the Chesterfield and Midland Counties Institution of Engineers. He was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and was in 1881 appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Derbyshire. He died at his residence in

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

28 November 1901.

References

External links

* 1823 births 1901 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub