Charles Kaye Freshfield (11 March 1808 – 6 July 1891) was a 19th-century lawyer and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

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 ...

in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

. Freshfield was born in

Lothbury Lothbury is a short street in the City of London. It runs east–west with traffic flow in both directions, from Gresham Street's junction with Moorgate to the west, and Bartholomew Lane's junction with Throgmorton Street to the east. History ...

, London the son of

James William Freshfield James William Freshfield (8 April 1774 – 27 June 1864) was an English lawyer and founder of the international law firm of Freshfields. He was also a Conservative politician and Member of Parliament, representing the seats of Penryn and Boston. ...

and his wife Mary Blacket. His father was a lawyer who established the firm of

Freshfields Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (informally Freshfields, or FBD) is an multinational corporation, international law firm headquartered in London, and a member of the Magic Circle (law firms), Magic Circle. The firm has 28 offices in 17 jurisdi ...

. The family moved to Abney House near

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

and Charles Freshfield was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

. He qualified as a solicitor in 1834 and joined the family firm. He was Solicitor to the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

from 1840 to 1869 when he retired from Freshfields. During his time at Freshfields he was heavily involved with the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

, until the latter got into financial difficulties in 1867. He was subsequently a Director of the

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

and the Ottoman

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

Railway. He lived at Hampstead and later at Upper Gatton Park,

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 25 miles south of Charing Cross and 2 miles south of the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Mers ...

, Surrey, and also had a residence at 21 Half Moon Street. He became Member of Parliament for

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

in 1865. He lost his seat in 1868, but was re-elected in January 1874 and April 1880. He retired from parliament in 1885. Later, he settled in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and lived for some years at Pennant Lodge in the north-west corner of Queen's Park. He was a member of the Council of

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

. At the time of his death he lived at Collingwood House on Marine Parade. On 7 October 1834 Freshfield married Elizabeth Sims Stephenson (1812–1849), only daughter of Daniel Stephenson, an Elder Brother of

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

. They had six children, but all but two daughters died young. Elizabeth also died early in 1849. His brothers John and Henry Freshfield were also active in the family legal firm. He was uncle to

Douglas Freshfield Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the ''Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was an active member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club (UK), ...

, the travel writer, and cousin to

Edmund Blacket Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn. Arriving in Sydney from Engl ...

, the Australian architect.

Legacy

When house-building began in the nearby Park Road East in Brighton in 1880–82, the road was renamed Freshfield Road in his honour. Three other streets in Brighton bear his name. Among his later Brighton homes was 9 Eastern Terrace, later to be briefly the home of King

Manuel II of Portugal ''Dom'' Manuel II (15 November 1889 – 2 July 1932), "the Patriot" ( pt, "o Patriota") or "the Unfortunate" (), was the last King of Portugal, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father, King Carlos I, and his elder brother, ...

and in 2004 the most expensive house in the city.

References

* Judy Slinn A History of Freshfields, (1984) Freshfields

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freshfield, Charles 1808 births 1891 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School English solicitors Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dover