Edward Hare Pickersgill (1850 – 13 October 1911) was an English Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1911. People educated at St Peter's School, York

Biography

Pickersgill was the son of Thomas Pickersgill, an architect of York. He was educated at

York Grammar School York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...

before entering employment at the age of 18 as a clerk in Savings Bank Department of the Post Office, remaining there until 1885. He graduated with a B.A. from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

in 1872 and was called to the bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1884, and practiced as a Treasury counsel at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
/ref> At the 1885 general election Pickersgill was elected

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 Bethnal Green South West. He was regarded as being on the Radical wing of the Liberal Party, and campaigned for reform of criminal law, in particular seeking to end imprisonment for non-payment of debt. He also sought the abolition of the death penalty and the ending of flogging as a punishment. From 1892 to 1895 he was a Progressive Party member of the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

representing Hackney Central. At the "khaki" general election of 1900 he lost his seat to a Unionist opponent, but regained it six years later when there was a swing to the Liberals. He held the seat at the two general elections of 1910, but resigned from the Commons by taking the

Manor of Northstead Northstead is an area on the North Bay of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. The area near Newlands and Barrowcliff includes Peasholm Park and Scarborough Open Air Theatre. In 2011, the namesake ward had a population of 4,038, since 20 ...

in July 1911 in order to take up a post as a stipendary magistrate. In October 1911 he contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and died at his sister's house in Putney, aged 61.

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* 1850 births 1911 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Members of London County Council Members of the Inner Temple Progressive Party (London) politicians Alumni of the University of London {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub