Henry Joseph Wilson (14 April 1833 – 29 June 1914) was a British

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and

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 ...

politician.

Family and education

Henry Joseph Wilson was born at Old Radford,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

,Wilson Papers
Sheffield University, Retrieved 31 October 2015 the son of William Wilson who had also lived at

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

and

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

.''Who was Who'', OUP online, 2007 The Wilson family held strong

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

and

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

sympathies. His half sister was

Sarah Poulton Kalley Sarah Poulton Kalley or Sarah Poulton Wilson (25 May 1825 – 8 August 1907) was a British missionary to Brazil who helped create a Portuguese language hymnal still in use today. She and her husband Robert Reid Kalley are credited with founding on ...

who was a missionary in Brazil. Henry was educated at the West of England Dissenters’ Proprietary School,

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

''The Times House of Commons 1911'', Politico’s Publishing, 2004 p95 and then at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. In 1859, he married Charlotte, daughter of

Charles Cowan Charles Cowan (7 June 1801 – 1889) was a Scottish politician and paper-maker. Life He was born in Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, Charlotte Street in Edinburgh on 7 June 1801, the son of Alexander Cowan, papermaker and philanthropist, and Eliza ...

the MP, for

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. They had three sons and two daughters. One of his sons, Cecil Henry Wilson, was later a Labour Party politician and sat as MP for the constituency of Sheffield Attercliffe. His daughter Helen Mary Wilson was a physician and social campaigner, and first woman magistrate in Sheffield.

Career

Wilson began working life as a farmer near Mansfield and in 1867, after fourteen years as tenant of Newlands Farm, he went to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

to manage the family firm, the Sheffield

Smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...

Company of which he also became a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Politics

Radical causes

Wilson's political interests were born of the radical and dissenting tradition he inherited from his father and the Wilson family's Victorian dedication to public service and devotion to civic duty. His causes included the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

, opposition to the state regulation of

vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

non-sectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group. Academic sphere Examples of US universities that identify themselves as being nonsectarian include Adelp ...

education,

Disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...

of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...

internationalism Internationalism may refer to: * Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism * International Style, a major architectur ...

Anti-imperialism Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

and the destruction of the

Opium trade Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid m ...

. Wilson's radicalism led him away from the traditional Gladstonian Liberalism of the age, as represented by the dominant group within the party in Sheffield. He was particularly repelled by some of the provisions of the 1870 Education Act such as those which involved payment for religious teaching out of public funds. Nonconformists saw the Act as a violation of religious liberty in education.

Sheffield Reform Association

In March 1873, Wilson and his supporters formed a rival political organisation, the Sheffield Reform Association with the aim of promoting a more radical Liberal voice in the city and in the hope of getting a candidate sympathetic to these progressive causes elected to Parliament. This campaign seemed to about the bear fruit just before the 1874 general election. Impressed with the radical tone he was hearing from the newly elected

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the Cons ...

, Wilson invited Chamberlain to try his luck as a candidate in Sheffield. But the election was a shambles from a Liberal perspective as four men were nominated for the two seats to be contested. Chamberlain came third after a bitter campaign in which dead cats were thrown at him on the hustings.

Liberal MP

Perhaps the divisions of 1874 opened Wilson's eyes to the need for Liberal unity, perhaps made easier by the resignation of Mr Gladstone from the leadership of the Party in 1875. In that year Wilson became Secretary of the Sheffield Liberal Association, a new body formed to make Sheffield secure against possible Unionist intervention and to try to give the radical activists a better chance of success in electing someone like Chamberlain in the future. From this more mainstream base, Wilson was selected to stand as Liberal candidate for

Holmfirth Holmfirth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, on the A635 and A6024 in the Holme Valley, at the confluence of the River Holme and Ribble, south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley. It mostly consist ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

at the 1885 general election. Amongst his rivals for the nomination was former Liberal MP

Frederick Beaumont Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont (22 October 1833 – 20 August 1899) was an English Army officer and politician. A member of the Royal Engineers, he produced several inventions, including a tunnel boring machine which bore his name, and the Bea ...

. He won the Holmfirth seat with 6% of the poll and then held it against all-comers at each subsequent election until he resigned in 1912.F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918''; Macmillan Press, 1974 p437 His successor at the subsequent

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was Sydney Arnold.

Offices and appointments

Wilson held offices in many organisations connected with his local and national political activities. He was Secretary of the Northern Counties Electoral League for the Repeal of the

Contagious Diseases Acts The Contagious Diseases Acts (CD Acts) were originally passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. 85), with alterations and additions made in 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. 35) and 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 96). In 1862, a com ...

from 1872 to 1885 and of the British Continental and General Federation for the Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution, from 1875. He was a member of the

Royal Commission on Opium The Royal Commission on Opium was a British Royal Commission that investigated the opium trade in British India in 1893–1895, particularly focusing on the medical impacts of opium consumption within India. Set up by Prime Minister William G ...

in India from 1893–95, Treasurer of the

National Vigilance Association The National Vigilance Association was a British society established in August 1885 "for the enforcement and improvement of the laws for the repression of criminal vice and public immorality".Rachael Attwood, "Stopping the Traffic: the National Vig ...

in the 1900s, 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 ...

from 1881, and was for fifteen years a member of the Sheffield

School Board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

. He served on the Sheffield Nonconformist Committee, set up to work for the amendment of the Education Act of 1870, from 1872 to the Committee's effective dissolution in 1877. In 1910 he gave £10,000 towards the purchase of a public garden in the east end of Sheffield.

References

External links

Papers of Henry Joseph Wilson
at the Women's Library in the Library of London School of Economics.
Henry Joseph Wilson at the National Register of Archives
* * Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (full Biography and portrai

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Henry 1833 births 1914 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 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Politicians from Sheffield Holme Valley People educated at Taunton School English tax resisters