Nathaniel Eckersley (1815 – 15 February 1892) was an English mill-owner, banker and Conservative Party politician from Standish Hall, near

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He sat in 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. T ...

for three years in the 1860s, and two years in the 1880s.

Career

His uncle was Colonel Nathaniel Eckersley, from Laurel House in Hindley, who served with the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

and at the military station established in

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 ...

after the

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...

. In addition to his

cotton mills A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

, Eckersley was a partner of the ''Wigan Old Bank'', formerly ''Thomas Woodock's, Sons and Eckersle''y, which amalgamated in 1874 with ''Parr's Banking Company'' in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. He was Mayor of Wigan in 1853 and in 1873, and was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of

in September 1863. In January 1860 he raised the 21st (Wigan) Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps, drawn mainly from artisans employed by the local collieries and engineering works, officered by local professional men. He commanded the unit as a captain, and was later promoted to major after it joined the 4th Administrative Battalion, Lancashire Rifle Volunteers. In June 1873 Eckersley led Wigan's welcome for the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

and Princess of Wales, who opened a new hospital in the town, which the Princess named the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary.

Parliament

He was elected as one of the two

Members 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 ...

(MPs) for

at a by-election in March 1866, following the

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of the Conservative MP Hon. James Lindsay. Nominations for the contest took place in the moot hall in Wigan, supervised by the Mayor Thomas Knowles. The candidates then addressed the voters in the town hall. Eckersley offered himself as a "free and independent candidate", and said that until then he had never considered himself to be a politician. The Mayor called for a

show of hands Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/ folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mando ...

, which he found to be in favour of Eckersley, but a poll was demanded and Eckersley won 411 votes to the 349 cast for his

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

opponent John Lancaster. He was defeated at by John Lancaster (MP) at the 1868 general election, when

candidates took both seats in Wigan, and he did not stand for Parliament again for another 15 years. He was

High Sheriff of Lancashire The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient officer, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lanc ...

in 1878, and in that capacity helped to organise a fund for the dependants of the victims of the explosion on 7 June 1878 at the Wood Pit Colliery in

Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward. Haydo ...

, where more than 200 miners were killed. When Wigan's Conservative MP Lord Lindsay succeeded to his father's peerage in 1880, and Eckersley was asked to stand at the by-election in January 1881, but refused. Following the death in December 1883 of Wigan's other Conservative MP Thomas Knowles, Eckersley was returned unopposed at the resulting by-election on 21 December 1883. He held the seat until when Wigan's parliamentary representation was reduced from two seats to one by 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 ...

, and did not contest the 1885 general election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckersley, Nathaniel 1815 births 1892 deaths People from Standish, Greater Manchester Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1880–1885 Deputy Lieutenants of Lancashire High Sheriffs of Lancashire Mayors of Wigan Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Wigan British textile industry businesspeople English bankers 19th-century English businesspeople