Peter Rylands (18 January 1820 – 8 February 1887) was an English wire-manufacturer in

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 Lancashi ...

and a

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 ...

politician who was active in local government and 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. ...

in two periods between 1868 and 1887.

Life

Rylands was born at

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 ...

, the son of John Rylands and his wife Martha Glazebrook, daughter of the Rev. James Glazebrook, vicar of Belton. He was educated at Boteler's Grammar School, Warrington.Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
/ref> He was a wire manufacturer and active in local government. As early as 1843 he was corresponding with

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. As a young ...

on political matters. He was

Mayor of Warrington The Mayor of Warrington is the highest-ranking officer in the municipal government of Warrington, England. Role The Mayor of Warrington, as the first person of the borough, chairs meetings of Warrington Borough Council. Elected for one year, the ...

from 1853 to 1854. He had directorships of the Manchester and Liverpool Banking Co., of the Bridgewater Navigation Co., of Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Co., Limited, and of Rylands Brothers, Limited, iron masters and wire manufacturers. He was a J.P. for Cheshire and Lancashire. At the 1868 general election Rylands 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 ...

(MP) for

. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Contagious Diseases in 1872. He lost his Warrington seat at the 1874 general election, when he also stood unsuccessfully in the South-Eastern Division of Lancashire. In 1876 he won a parliamentary

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 ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

,Craig 1832–1885; p. 71 where he was re-elected in

1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...

and

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

. When the Liberals split over the

First Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Bill 1886, commonly known as the First Home Rule Bill, was the first major attempt made by a British government to enact a law creating home rule for part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was intr ...

, Rylands joined the breakaway

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 ...

s, and was returned to the

at the 1886 general election as a Liberal Unionist. He held the seat until his death on 8 February 1887 at the age of 67. Rylands lived at Massey Hall,

Thelwall Thelwall is a suburban village in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, close to the Lymm junction of the M6 motorway. History A fortified village was established at Thelwall in 923, in the reign of King Edward the Elder, which is me ...

which he left to the local authority for educational purposes. Rylands married twice. He had three sons by his second wife Caroline Reynolds, whom he married in 1861. His eldest son, the author L. Gordon Rylands, published an edition of his letters. A grandson was the academic

Dadie Rylands George Humphrey Wolferstan Rylands (23 October 1902 – 16 January 1999), known as Dadie Rylands, was a British literary scholar and theatre director. Rylands was born at the Down House, Tockington, Gloucestershire, to Thomas Kirkland Ry ...

References

External links

Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 50, Rylands, Peter
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rylands, Peter 1820 births 1887 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 People educated at Boteler Grammar School People from Warrington Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Politics of Burnley Mayors of Warrington