William Torrens McCullagh Torrens (13 October 1813 – 26 April 1894) was an Irish
Liberal politician, who 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. ...
for English constituencies variously between 1848 and 1885.
Torrens was the son of James McCullagh of Greenfield, Dublin, and his wife Jane Torrens, daughter of Andrew Torrens of Dublin. He was educated at
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
. In 1835 he was Assistant Commissioner of the Irish Poor Inquiry and was
called to the bar in Ireland in 1836. He was an original member of the
Anti-Corn Law League founded in 1838. In 1846 he was private secretary to
Henry Labouchere
Henry may refer to:
People
* Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal ...
when he was
Chief Secretary for Ireland.
[Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881]
/ref>
Torrens stood for parliament unsuccessfully at Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is hal ...
in 1847 but was seated as 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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
on petition in March 1848. He held the seat until 1852 when he stood unsuccessfully for Yarmouth.
Torrens was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1855. He was elected MP for Yarmouth in 1857 but his election was declared void on petition. In 1863 he adopted the additional surname Torrens. In 1865 he was elected MP for Finsbury. He held the seat until 1885.Reform Act 1867
The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 (known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first ...
. He obtained a Select Committee on Extradition in 1869 and in 1874 brought in and carried the Building Societies Bill.[
Torrens published a number of works including ][
*''Lectures on the Use and Study of History''
*''Life of Lord Melbourne''
*''Industrial History of Free Nations''
*''Empire in Asia''
*''Memoirs of Wellesley''
Torrens died at the age of 80 after being knocked down by a ]hansom cab
The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn carriage designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York. The vehicle was developed and tested by Hansom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Originally called the Hansom safety ...
.
Torrens married firstly Margaret Henrietta Gray daughter of John Gray of Claremorris, County Mayo in 1836. She died in 1873 and he married secondly Emily Harrison, daughter of William Harrison of Leamington in 1878.[
]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrens, William
1813 births
1894 deaths
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Louth constituencies (1801–1922)
UK MPs 1847–1852
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1857–1859
UK MPs 1865–1868
UK MPs 1868–1874
UK MPs 1874–1880
UK MPs 1880–1885
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Members of Lincoln's Inn
Politics of the Borough of Great Yarmouth
Members of the London School Board