William Torrens McCullagh Torrens (13 October 1813 – 26 April 1894) was an Irish

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 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 The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in Ireland in 1836. He was an original member of the

Anti-Corn Law League The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a time ...

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 The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century un ...

.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 h ...

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 bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

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 The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

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 Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...

. He held the seat until 1885. He introduced in 1866 the "Artisans and Labourers Dwelling Bill" and carried the lodger franchise in the

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 York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, ...

. 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

* * * {{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