Charles Pelham Villiers (3 January 1802 – 16 January 1898) was a British lawyer and politician from the aristocratic

Villiers family Villiers ( ) is an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. Over time, various members of the Villiers family were made knights, baronets, and peers. Peerages held by the Villiers family include the dukedoms of Buckingham (1623–1687) and Cleve ...

. 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 63 years, from 1835 to 1898, making him the longest-serving Member of Parliament (MP). He also holds the distinction of the oldest candidate to win a parliamentary seat, at 93. He was a radical and reformer who often collaborated with

John Bright John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn La ...

and had a noteworthy effect in the leadership 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 tim ...

, until its repeal in 1846. Lord Palmerston appointed him to the cabinet as president of the Poor-Law Board in 1859. His Public Works (Manufacturing Districts) Act of 1863 opened job-creating schemes in public health projects. He progressed numerous other reforms, most notably the Metropolitan Poor Act of 1867.

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War ...

helped him formulate the reform, in particular, ensure professionalisation of nursing as part of the poor law regime, the workhouses of which erected public infirmaries under an Act of the same year. His political importance was overshadowed by his brother, the Earl of Clarendon, and undercut by the hostility of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-cons ...

Background and education

Villiers was the son of the Hon. George Villiers and the Hon. Theresa, daughter of

John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon (1735 – 27 April 1788) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Origins Parker was the eldest son of John Parker (1703–1768) of Boringdon Hall, Plympton, and Saltram House, by his wife Catherine Poule ...

. He was the grandson of

Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon, PC (1709 – 11 December 1786) was a British politician and diplomat from the Villiers family. Clarendon was the second son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey, and his wife Judith Herne, daughter of ...

and brother of

George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon, (12 January 180027 June 1870) was an English diplomat and statesman from the Villiers family. He served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs three times as part of a distinguishe ...

. He was educated at

East India Company College The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, Hertfordshire, nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the Honourable East India Company ( ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, becoming a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

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.) Lincol ...

in 1827. He was raised to the rank of an Earl's son in 1839 and thus entitled to be styled the Honourable Charles Pelham Villiers.

Political career

Villiers held

Benthamite Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...

political views and enjoyed a long career in public service and Parliament. In 1832, he was a

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of he ...

Commissioner, and from 1833 to 1852 was an examiner of witnesses in the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

. Villiers was elected as 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 ...

Member of Parliament for

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

in 1835. In each year from 1837 to 1845, he launched parliamentary debates in attempts to repeal the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...

. In 1838, he spoke to over 5,000 "working-class men" in Manchester and told them that the presence of so large an audience gave him the proof that "the working class man was with him." Villiers was unsuccessful in his attempts, but in 1840 sat on the Committee on Import Duties that provided much of the evidence that pressured

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Excheque ...

into his sliding scale concession in 1842. The bluebook produced by the Committee on Import Duties was published in pamphlet form and distributed across the country by the Anti-Corn Law League, it was reprinted in America and quoted by all leading newspapers of the day, the Spectator published it in abridged form. In February 1842, Villiers was called by

Monckton Milnes Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strongly supported social justice. Background and education Milnes was born in London, the son of ...

MP, the "solitary Robinson Crusoe standing on the barren rock of Corn Law repeal." In 1842, the majority in favour of retaining the Corn Laws had been 303, at the vote on Villiers motion in June 1845 it was down to 132. After the repeal in 1846, the press said of Villiers that he was "the most persevering and undaunted supporter of those principles within the house."

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist. He was one of the most influential of the classical economists along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith and James Mill. Ricardo was also a politician, and a ...

, Chairman of the Free Traders in London, wished to raise money to give to Villiers in recognition of his work, but Villiers declined. Villiers was a corresponding member of the

British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, and he attended the

World Anti-Slavery Convention The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The exc ...

in London in 1840.BFASS Convention 1840
List of delegates, retrieved 15 January 2016 In 1847 Villiers was returned for Lancashire South but elected to sit for his former constituency; his election in Lancashire South was unsolicited but an honour conferred by the people there to express their gratitude for his good work with the repeal of the Corn Laws. Villiers was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

in 1853 and served under

Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in ...

and

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

as Judge Advocate General from 1852 to 1858. In 1853 the Times observed that "it was Mr. Charles Villiers who practically originated the Free Trade movement." He served under Palmerston and Lord Russell as President of the Poor Law Board (with a seat in the cabinet) from 1859 to 1866. In 1876 he wrote to the Manchester-based ''

Women's Suffrage Journal The ''Women's Suffrage Journal'' was a magazine founded by Lydia Becker and Jessie Boucherett in 1870. Initially titled the ''Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage Journal'' within a year its title was changed reflecting Becker's desir ...

'' in which he stated, in the words of the ''Journal'', that "he had voted for the measure uffrageon more than one occasion, and should do so again. As far as he was acquainted with the objections usually alleged, he was bound to say they only appear to be those which have always been offered whenever any fresh extension of liberty to the subject has been proposed, and which he had himself heard urged against personal freedom in the colonies, religious liberty in this country, the enfranchisement of the working classes, and against the abolition of every monopoly, political and commercial, wherever it has been assailed." Villiers was offered a peerage in June 1885, but declined.Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
/ref> His Wolverhampton constituency was divided under 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 he was then elected for Wolverhampton South, switching to the

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 politic ...

party in 1886. He was the

Father of the House of Commons Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously- ...

from 1890 until his death in 1898. However, the last time he attended Parliament was in 1895. During his time in Parliament he worked towards

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

and opposed the

and

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wi ...

for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. He is noted as being the voice in parliament of the free trade movement before the election of

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 you ...

and

Personal life

Villiers died unmarried in January 1898, aged 96. He is buried at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

. A statue of him stands in West Park in

References

External links

*
Wolverhampton history: Charles Pelham Villiers
*
Charles Pelham Villiers
at the National Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Villiers, Charles Pelham 1802 births 1898 deaths English barristers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Presidents of the Cambridge Union Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 People from Wolverhampton Charles Pelham Villiers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies

Background and education

Political career

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links