George Faithfull (1790 – 11 March 1863) was an English solicitor and

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics * Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe an ...

politician. Faithfull was a solicitor and partner in G & H Faithfull & Co., one of the three largest law firms in Brighton. He became involved in the public life of the rapidly expanding town as solicitor to Thomas Read Kemp, developer of the

Kemp Town Kemp Town Estate, also known as Kemp Town, is a 19th-century Regency architecture residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England, UK. It consists of Arundel Terrace, Lewes Crescent, Sussex Square, Chichester Terrace, and ...

Estate. He was subsequently a member of the Brighton

Improvement Commissioners Boards of improvement commissioners were ''ad hoc'' urban local government boards created during the 18th and 19th centuries in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its predecessors the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ir ...

. Kemp had established his own non-conformist sect, and Faithfull was a regular preacher in the chapel in Ship Street, Brighton. When Kemp returned to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

in 1823, Faithfull became minister of the Ship Street Chapel (later called Holy Trinity Church, in 1827 replacing it with a new building in Church Street. Following the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

was enfranchised as a

parliamentary borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

, returning 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 ...

to 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 ...

. At the 1832 general election Faithfull was elected as one of the town's first MPs alongside Isaac Wigney. His extreme Radical views were not popular with his constituents, however. The diarist Charles Greville, a resident of Brighton, described him as a "bad character". He was defeated at the next general election in 1835. Faithfull put his defeat down to lack of support from the press, and accordingly began publication of the weekly ''Brighton Patriot and Lewes Free Press '' in February 1835 to propagate his views. He was once again defeated in an ill-tempered general election in 1837. The

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

readership abandoned Faithfull's newspaper and he found himself aligned with the local

Chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, ...

. When a series of Chartist riots and strikes took place in 1839, Faithfull closed the ''Patriot''. He continued his legal practice until his death, acting as solicitors to a number of railway companies.''Railway Times'', Volume 2 (1839), p.88. He died at his Brighton residence in March 1863.

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* 1790 births 1863 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1832–1835 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies {{England-UK-MP-stub