Henry Brinsley Sheridan

Henry Brinsley Sheridan (1820 – 19 April 1906) was an English Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1857 and 1886, representing Dudley. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a magistrate, and a captain of the 6th Cinque Port Artillery Volunteer Corps.

Life

Sheridan was the son of Garrett Sheridan of Cavan, Ireland and his wife Jane Juliana Darnley, daughter of Sir Richard Perrot, Bart. He was born in London in 1820 and was educated at Brighton.[1] He entered the Inner Temple on 18 February 1852 and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1856. He was a captain of the 6th Cinque Port Artillery Volunteer Corps and a J.P. for Middlesex, Westminster, Kent, and the Liberties of the Cinque Ports.[2]

Sheridan wrote a poem entitled St. Lawrence's Well which was published in 1845.[3]

Sheridan married Elizabeth Frances Wood, eldest surviving daughter of the Rev. John Wood on 10 December 1850. The marriage took place at Walworth. Sheridan was stated to be living at Brompton at this time.[2][4]

In 1855, Sheridan moved into Belfield House in Fulham, residing there until 1863.[5]

Sheridan was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dudley in 1857[6] after the sitting MP, Stafford Northcote, decided not to contest the general election of that year. Northcote had fallen out politically with Lord Ward, the owner of Dudley Castle and influential local landowner.[7] Sheridan was unopposed at the election[8] as both Radical and Tory factions in the town combined to support him in order to lessen the local political influence of Lord Ward.[7] He subsequently won contested elections in 1859 and 1865. In 1868 he was elected unopposed. At the general election in February 1874, Sheridan won but the election was declared void on 28 April 1874 on the grounds that rioting took place at the poll.[9] At the subsequent by-election held on 21 May 1874, he was again returned, defeating the ironmaster, Noah Hingley.[7] He won the seat again in 1880 and 1885. He finally lost the seat in 1886,[6] beaten at the election by Brooke Robinson.[10]

Around the time that his parliamentary career was coming to an end, it was reported that he had expended the sum of £24,000 in order to "consolidate the Liberal interests of the town".[11]

Sheridan was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London in June 1860.[12] He was on the council of the Kent Archaeological Society. He owned property at Litton Cheney in Dorset.[13]

In the 1860s, Sheridan became involved in lending money to the government of Mexico, becoming chairman of the Mexican Bondholders' Committee.[14]

In 1861, he was made a First Lieutenant of the 6th Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers.[15]

In 1869, Sheridan was listed as being part of the Chapter of the Venerable English Langue of the Sovereign and Illustrious Order Of St John Of Jerusalem.[16]

In 1880, he was listed as living at 6 Colville Gardens, Kensington.[17]

Henry Brinsley Sheridan died on 19 April 1906 aged 86.[18]

Parliamentary election results
General election 1857: Dudley[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Henry Brinsley Sheridan unopposed
Majority
Turnout
Independent gain from Conservative Swing
General election 1859: Dudley[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Brinsley Sheridan 432
Conservative Viscount Monck 361
Majority 71
Turnout
Liberal gain from Independent Swing
General election 1865: Dudley[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Brinsley Sheridan 526
Conservative Francis Truscott 275
Majority 251
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1868: Dudley[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Brinsley Sheridan unopposed
Majority
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1874: Dudley[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Brinsley Sheridan 5149
Conservative Fred Smith Shenstone 4181
Majority 968
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
1874 Dudley by-election: Dudley[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Brinsley Sheridan 5607
Conservative Noah Hingley 4889
Majority 718
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1880: Dudley[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Brinsley Sheridan 6948
Conservative Alfred Waterman 4163
Majority 2785
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1885: Dudley[19][20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Brinsley Sheridan 6,377 55.0
Conservative Brooke Robinson 5,211 45.0
Majority 1,166 10.0
Turnout 77.7
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1886: Dudley[19][20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Brooke Robinson 6,475 58.8 +13.8
Liberal Henry Brinsley Sheridan 4,545 41.2 -13.8
Majority 1,930 17.6 27.6
Turnout 73.9 -3.8
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +13.8

References
  1. Williams, William Retlaw (1897). The parliamentary history of the county of Worcester. Hereford: Jakeman and Carver. pp. 182–183.
  2. Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
  3. Sheridan, Henry Brinsley (1845). St. Lawrence's Well: Fragmentary Legend of the Isle of Wight. London: Madden and Malcolm.
  4. The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History and Politics of the Year ... London: F. & J. Rivington. 1851. p. 195.
  5. Féret, Charles James (1900). Fulham old and new : being an exhaustive history of the ancient parish of Fulham. Vol. 2. London: Leadenhall Press. pp. 104.
  6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
  7. Clarke, C.F.G. (1881). The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country. Birmingham: Buckler Brothers. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  8. Vincent, J (1971). McCalmont's Parliamentary Poll Book (8th ed.). Brighton, UK: The Harvester Press. p. 93 (Section I). ISBN 0855270004.
  9. O'Malley, Edward Loughlin; Hardcastle, Henry (1875). Reports of the Decisions of the Judges for the Trial of Election Petitions in Great Britain and Ireland: Pursuant to the Parliamentary Elections Act, 1868. London: Stevens and Haynes. pp. 115–123.
  10. Vincent, J (1971). McCalmont's Parliamentary Poll Book (8th ed.). Brighton, UK: The Harvester Press. p. 72 (Section II). ISBN 0855270004.
  11. Trainor, Richard (1993). Black Country Élites. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 226. ISBN 0198203551.
  12. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London. Vol. 4. 1860. pp. 223.
  13. Litton Cheney Village Website
  14. Report of the Mexican Bondholders' Committee. London: Francis Fisher. 1870.
  15. Behan, T.L. (1865). Bulletins and Other State Intelligence. Vol. 2. University of Michigan. London: Harrison and Sons. pp. 1784.
  16. Bigsby, Robert (1869). Memoir Of The Order Of St John Of Jerusalem. Derby: Richard Keene. pp. 150.
  17. Kelly's handbook to the titled, landed and official classes. London: Kelly and Co. 1880. pp. 618.
  18. "Obituary". The Times. No. 37999. 20 April 1906.
  19. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  20. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
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