Sir Francis Edwards, 1st Baronet (28 April 1852 – 10 May 1927), commonly known as Frank Edwards, was a British Liberal Party politician. Sir Francis, the fourth son of Edward Edwards of Llangollen, was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

and

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

(graduated 1875). He was married in 1880 to Catherine, daughter of David Davis of Aberdare; the couple had one daughter. He was elected Liberal

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 o ...

for Radnorshire in 1892. Edwards was a determined Liberal and a supporter of the

Disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The pos ...

, of which he was a member. In 1894, Edwards joined with

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

, David Alfred Thomas, and

Herbert Lewis Sir John Herbert Lewis (27 December 1858 – 10 November 1933) was a Welsh Liberal politician. Background and education Born at Mostyn Quay, Flintshire, Lewis was the only child of Enoch Lewis and Catherine Roberts. It is possible that Lew ...

in resigning the Liberal Whip in protest at the delay of the Government of Lord Rosebery in introducing a Welsh Disestablishment measure. He was a relative of

A. G. Edwards A.G. Edwards, Inc. was an American financial services holding company; its principal wholly owned subsidiary was A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., which operated as a full-service securities broker-dealer in the United States and Europe. The firm was a ...

Bishop of St Asaph The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph. The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The Episcopal seat is loca ...

and first Archbishop of Wales. Defeated in 1895, Edwards was to play no part in the struggle to unite Welsh Liberalism under the auspices of Cymru Fydd. Edwards appears to have been viewed as under the 'baleful' influence of David Alfred Thomas by

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

and

. In 1898, he was High Sheriff of the county. In 1900, Edwards fought Radnorshire on a platform of opposition to the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

and returned to parliament. He was created

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

of Knighton in the County of Radnor on 25 July 1907. Edwards published a volume of Welsh poetry entitled 'Translations from the Welsh' in 1913. He did not stand in 1918, the Radnorshire Constituency having been amalgamated with

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the c ...

. He served as

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

and Deputy Lieutenant for Radnorshire.

Election results

References

* National Library of Wales: Lloyd George Papers * National Library of Wales: Herbert Lewis Papers * Dr Gerard Charmley: Frank Edwards (1852-1927) : 'the debonair and popular member for Radnorshire', Transactions of the Radnorshire Society, vols. 82–3. * '' Dictionary of Welsh Biography''. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Francis 1852 births 1927 deaths People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Deputy Lieutenants of Radnorshire High Sheriffs of Radnorshire Welsh justices of the peace