Sir Alfred Hopkinson (28 June 1851 – 11 November 1939) was an English lawyer, academic and politician who was a member of parliament (MP) for two three-year periods, separated by nearly 30 years. He was the son of John Hopkinson, a mechanical engineer, and among his brothers were John Hopkinson, a physicist and electrical engineer, and Edward Hopkinson, an electrical engineer and MP. He first stood for election to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

at the 1885 general election, when he was the unsuccessful

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

candidate in Manchester East. He was unsuccessful again as a Liberal Unionist candidate at the 1892 general election, when he stood in Manchester South-West. Hopkinson finally won a seat at the 1895 general election, when he was elected as MP for Cricklade in Wiltshire. He resigned from Parliament in February 1898, by the procedural device of accepting appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. He was elected to membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society the same year on 29 November 1898, Hopkinson was vice-chancellor of the Victoria University from 1901 to 15 July 1903 and then of the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...

until 1913. In December 1914, he was appointed to the Committee on Alleged German Outrages which, in May 1915, reported on German war crimes against civilians during the invasion of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in the opening months of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) from the University of Glasgow in June 1901. He was awarded a knighthood in 1910. He returned to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in March 1926, when he won a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the Combined English Universities as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. He did not contest the 1929 general election. A sculpture of him by John Cassidy was exhibited in Manchester in 1912. His son, Austin Hopkinson, also became a member of parliament. Another son, John, became Archdeacon of Westmorland.‘HOPKINSON, Rev. John Henry’, ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 201
accessed 23 July 2015
/ref> One of his daughters, Margaret Alice, married Sir Gerald Hurst MP and another, Ellen, married

George Harwood George Harwood (14 September 1845 – 7 November 1912) was a British businessman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. He was born the second son of Richard Harwood who founded a firm of cotton spinners and who was at one time Mayor ...

MP. A granddaughter, Georgina Harwood, became a well-known biographer under her married name of Georgina Battiscombe. Sir Alfred Hopkinson Escutcheon

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkinson, Alfred 1851 births 1939 deaths Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1895–1900 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the Combined English Universities UK MPs 1924–1929 Vice-chancellors of the Victoria University of Manchester People associated with the Victoria University of Manchester English legal scholars Alfred Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cricklade

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