Henry Brinsley Sheridan (1820 – 19 April 1906) was an English

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 ...

politician who sat in 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 ...

between 1857 and 1886, representing

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

. 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. He entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

on 18 February 1852 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

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. Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
/ref> Sheridan wrote a poem entitled ''St. Lawrence's Well'' which was published in 1845. 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. In 1855, Sheridan moved into Belfield House in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, residing there until 1863. Sheridan was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

in 1857 after the sitting MP,

Stafford Northcote Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh (27 October 1818 – 12 January 1887), known as Sir Stafford Northcote, 8th Baronet from 1851 to 1885, was a British Conservative politician. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1874 and ...

, 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. Sheridan was unopposed at the election as both Radical and Tory factions in the town combined to support him in order to lessen the local political influence of Lord Ward. 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. At the subsequent by-election held on 21 May 1874, he was again returned, defeating the ironmaster, Noah Hingley. He won the seat again in 1880 and 1885. He finally lost the seat in 1886, beaten at the election by Brooke Robinson. 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". Sheridan was elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society of London The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

in June 1860. He was on the council of the

Kent Archaeological Society The Kent Archaeological Society was founded in 1857 to promote the study and publication of archaeology and history, specifically that pertaining to the ancient county of Kent in England. This includes the modern administrative county as well as ar ...

. He owned property at

Litton Cheney Litton Cheney is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited beneath chalk hills in the valley of the small River Bride. In the 2011 census the parish had a ...

in Dorset. In the 1860s, Sheridan became involved in lending money to the government of Mexico, becoming chairman of the Mexican Bondholders' Committee. In 1861, he was made a First Lieutenant of the 6th Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers. 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. In 1880, he was listed as living at 6 Colville Gardens,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

. Henry Brinsley Sheridan died on 19 April 1906 aged 86.

Parliamentary election results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Henry Brinsley 1820 births 1906 deaths Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 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 Members of the Inner Temple