Henry Handley (17 March 1797 – 29 June 1846) was a

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Whig politician. Handley was the third, but first surviving, son of Benjamin Handley, an attorney and banker, and his wife Frances née Conington. He began his education at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

in 1805, before moving to

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

in 1822, and then matriculating at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

in 1815. In 1816, he then entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. In 1825, he married Caroline Edwardes, daughter of

William Edwardes, 2nd Baron Kensington William Edwardes, 2nd Baron Kensington (24 April 1777 – 10 August 1852), styled The Honourable William Edwardes until 1801, was a British peer and Member of Parliament. He was the instigator of the infamous ''Kensington Canal''. Biography Ken ...

, and they had two sons, and eight daughters, while another

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

child is also recorded for Handley. He inherited his father's estate in 1828. Handley was elected a Whig MP for

Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small nei ...

at a by-election in 1820 and held the seat until 1826, when he was not re-elected. Around this time, he and his family lived in

Culverthorpe Hall Culverthorpe Hall, Culverthorpe, Lincolnshire, England is an 18th-century country house. It is a Grade I listed building. History In the 17th century the estate at Culverthorpe was held by the Listers. In around 1679, it was bought by Sir John Ne ...

, five miles from Sleaford, which Henry was renting. The year after his marriage Handley left parliament and became a

gentleman farmer In the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, a gentleman farmer is a landowner who has a farm (gentleman's farm) as part of his estate and who farms as a hobby rather than for profit or sustenance. The Collins English Dictionary defin ...

at Culverthorpe. In 1832, at the request of local freeholders, he was elected again to parliament, this time representing the new constituency (along with Gilbert Heathcote) and a member of the Whig party. Handley received local praise for his parliamentary action and was again elected in 1835 and 1837. During the early 1830s Handley was a proponent of steam power; both in relation to agriculture and the railways. In 1829 he had offered a prize to anyone able to create a successful steam plough. In 1835 he helped revive Nicholas Cundy's proposal for a "Grand Northern Railway", running between London and York. As well as forming a company for the project, Northern and Eastern, Handley obtained the services of engineer James Walker to survey the proposed route. In 1836 various proposals for such lines were considered by parliament; the Northern and Eastern line was approved, but only as far as Cambridge (

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...

had convinced parliament that a Northern line via Derby was sufficient). Handley's support of the Whig government in an 1840

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

caused a falling out with his party and he decided not to stand in the 1841 general election. Nevertheless, his candidacy was proposed and seconded, although he was not re-elected. A year after leaving parliament for the second time Handley became president of the recently formed Royal Agricultural Society; he had been one of 12 trustees during the society's formation in 1838/39. Handley died on 29 June 1846 at Surrenden-Dering, Kent, he is buried at Pluckley. The following year Sleaford townspeople began raising a subscription to construct a memorial in the town, eventually obtaining £942. Construction on the "Handley Testimonial in Sleaford" (now known as "Handley's monument"), designed by William Boyle, began in 1850 and was completed in 1852. A street was later named after him.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Handley, Henry UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies 1797 births 1846 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People educated at Eton College English barristers