Sir Joseph Francis Leese, 1st Baronet, (28 February 1845 – 29 July 1914) was a British judge,

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician and first-class cricketer.

Background

The second of eight children, Joseph was born in February 1845 to Joseph Leese (1815–1906), of

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, a cotton spinner who had founded the firm of Messrs. Kershaw, Sidebotham & Co, and his wife Frances Susan Scurr (1819-1890). He was educated at

Regent's Park College Regent's Park College (known colloquially within the university as Regent's) is a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford, situated in central Oxford, just off St Giles', England, United Kingdom. Founded in 1810, the college move ...

and gained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

in 1863.https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bq/09-3_139.pdf He briefly attended the Gonville & Caius College at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1864. In 1867, Leese married Mary Constance Hargreaves (1848-1928). They had six sons and two daughters, including first-class cricketer and barrister William Leese. Leese's younger sister married the Town Clerk of

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

, John Davies Williams. Williams was the uncle of Welsh priest John Rhys Davies.

Legal career

Leese qualified as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and was admitted to 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 ...

in 1868. During his early career he was heavily involved in nonconformist campaigning for religious education reform, serving as a member of the United Nonconformist Committee, (frequently chairing meetings across England), and the

National Education League The National Education League was a political movement in England and Wales which promoted elementary education for all children, free from religious control. It was founded in 1869 and dissolved in 1877. It developed from the Birmingham Education ...

. Both groups called for amendments and reform of the

Endowed Schools Act 1869 The Endowed Schools Act 1869 ( 32 & 33 Vict. c. 56) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Endowed Schools Acts 1869 to 1948. It was passed during William Ewart Gladstone’s first ministry, to restructure endowed ...

and the Elementary Education Act in 1870. He was also known to have attended meetings in support of

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 of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. He served as secretary, and later president, of the Manchester Nonconformist Association from its formation in 1871. Leese stood as a candidate for the first Manchester

School Board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

, but withdrew on account of the large number of Liberals standing. Leese was a member of the

Manchester Athenaeum The Athenaeum on Princess Street in Manchester, England, now part of Manchester Art Gallery, was originally a club built for the Manchester Athenaeum, a society for the "advancement and diffusion of knowledge", in 1837. The society, founded in ...

. Leese was a vocal supporter of the unsuccessful Liberal candidate

George William Latham George William Latham (4 May 1827 – 4 October 1886) was an English landowner and barrister and a Liberal politician. Latham was born in London, the son of John Latham (1787–1853) of Bradwall Hall, Sandbach, and his wife, Elizabeth Anne D ...

in 1873 and 1880, later supporting fellow nonconformist

Jacob Bright The Rt Hon. Jacob Bright (26 May 1821 – 7 November 1899) was a British Liberal politician serving as Mayor of Rochdale and later Member of Parliament for Manchester. Background Bright was born at Green Bank near Rochdale, Lancashire. He w ...

in his successful re-election bid for

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 1876. He was invested as a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1891. He was appointed Recorder of Manchester in 1893, and became a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

at the Inner Temple in 1898.

Political career

Leese first stood as a Liberal candidate for Preston in 1868; He stood again, this time for

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

in 1886, coming second. He was eventually elected at the 1892 General Election, gaining the seat from the Conservatives. During his time in office, Leese served on the committee for the

Irish Land Acts The Land Acts (officially Land Law (Ireland) Acts) were a series of measures to deal with the question of tenancy contracts and peasant proprietorship of land in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Five such acts were introduced by ...

, and was often involved in agricultural and educational affairs, particularly the

Education Act 1902 The Education Act 1902 ( 2 Edw. 7. c. 42), also known as the Balfour Act, was a highly controversial act of Parliament that set the pattern of elementary education in England and Wales for four decades. It was brought to Parliament by a Conserva ...

. He announced he would retire in early 1903, but decided to stay through the next election, which was held in 1906. He voted in favour of the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill. He retired from parliament at the

January 1910 General Election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

Cricket career

He played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire Cricket Club represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire in Cricket in England, English cricket. The club has held first-class cricket, first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's ho ...

from 1865 to 1881. He played 25 first-class matches as a batsman but only averaged 13 runs per innings. He occasionally bowled, taking 5 wickets in his career at an average of 19.

Later life

Leese was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1895 Birthday Honours and was created a

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 14th ...

on 15 July 1908. Following his retirement he continued in his role as Recorder of Manchester, however he suffered with ill health throughout 1913, and he retired from the role in January 1914. He died at Sutton Park,

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, Surrey in July that year, aged 69, and was buried in St. Mary's Churchyard, Send, on 1 August. On his death, his baronetcy passed to his son,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, but eventually became dormant following the passing of Joseph's great-grandson, Alexander William Leese, in 1979.

References

External links

* * http://www.ukwhoswho.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Leese, Joseph 1845 births 1914 deaths Members of the Inner Temple Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 British barristers English King's Counsel 19th-century King's Counsel 1

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

Knights Bachelor English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Gentlemen of the North cricketers Alumni of Regent's Park College, London