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 John Hopkinson, FRS, (27 July 1849 – 27 August 1898) was a British physicist, electrical engineer, Fellow of the Royal Society and President of the IEE (now the IET) twice in 1890 and 1896. He invented the three-wire (three-phase) system for ...

, 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 The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

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 Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. 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 Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society). Promi ...

the same year on 29 November 1898, Hopkinson was vice-chancellor of the

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

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 The Committee on Alleged German Outrages, often called the Bryce Report after its chair, Viscount James Bryce (1838–1922), is best known for producing the "Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages," published on 12 May 1915. The report ...

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 A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LL.D) from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

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 Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1918 until 1950). It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English universities, except for Cambridge, Oxford and London ...

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 Austin Hopkinson JP (24 June 1879 – 2 September 1962) was a British industrialist and Member of Parliament (MP) who represented Mossley as an Independent from 1918 to 1929 and 1931 to 1945. He was also a noted benefactor to local causes, a ...

, 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 Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cricklade

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