William Saunders (Liberal politician)

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William Saunders (20 November 1823 – 1 May 1895)[1][2] was a British newspaper publisher and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1895.

Biography[]

Saunders was born in 1823 in Market Lavington, the youngest son of Mary and Amram Saunders. He went to school in Devizes.[3] Alfred Saunders (1820–1905) was an elder brother and Alfred's child Sarah Page was his niece.[4][5]

Saunders, who was a member of The Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum),[6] founded several newspapers. He established the Western Morning News at Plymouth in 1860 with Edward Spender.[7] The Eastern Morning News was established at Hull and the first number appeared in January 1864.[8] Saunders also established the Central News Agency, and was vice-president of the temperance society United Kingdom Alliance.[9]

In the 1885 general election, Saunders was elected Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East but lost the seat in the 1886 general election.[1][10]

In January 1889 he was elected to the newly created London County Council as a councillor representing the Walworth division of Newington. Nominated by the local Liberal and Radical Association, he took his seat as a member of the majority Progressive Party, allied to the parliamentary Liberals.[11] He was re-elected in 1892, holding his seat until 1895.[12]

He returned to the House of Commons at the 1892 general election when he won Walworth from the sitting Conservative MP. He died in office in May 1895, triggering a in which the seat was regained by the Conservatives.[2][10]

Saunders married Caroline Spender and was great uncle of poet Stephen Spender.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "House of Commons constituencies beginning with "H" (part 4)". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2009.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "House of Commons constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2009.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "William Saunders – political firebrand". Market Lavington Museum. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  4. ^ McGibbon, Ian. "Saunders, Alfred". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  5. ^ Bohan, Edmund. "Page, Sarah". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Historic People". Plymouth Athenaeum. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  7. ^ Moseley, Brian (23 May 2011). "Western Morning News". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  8. ^ Social institutions, A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1: The City of Kingston upon Hull (1969), pp. 418–432. Date accessed: 5 May 2009
  9. ^ Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 36, 129. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  11. ^ "The London County Council". Morning Post. 20 December 1888. p. 2.
  12. ^ Jackson, W Eric (1965). Achievement. A Short History of the London County Council. London: Longmans. p. 279.
  13. ^ John Sutherland (2005). Stephen Spender: A Literary Life. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-19-534638-1.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency
 Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East
1885 – 1886 		Succeeded by
Frederick Grotrian
Preceded by
Lewis Henry Isaacs 		Member of Parliament for Walworth
1892 – 		Succeeded by
James Bailey
Retrieved from ""