John Kynaston Cross was a British cotton spinner and Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician.

Background

Cross was the second of the thirteen children of John Cross and his wife Hannah, daughter of Richard Kynaston. He was a partner in the family firm of John Cross & Co, cotton spinners.

Political career

Cross entered Parliament for Bolton

Bolton (UK Parliament constituency)

Bolton was a borough constituency centred on the town of Bolton in the county of Lancashire. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons for the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system....

 in 1874, a seat he held until 1885, when he was defeated. In 1883 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for India

Under-Secretary of State for India

This is a list of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Permanent Under-Secretaries of State at the India Office during the period of British rule between 1866 and 1948, and for Burma from 1858-1948....

 in the second Liberal administration

Liberal Government 1880-1885

After ardently campaigning against the foreign policy of Lord Beaconsfield's Conservative Government, William Gladstone led the Liberal Party to victory in the United Kingdom General Election of 1880. The nominal leader of the Party, Lord Hartington, resigned in Gladstone's favour and Gladstone....

 of William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...

, a post he retained until the government fell two years later.

Family

Cross married Emily (née Carlton). They had five sons and three daughters. Cross suffered from diabetes which caused severe depression. He committed suicide by hanging in March 1887, aged 54. His wife died in 1911.

External links