Mitchell Henry
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
financier, politician and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. He was MP for Galway County
Galway County (UK Parliament constituency)
The UK Parliament constituency of County Galway was an historic Irish constituency, comprised the whole of County Galway, except for the Borough of Galway. It replaced the pre-Act of Union Parliament of Ireland constituency...
from 1871 to 1885, and for Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown
Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown, representing parts of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1918....
from 1885 to 1886.
Mitchell Henry was the second son of Alexander Henry (1784-1862) of Woodlands, near Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, a very affluent cotton merchant, founder of A & S Henry & Co Ltd and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for South Lancashire
South Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)
South Lancashire, formally called the Southern Division of Lancashire or Lancashire Southern, is a former county constituency in England...
from 1847 to 1852, who was married to Elizabeth, daughter of George Brush of Willowbrook, Killinchy, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, and a supporter of the Anti-Corn Law League
Anti-Corn Law League
The Anti-Corn Law League was in effect the resumption of the Anti-Corn Law Association, which had been created in London in 1836 but did not obtain widespread popularity. The Anti-Corn Law League was founded in Manchester in 1838...
. He was educated in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
where he read for a degree in medicine, eventually becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
. He become a senior consultant at the Middlesex Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
in London by the time he was 30.
After the death of his father in 1862 Mitchell Henry abandoned his career in medicine and returned to his native Manchester to run the family business. He soon became involved in politics and contested Woodstock for the Liberals
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...
in 1865, and stood in the 1867 Manchester by-election, and the 1868 general election, as a moderate Liberal, but was well-beaten in both contests. As part of his candidature in 1868 Henry started up the Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
, though it passed out of his hands at the end of the election. He was particularly interested in the cause for a better health provision for the poor.
In 1852, he married Margaret Vaughan
Margaret Vaughan
Margaret Vaughan was the daughter of George Vaughan of Quilly House, County Down.Her family was distantly related to the Earl of Lisburne, whose crest and coat of arms are the same. As a child she had been brought up with the future Cardinal Vaughan, her cousin.She married Mitchell Henry in 1852....
(d. 1875) of Quilly House, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
. He built Kylemore Castle
Kylemore Abbey
Kylemore Abbey is a Benedictine monastery founded in 1920 on the grounds of Kylemore Castle, in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. The abbey was founded for Benedictine Nuns who fled Belgium in World War I.- History :...
in Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
Co. Galway between 1863 and 1868. He had nine children, five daughters and four sons. The youngest son Lorenzo Mitchell-Henry became an international pigeon shot and invented the Henrite shot-gun cartridge. He later became a record setting Tunny fisherman.
In 1875 his wife Margaret died, aged fifty, of a fever contracted in Egypt. After this Mitchell did not spend so much time at Kylemore, although it was all kept going. However, he built a beautiful memorial church about a mile from the Castle on the shore of the lake, in which Margaret was finally laid to rest and where in due course he joined her. The church is a miniature replica of Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England, and is commonly known as Bristol Cathedral...
, the inside being composed mainly of green Connemara marble.
In 1871 he was returned MP for Galway County, and supported Home Rule for Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Having broken with the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
in 1884, in 1885 he was elected Liberal MP for the Blackfriars Division of Glasgow
Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown, representing parts of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1918....
, but defeat the following year when standing as a Liberal Unionist spelt the end of his parliamentary career.
He died in November 1910 at his home in Leamington in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
.
Further reading
- Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill: "History of Kylemore Castle and Abbey", Kylemore Abbey Publications (30 Sep 2002), ISBN-10: 0954231015; ISBN-13: 978-0954231019.