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Hamer Stansfeld
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Hamer Stansfeld
Hamer Stansfeld JP (/ˈstænsfiːld/ STANSS-feeld; 17 February 1797 – 1865) was a British merchant and Radical and Liberal politician who represented Leeds as Mayor (1843–44) and Alderman (from 1835), and led the development of the first custom-built hydropathic hotel, the Ben Rhydding Hydro (1844).
Prominent in the Anti-Corn Law League and as a proponent of the extension of the electoral franchise and state-funded education, he was also known for his writings on currency and money supply and for a dispute, played out in the local press, with the High Churchman and Tractarian Walter Hook, Vicar of Leeds.
Hamer Stansfeld was born on 17 February 1797, the ninth son and thirteenth child of the merchant David Stansfeld (1755–1818), of Leeds, Yorkshire, and his wife Sarah Wolrich (1757–1824), daughter of Thomas Wolrich (1719–91) of Armley House, Leeds; and grandson of David Stansfeld (1720–69) of Hope Hall, Halifax, Yorkshire. He was a descendant of the Stansfeld family of Stansfield and Sowerby, Yorkshire, uncle of the Liberal politician Sir James Stansfeld, and a distant cousin of the politician William Crompton-Stansfield and the soldiers James Rawdon Stansfeld, Thomas Wolryche Stansfeld and John R. E. Stansfeld. He was a member of a very old Yorkshire family, which had for many generations held a position of influence in the county.
Stansfeld was a junior partner in the textile manufacturing company of Stansfeld, Briggs, and Stansfeld, which succumbed to bankruptcy in the Panic of 1825. Stansfeld was described as "one of the leading mercantile men" in Leeds, and one who took an active part in many of the public affairs of the borough. He is noted as being "in Prussia selling cloth" in c.1839–40.
Stansfeld became an alderman of Leeds Corporation from after the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 until 1847, rising to the position of Mayor of Leeds in 1843–44. He was described as one of the most active magistrates on the commission for the peace of the borough of Leeds and was also a Justice of the Peace for the West Riding of Yorkshire.
In his views, Stansfeld was a Liberal radical, a strong advocate of the principles of free trade, and leading member of the Anti-Corn Law League. He corresponded with Richard Cobden and John Bright, and lobbied in London for the interests of the town. He was a supporter of household suffrage for the elective franchise, and in 1837 became president of the Leeds Household Suffrage Association. He was one of the sponsors of the establishment, in April 1844, of the Leeds Friendly Loan Society, which was, in part, designed to make loans to wage-earners who wished to establish their own small businesses. The Leeds Intelligencer of August 1840 noted a number of other platforms on which Stansfeld stood: the entire separation of church and state; expulsion of bishops from the House of Lords; vote by ballot; shortening the duration of parliaments; abolition of church rates; and the reform of ecclesiastical courts.
Stansfeld was a zealous advocate of state-assisted education and an opponent of Edward Baines who argued for voluntaryism in the provision of education. The question of whether educational provision should be voluntary or state supported proved to be a key issue in Leeds and, in 1847, caused a split in Liberal ranks during the parliamentary election which returned (perhaps against expectations) William Beckett, a Conservative; and James Garth Marshall, a Liberal whose election committee was chaired by Stansfeld. Edward Baines's favoured candidate, the Radical Joseph Sturge, was not elected. Though Baines lost this contest, the "Bainesocracy" in municipal Leeds achieved a measure of payback when Stansfeld failed to be re-elected to the Leeds Corporation later in 1847.
Stansfeld's opposition to church rates placed him against Walter Hook, Vicar of Leeds, and Leeds Tories, who supported their reimposition. The Tories made a political issue of the dispute and, in April 1840, launched a personal attack on Stansfeld, alleging that his position constituted a breach of the oath he had taken as Alderman, to '...never exercise any power authority or influence which I may possess by virtue of the office of Alderman to injure or weaken the Protestant Church....' The Tories first made an indirect and oblique criticism of Stansfeld within the Council chamber; later, they organised an unsuccessful petition to The Marquess of Normanby, the Home Secretary, calling for Stansfeld's removal as Alderman. Stansfeld defended himself by drawing the distinction between actions taken as Alderman, and those of a private individual. As was normal for the times, the dispute played out through correspondence in local newspapers.
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Hamer Stansfeld
Hamer Stansfeld JP (/ˈstænsfiːld/ STANSS-feeld; 17 February 1797 – 1865) was a British merchant and Radical and Liberal politician who represented Leeds as Mayor (1843–44) and Alderman (from 1835), and led the development of the first custom-built hydropathic hotel, the Ben Rhydding Hydro (1844).
Prominent in the Anti-Corn Law League and as a proponent of the extension of the electoral franchise and state-funded education, he was also known for his writings on currency and money supply and for a dispute, played out in the local press, with the High Churchman and Tractarian Walter Hook, Vicar of Leeds.
Hamer Stansfeld was born on 17 February 1797, the ninth son and thirteenth child of the merchant David Stansfeld (1755–1818), of Leeds, Yorkshire, and his wife Sarah Wolrich (1757–1824), daughter of Thomas Wolrich (1719–91) of Armley House, Leeds; and grandson of David Stansfeld (1720–69) of Hope Hall, Halifax, Yorkshire. He was a descendant of the Stansfeld family of Stansfield and Sowerby, Yorkshire, uncle of the Liberal politician Sir James Stansfeld, and a distant cousin of the politician William Crompton-Stansfield and the soldiers James Rawdon Stansfeld, Thomas Wolryche Stansfeld and John R. E. Stansfeld. He was a member of a very old Yorkshire family, which had for many generations held a position of influence in the county.
Stansfeld was a junior partner in the textile manufacturing company of Stansfeld, Briggs, and Stansfeld, which succumbed to bankruptcy in the Panic of 1825. Stansfeld was described as "one of the leading mercantile men" in Leeds, and one who took an active part in many of the public affairs of the borough. He is noted as being "in Prussia selling cloth" in c.1839–40.
Stansfeld became an alderman of Leeds Corporation from after the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 until 1847, rising to the position of Mayor of Leeds in 1843–44. He was described as one of the most active magistrates on the commission for the peace of the borough of Leeds and was also a Justice of the Peace for the West Riding of Yorkshire.
In his views, Stansfeld was a Liberal radical, a strong advocate of the principles of free trade, and leading member of the Anti-Corn Law League. He corresponded with Richard Cobden and John Bright, and lobbied in London for the interests of the town. He was a supporter of household suffrage for the elective franchise, and in 1837 became president of the Leeds Household Suffrage Association. He was one of the sponsors of the establishment, in April 1844, of the Leeds Friendly Loan Society, which was, in part, designed to make loans to wage-earners who wished to establish their own small businesses. The Leeds Intelligencer of August 1840 noted a number of other platforms on which Stansfeld stood: the entire separation of church and state; expulsion of bishops from the House of Lords; vote by ballot; shortening the duration of parliaments; abolition of church rates; and the reform of ecclesiastical courts.
Stansfeld was a zealous advocate of state-assisted education and an opponent of Edward Baines who argued for voluntaryism in the provision of education. The question of whether educational provision should be voluntary or state supported proved to be a key issue in Leeds and, in 1847, caused a split in Liberal ranks during the parliamentary election which returned (perhaps against expectations) William Beckett, a Conservative; and James Garth Marshall, a Liberal whose election committee was chaired by Stansfeld. Edward Baines's favoured candidate, the Radical Joseph Sturge, was not elected. Though Baines lost this contest, the "Bainesocracy" in municipal Leeds achieved a measure of payback when Stansfeld failed to be re-elected to the Leeds Corporation later in 1847.
Stansfeld's opposition to church rates placed him against Walter Hook, Vicar of Leeds, and Leeds Tories, who supported their reimposition. The Tories made a political issue of the dispute and, in April 1840, launched a personal attack on Stansfeld, alleging that his position constituted a breach of the oath he had taken as Alderman, to '...never exercise any power authority or influence which I may possess by virtue of the office of Alderman to injure or weaken the Protestant Church....' The Tories first made an indirect and oblique criticism of Stansfeld within the Council chamber; later, they organised an unsuccessful petition to The Marquess of Normanby, the Home Secretary, calling for Stansfeld's removal as Alderman. Stansfeld defended himself by drawing the distinction between actions taken as Alderman, and those of a private individual. As was normal for the times, the dispute played out through correspondence in local newspapers.