Joseph Sturge was an English Quaker, abolitionist and activist. He founded the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. He worked throughout his life in Radical political actions supporting pacifism, working-class rights, and the universal emancipation of slaves. In the late 1830s, he published two books about the apprenticeship system in Jamaica, which helped persuade the British Parliament to adopt an earlier full emancipation date. In Jamaica, Sturge also helped found Free Villages with the Baptists, to provide living quarters for freed slaves; one was named Sturge Town in his memory.
South Staffordshire was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Warwick was a parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Warwick, within the larger Warwickshire constituency of England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and then to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1885.
The Cardigan District of Boroughs was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election. The borough constituency comprised the four towns of Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Lampeter and Adpar - geographically separated from each other but all within the county of Cardiganshire.
Oldbury and Halesowen was a parliamentary constituency in the West Midlands, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.
Helston, sometimes known as Helleston, was a parliamentary borough centred on the small town of Helston in Cornwall.
Bristol was a two-member constituency, used to elect members to the House of Commons in the Parliaments of England, Great Britain (1707–1800), and the United Kingdom. The constituency existed until Bristol was divided into single member constituencies in 1885.
Evesham was a parliamentary constituency in Worcestershire which was represented in the English and later British House of Commons. Originally a parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Evesham, it was first represented in 1295. After this its franchise lapsed for several centuries, but it then returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1604 until 1868, when its representation was reduced to one member under the Representation of the People Act 1867.
Dudley is a constituency centred on the town of Dudley in the West Midlands, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sonia Kumar, a member of the Labour Party. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.
Nottingham was a parliamentary borough in Nottinghamshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1295. In 1885 the constituency was abolished and the city of Nottingham divided into three single-member constituencies.
Birmingham City Organist is an appointment made by the City of Birmingham. The purpose of the appointment is to have an organist for civic occasions and who will provide a series of free public organ recitals.
Richard Smith was an English-born mining engineer, industrialist and politician. He represented Cape Breton County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1833 to 1834. Between 1836 and 1864, Smith was the mineral agent for the estate of the Lords of Dudley.
Ben Boucher (1769-1851) was an English poet who described life in Dudley in the Black Country during the 19th century.
Brooke Robinson was a British Conservative Party politician, who was MP for Dudley and held a number of public posts including that of County Coroner for Dudley. He also was an art collector and benefactor whose legacy was the Town Hall and a museum in the town of Dudley.
Thomas Hawkes was an English industrialist and politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Dudley in 1834, defeating the sitting candidate Sir John Campbell to become the second person to represent Dudley at the UK Parliament. He retained his Parliamentary seat in three subsequent elections, stepping down in 1844 after having financial problems.
John Benbow was a Conservative politician who represented Dudley in the UK Parliament in the nineteenth century. He won his seat in 1844 and served until his death in 1855.
The Mayor of Dudley is an office held by a councillor of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. The post is partly ceremonial although the mayor does also preside over full meetings of the council and has the duty of holding decision makers to account. The mayor is elected by fellow councillors in May of each year. Before 1865, when the municipal borough was incorporated, the position was associated with the Court Leet of the Lords of Dudley, which governed the borough of Dudley from at least the middle of the 16th century and probably from the Middle Ages. The earliest known mayor, John A’Parke was selected in 1565.
Samuel Cook lived in Dudley in the 19th century, where he promoted Radical political causes. He agitated for political reform, displaying political posters in the windows of his draper's shop. He became Chairman of the Dudley Political Union, which advocated parliamentary reform, and had a leading role in the Dudley Chartist movement. His political agitation resulted in him being put on trial on many occasions.
Charles Edge was a British architect based in Birmingham.
A by-election was held on 1 May 1866 to return an MP for the constituency of Helston, England. The by-election was caused by the declaration that Adolphus Young's election in the 1865 United Kingdom general election was null and void due to bribery. Two candidates contested the election: Robert Campbell for the Liberal Party and William Baliol Brett for the Conservatives. On the original count, both candidates received 153 votes but Campbell was declared the winner after Thomas Rogers—the mayor of Helston, who was serving as the returning officer—made a casting vote in his favour.
