John Frederick Lees | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Oldham | |
In office 1835–1837 | |
Preceded by | William Cobbett |
Succeeded by | William Augustus Johnson |
Personal details | |
Born | 1809 Oldham, Lancashire |
Died | 1867 (aged 57–58) Cheltenham, Gloucestershire |
Political party | Liberal Conservative |
Relatives | Dame Sarah Lees |
Residences | |
Occupation | Politician |
John Frederick Lees (1809 – 1867) [1] was a British landowner and Liberal Conservative politician who represented Oldham in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a Member of Parliament from 1835 to 1837.
Lees was the grandson of a cotton manufacturer, [2] a local mill-owner, [3] mine-owner, [4] and landowner: the Lord of the manor of Oldham [5] and an Oxford graduate, [6] but was dismissed as "a gentleman... qualified neither by age nor ability to fulfill the duties of a member of the imperial parliament" by the Manchester Times. [7] Hansard reports him to have made no speeches in Parliament during his term. [8]
Thanks to internal squabbles (principally over the desired relationship between the state and the Anglican church) amongst the Radicals of Oldham, [9] he was elected as a 'Liberal Conservative' at a by-election caused by the death of William Cobbett, narrowly defeating John Morgan Cobbett (Cobbett's son) after another Radical candidate ( Feargus O'Connor) withdrew on the first morning of the poll. [10] Lees attributed his victory to the absence of the organised 'intimidation system' he claimed had been practiced in the previous contested election ( that of 1832). [11] By the general election of 1837 the Radicals had regrouped, and Lees came bottom of the poll: [12] this he attributed to the return of intimidation and ' exclusive dealing'. [13]