Joseph Powell-Williams
Encyclopedia
Joseph Powell Williams was English Liberal
and Liberal Unionist politician who was active in local government in Birmingham
and sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1904. He was a close political associate of Joseph Chamberlain
.
, which was founded by his father's cousin Thomas Wright Hill
. On leaving school he worked for Graham & James of Ludgate Hill, Solicitors, Birmingham. Business with this firm led him to travel to the United States where he was to represent this and other Birmingham interests. He considered staying but the outbreak of the Civil War led him to return to Britain. He was also a partner in the firm of Hill, Evans & Co., vinegar manufacturers, which, along with Lea & Perrins
, and Royal Worcester
, were industrial mainstays of the city of Worcester
. Joseph's father (also Joseph) was one of the founders of Hill, Evans & Co., the company was originally called Hill, Evans & Williams. It made not only vinegar but, what were then termed, British wines.
On his return from the United States he accepted an appointment to the Post Office which, under the guidance of Rowland Hill
(Joseph's second cousin), was undergoing a substantial revolution in the way it worked. While in the Post Office he had a share in setting up the Post Office Savings Bank. He also worked in the postal district to which Anthony Trollope
was surveyor and struck up a friendship with Trollope - it is said that he read many of the proofs of the author's novels.
In his later life, alongside his political career in Birmingham and Westminster, he held a number of positions including the chairmanship of the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company
.
where master often worked on the shop floor alongside their workers. Joseph's interests soon turned to joining the ranks of 'Radical' Liberal politicians who sought to reshape the late Nineteen Century political map of Britain.
On the death of his father in 1873 he returned from London to Birmingham. He had long associated himself with the Liberal Party in Birmingham and in 1877 he was elected as Councillor of St. Thomas's Ward. He joined Birmingham Council during the Mayoralty of Joseph Chamberlain
and he was to shape his political career within the group that surrounded Chamberlain. During this time he was Honorary Secretary to the Birmingham Liberal Association and, later, to the National Liberal Federation, and Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Birmingham City Council.
In 1885 Joseph Powell Williams entered Parliament for Birmingham South
as a Liberal
. He joined a group of mainly Birmingham based MP's, led by Joseph Chamberlain
. This group disagreed with William Ewart Gladstone
on a number of issues, their central platform being opposition to Gladstone's Irish policies
. To this end they created the Liberal Unionist
s in 1886 which were to split from the Liberal Party and side with the Conservatives. Joseph went on to serve in the Unionist administration of Lord Salisbury
as Financial Secretary to the War Office
from 1895 to 1901 and on leaving that post was sworn into the Privy Council in November 1901.
He is said to have played a key roll in Chamberlain's success in Birmingham and one source states that he and Jesse Collings
acted as Chamberlain's "political bodyguards". He is stated to have acted as a 'ghost' for Chamberlain's proposals on the Irish question and his article on the 'Radical Programme'. He was liked for his humour on the floor of the Commons, and reported by The Times
to be "greatly esteemed by lobby journalists and officials.", but he was probably more at home in the committee room and the back lobbies. His time as Financial Secretary to the War Office
was not always a success and the Daily Chronicle
stated that he was a "square peg in a round hole
", his office full of "blunders and bulls", but "good humoured about them". Despite his early uneasiness about the alliance between the Liberal Unionists and the Conservatives, the Birmingham Post
said that "He kept the Liberal Unionist seats going and the alliance with the Conservatives alive."
In February 1904 Powell-Williams suffered a stroke in the lobby of the House of Commons
from which he later died, aged 63.
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...
and Liberal Unionist politician who was active in local government in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1904. He was a close political associate of Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
.
Early and Working Life
Born in Worcester, he attended Hazlewood School, BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, which was founded by his father's cousin Thomas Wright Hill
Thomas Wright Hill
Thomas Wright Hill was a mathematician and schoolmaster. He is credited as inventing the single transferable vote in 1819...
. On leaving school he worked for Graham & James of Ludgate Hill, Solicitors, Birmingham. Business with this firm led him to travel to the United States where he was to represent this and other Birmingham interests. He considered staying but the outbreak of the Civil War led him to return to Britain. He was also a partner in the firm of Hill, Evans & Co., vinegar manufacturers, which, along with Lea & Perrins
Lea & Perrins
Lea & Perrins is a United Kingdom based food division of the H.J. Heinz Company, originating in Worcester, England, with a subsidiary in the United States which manufactures Lea & Perrins in New Jersey...
, and Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester is believed to be the oldest remaining English pottery brand still in existence today.-Overview:Royal Worcester is a British brand known for its history, provenance and classically English collections of porcelain...
, were industrial mainstays of the city of Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
. Joseph's father (also Joseph) was one of the founders of Hill, Evans & Co., the company was originally called Hill, Evans & Williams. It made not only vinegar but, what were then termed, British wines.
On his return from the United States he accepted an appointment to the Post Office which, under the guidance of Rowland Hill
Rowland Hill
Rowland Hill may refer to:* Rowland Hill , English Member of Parliament for the City of London* Sir Rowland Hill, 1st Baronet Hill of Hawkstone , built Hawkstone Park follies...
(Joseph's second cousin), was undergoing a substantial revolution in the way it worked. While in the Post Office he had a share in setting up the Post Office Savings Bank. He also worked in the postal district to which Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
was surveyor and struck up a friendship with Trollope - it is said that he read many of the proofs of the author's novels.
In his later life, alongside his political career in Birmingham and Westminster, he held a number of positions including the chairmanship of the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company
Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company
The Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company was a Birmingham, England, based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons. It was not part of the Midland Railway.Its products also included trams and even military tanks....
.
Political life
Joseph's family background was in religious dissent, the Williams family had played an active role in the Swan Hill Congregational Chapel in Shrewsbury. They had also had long associations with the craft based industries of the West Midlands conurbationWest Midlands conurbation
The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands....
where master often worked on the shop floor alongside their workers. Joseph's interests soon turned to joining the ranks of 'Radical' Liberal politicians who sought to reshape the late Nineteen Century political map of Britain.
On the death of his father in 1873 he returned from London to Birmingham. He had long associated himself with the Liberal Party in Birmingham and in 1877 he was elected as Councillor of St. Thomas's Ward. He joined Birmingham Council during the Mayoralty of Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
and he was to shape his political career within the group that surrounded Chamberlain. During this time he was Honorary Secretary to the Birmingham Liberal Association and, later, to the National Liberal Federation, and Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Birmingham City Council.
In 1885 Joseph Powell Williams entered Parliament for Birmingham South
Birmingham South (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham South was a parliamentary constituency in Birmingham which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1918 general election....
as a Liberal
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...
. He joined a group of mainly Birmingham based MP's, led by Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
. This group disagreed with 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...
on a number of issues, their central platform being opposition to Gladstone's Irish policies
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
. To this end they created the Liberal Unionist
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
s in 1886 which were to split from the Liberal Party and side with the Conservatives. Joseph went on to serve in the Unionist administration of Lord Salisbury
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
as Financial Secretary to the War Office
Financial Secretary to the War Office
Financial Secretary to the War Office was an office of the British government, the financial secretary of the War Office department.The post was combined with that of Under-Secretary of State for War from 17 April 1947....
from 1895 to 1901 and on leaving that post was sworn into the Privy Council in November 1901.
He is said to have played a key roll in Chamberlain's success in Birmingham and one source states that he and Jesse Collings
Jesse Collings
Jesse Collings was Mayor of Birmingham, England, a Liberal member of Parliament, but was best known nationally in the UK as an advocate of educational reform and land reform.-Background:...
acted as Chamberlain's "political bodyguards". He is stated to have acted as a 'ghost' for Chamberlain's proposals on the Irish question and his article on the 'Radical Programme'. He was liked for his humour on the floor of the Commons, and reported by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
to be "greatly esteemed by lobby journalists and officials.", but he was probably more at home in the committee room and the back lobbies. His time as Financial Secretary to the War Office
Financial Secretary to the War Office
Financial Secretary to the War Office was an office of the British government, the financial secretary of the War Office department.The post was combined with that of Under-Secretary of State for War from 17 April 1947....
was not always a success and the Daily Chronicle
Daily Chronicle
The Daily Chronicle was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the Daily News to become the News Chronicle.-History:...
stated that he was a "square peg in a round hole
Square peg in a round hole
A square peg in a round hole is an idiomatic expression which describes the unusualindividualist who could not fit into a niche of his society.-English literature:...
", his office full of "blunders and bulls", but "good humoured about them". Despite his early uneasiness about the alliance between the Liberal Unionists and the Conservatives, the Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
said that "He kept the Liberal Unionist seats going and the alliance with the Conservatives alive."
In February 1904 Powell-Williams suffered a stroke in the lobby of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
from which he later died, aged 63.