Sydney Gedge was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician and prominent lay member of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

.

Born in North Runcton

North Runcton

North Runcton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is west of Norwich, south-south-west of King's Lynn and north of London. The village is located a small distance south-west of the A47 between King's Lynn and Swaffham. The nearest railway station is at...

, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, he was the eldest son of the Rev. Sydney Gedge, and was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham

King Edward's School, Birmingham

King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...

 and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...

. He graduated in 1854, and received a first class Moral Sciences Tripos

Tripos

The University of Cambridge, England, divides the different kinds of honours bachelor's degree by Tripos , plural Triposes. The word has an obscure etymology, but may be traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on when taking oral examinations...

. He married Augusta Herring in 1857.

He became a solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

, and senior partner in Gedge, Fisher & Gedge. The company became solicitors to the London School Board

London School Board

The School Board for London was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London....

 in 1870, and Gedge was solicitor to the board for twenty years.

Gedge first stood for election to parliament in 1880

United Kingdom general election, 1880

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...

, but failed to be elected at Cambridge

Cambridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Cambridge is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....

. Five years later he was the Conservative candidate for Luton

Luton (UK Parliament constituency)

Luton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Luton in Bedfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....

, but again was unsuccessful.
In 1886

United Kingdom general election, 1886

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

 he was elected as one of two Conservative Members 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,...

 (MPs) for Stockport

Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)

Stockport is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

, but was defeated at the subsequent 1892 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1892

The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...

. He returned to the House of Commons in 1895 as member for Walsall

Walsall (UK Parliament constituency)

Walsall was a borough constituency centred on the town of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....

, defeating the sitting 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...

 Arthur Hayter

Arthur Hayter, 1st Baron Haversham

Arthur Divett Hayter, 1st Baron Haversham PC , known as Sir Arthur Hayter, Bt, from 1878 to 1906, was a British Liberal politician...

. In 1900

United Kingdom general election, 1900

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

 Hayter regained the Walsall seat, ending Gedge's parliamentary career. In November 1900 he stood unsuccessfully for election to the London School Board. He was also defeated when he was a candidate for the London County Council

London County Council

London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...

 in 1901.

Gedge was deeply involved in the Church of England, being a diocesan lay reader

Lay Reader

A lay reader is a layperson authorized by a bishop of the Anglican Church to read some parts of a service of worship. They are members of the congregation called to preach or lead services, but not called to full-time ministry.Anglican lay readers are licensed by the bishop to a particular parish...

 and a member of the House of Laymen of the General Synod

General Synod

-Church of England:In the Church of England, the General Synod, which was established in 1970 , is the legislative body of the Church.-Episcopal Church of the United States:...

. He was a governor of Ridley Hall and Wycliffe Hall and of Westfield College

Westfield College

Westfield College was a small college situated in Kidderpore Avenue, Hampstead, London, and was a constituent college of the University of London from 1882 to 1989. The college originally admitted only women as students and became coeducational in 1964. In 1989, Westfield College merged with Queen...

 for Women, and an enthusiastic member of the Church Missionary Society.

He died at his home in Mitcham

Mitcham

Mitcham is a district in the south west area of London, in the London Borough of Merton. A suburban area, Mitcham is located on the border of Inner London and Outer London. It is both residentially and financially developed, well served by Transport for London, and home to Mitcham Town Centre,...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

in 1923, aged 93.

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