Walter John Stanton was an English civil engineer and woollen manufacturer and a Liberal Party

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...

 politician. He sat in the House of Commons briefly in 1874 and from 1880 to 1885.

Early life

Stanton was the son of Charles Stanton of Upfield Stroud and his wife Martha Holbrow, daughter of Thomas Holbrow. His uncle William Henry Stanton

William Henry Stanton

William Henry Stanton was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.William H. Stanton was born in New York City. He moved with his parents to Carbondale, Pennsylvania, and subsequently to Archbald, Pennsylvania. He attended the public schools in Archbald and Saint...

 had been a Member 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,...

 (MP) for the borough of Stroud

Stroud (UK Parliament constituency)

Stroud is a county 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....

 from 1841 to 1852.

He was educated at Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 and originally became a civil engineer

Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

, studying under Joseph Locke

Joseph Locke

Joseph Locke was a notable English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects...

.

Career

Later he became a woollen manufacturer and a J.P.

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Gloucestershire and a captain in the 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers. From 1861 to 1874 he was chairman of the Stroud Local Board. Along with other members of his family, he ran a major carpet

Carpet

A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...

-manufacturing business in Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

.

At the 1874 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1874

-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 *...

 Stanton was elected as an MP for the borough of Stroud

Stroud (UK Parliament constituency)

Stroud is a county 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....

, but his election was voided on petition

Election petition

An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election or local government election in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong.- Outcomes :...

. His cousin Alfred Stanton

Alfred John Stanton

Alfred John Stanton was a British Liberal Member of Parliament representing Stroud who was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 18 May 1874 .-References:...

 was elected in his place, and at the 1880 general election

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 *...

, and Alfred stood aside and Walter was re-elected, holding the seat until 1885.

At the 1885 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1885

-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

, the two-seat parliamentary borough

Parliamentary borough

Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

 of Stroud was abolished, and the town became part of a larger single-seat division of Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

. Stroud's other Liberal MP, Henry Brand

Henry Brand, 2nd Viscount Hampden

Henry Robert Brand, 2nd Viscount Hampden, GCMG was Governor of New South Wales from 1895 to 1899.-Background:Hampden was the son of Henry Brand, 1st Viscount Hampden...

, was chosen to contest the new seat, and narrowly won it. However, he later joined the breakaway 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, and at the 1886 general election

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**...

 Stanton was again the Liberal candidate in Stroud. Brand stood unsuccessfully in Cardiff Boroughs, and in Stroud Stanton was beaten by the Conservative candidate George Holloway

George Holloway (politician)

George Holloway was a British Conservative Member of Parliament representing Stroud who was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 10 July 1886.-George Holloway:George Holloway MP,...

.

Stanton died at the age of 85, on 2 August 1913. His funeral was held in Stroud Parish Church.

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