Talk:Sir Francis Powell, 1st Baronet

Latest comment: 6 years ago by Andrew Gray in topic Wigan, 1857-59?

Wigan, 1857-59?

edit

Was this Powell the Francis Powell who was MP for Wigan in 1857-59? Historic Hansard seems to think so, but it does occasionally conflate two people of the same name with similar careers. His entry in Who Was Who just has "MP (C) Cambridge, 1863–68; Northern Division of West Riding, Yorkshire, 1872–74; Wigan, 1885–1910" - no mention of an earlier seat. Some of his obituaries do mention an earlier stint in Bradford (Daily News, Aberdeen Press & Journal, but I've also seen cases where obituaries likewise conflated two similar MPs, so it's hard to be confident. Andrew Gray (talk) 20:18, 24 February 2018 (UTC)Reply

Aha, and confirmation from an unexpected source - his statue! The plaque on c:File:Sir Francis Powell Wigan Statue.jpg seems to fairly unambiguously confirm he was the MP 1857-59, and as he himself unveiled it, we can only assume he'd have noticed if it was wrong. Wonder why it was omitted in Who's Who? Andrew Gray (talk) 20:21, 24 February 2018 (UTC)Reply