On This Day
16 November 1811
Birth of John Bright, tireless campaigner for Free Trade and the repeal of the Corn Laws
Bright is noted as founder of the Anti-Corn Law League, along with Richard Cobden. He served in the House of Commons from 1843 to 1889, where he campaigned for the abolition of the Corn Laws and rotten boroughs, universal suffrage and secret ballots for elections. A Quaker, he joined Cobden in his opposition to the Crimean War. In 1868 William Gladstone appointed Bright to President of the Board of Trade. He was also to serve as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, resigning from Cabinet in 1874 after Gladstone ordered the bombarding of Alexandria. He is noted for introducing the phrase Mother of Parliaments in relation to the Houses of Parliament and for the first use of flogging a dead horse.