On This Day
17 March 1874
Death of John Candlish, Liberal MP for Sunderland 1866-74
Candlish (1816-74) was a labourer turned businessman (glass bottle manufacturer) and publisher who, despite his early conservative tendencies, went Liberal over Free Trade and social reform in his home town of Sunderland. Elected to Sunderland Council in 1848, he was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate at the general election of 1865 but won a by-election the following year and was handsomely re-elected in 1868 with the increased electorate of the town, enfranchised under the 1867 Reform Act, supporting the radical agenda which led to Gladstone’s first ministry. He stood down at the 1874 election and died a few weeks later. A statue to Candlish stands in Mowbray Park, Sunderland.