Frederick Chance Explained

Sir Frederick William Chance (26 December 1852 – 31 August 1932) was a British Liberal Party politician from Carlisle. He sat in the House of Commons from 1905 to 1910.

Background

Chance was from a long-established family of businessmen and politicians in Carlisle. He ran the family's cotton-manufacturing firm in the town, Ferguson Brothers,[1] and served as Mayor of Carlisle in 1904, before becoming a member of Cumberland County Council. Both his grandfather Joseph Ferguson and his uncle Robert Ferguson had been Members of Parliament (MPs) for the borough of Carlisle and he was a brother-in-law of Sir Henry Seton-Karr, the MP for St Helens.

Carlisle's MP since 1886 was William Court Gully, who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1895 to 1905. Ill-health forced Gully to resign as Speaker in May 1905,[2] and at the by-election in July 1905 Chance was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carlisle. He was re-elected unopposed in 1906, and held the seat until the January 1910 general election, when he did not stand again.[3]

He was High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1915.

Notes and References

  1. News: Election Intelligence. Carlisle . 15 July 1905 . . 7, col E . London.
  2. News: Political Notes. Resignation Of The Speaker . 31 May 1905 . . 9, col F . London.
  3. Book: Craig , F. W. S. . F. W. S. Craig

    . F. W. S. Craig . British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 . 1974 . 2nd . 1989 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-27-2 . 93.