William Henry Leatham

William Henry Leatham (6 July 1815 - 14 November 1889) was a British banker, poet and Liberal politician.

He was a member of a Yorkshire Quaker family. His father was William Leatham, a banker from Heath, near Wakefield and his mother was Margaret née Walker of Leeds.

Leatham entered banking, working in Wakefield, Pontefract and Doncaster from 1836 to 1852. In 1839 he married Priscilla Gurney of Upton, West Ham. He was a justice of the peace and deputy lieutenant for the West Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1870 was deputy chairman of the West Riding quarter sessions. He made his home at Hemsworth Hall, Pontefract.

Leatham was a poet and author, writing a collection of Poems in 1840, and Tales of English Life and Miscellanies.

Politically, he was described as an "advanced Whig", and first stood for election to parliament in at Wakefield in 1852, but failed to win the seat. He was subsequently elected as MP for Wakefield in 1859, but was unseated on petition. Six years later, he was again the Liberal candidate at Wakefield, and was elected as the town's member of parliament. He left the Commons in 1868. In 1874 he was again a parliamentary candidate, this time for the two-seat Southern Division of the West Riding, but failed to be elected. Six years later, in 1880, he was successfully returned to parliament for the constuituency. In 1885 the seat was abolished, and Leatham left parliament.

His younger brother, Edward Aldam Leatham, was MP for Huddersfield.

W H Leatham died in November 1889, aged 74.

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'William Henry Leatham', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 October 2013, 23:26 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Henry_Leatham&old...> [accessed 14 January 2014]

Other References

• Burke, Bernard, Sir. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 6th ed. London : Harrison 1879. Vol II. page 935