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John Bright (1811–1889)
Bright, John. An English statesman; born near Rochdale in Lancashire, Nov. 16, 1811; died on March 27, 1889. The son of a wealthy Quaker cotton manufacturer, in early life he began to take an active part in social and political reform. He entered Parliament in 1843, and voted for repeal of the Corn Laws and for factory regulation. He sympathized with the North in the Civil War. He first entered the government in 1868, as president of the Board of Trade. Thereafter he held office under every Liberal administration till 1882. He was an eloquent and impressive orator. His speeches and addresses were published in successive volumes, 1867–69–79, and his ‘Public Letters’ in 1885. (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).