Charles Reed (British politician)

This article is about the British politician. For the Pennsylvania Congressman, seeCharles Manning Reed.

Sir Charles ReedFSA(19 June 1819 – 25 March 1881) was a British politician who served asMember of ParliamentforHackneyand forSt Ives,Chairmanof theLondon School Board,Director and Trustee of the originalAbney Park CemeteryJoint Stock Company, Chairman of theBunhill FieldsPreservation Committee, associate ofGeorge Peabody,layCongregationalist,and owner of a successful commercial type-founding business in London. He was elected a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries,and was knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle in 1874. As a pastime he collected autographed letters and keys.

Sir Charles Reed
Sir Charles Reed MP
Born	19 June 1819
Died	25 March 1881(1881-03-25)(aged 61)
Nationality	British
Occupation	Politician
Spouse	Margaret Baines
Children	3

Family

Charles Reed was the eldest son of the well-known Hackney philanthropist andCongregationalMinisterDr Andrew Reed,founder of the London Orphan Asylum at Clapton and other notable charitable institutions, who had studied theology under the Rev.George Collison.He is commemorated atAbney Park Cemeterywith a tall obelisk of polished red granite. His mother was Eliza, daughter of Jasper Holme of Castle Hall,Reading.

Charles Reed married Margaret Baines (youngest daughter ofEdward Baines MPfrom Leeds, and sister toSir Edward Bainesthenonconformistpolitician and newspaper editor). They had four sons and four daughters.

1. Charles Edward Baines Reed (24 July 1845 – 29 July 1884) entered the Congregational ministry and served as secretary of theBritish and Foreign Bible Society.He met with an accidental death in theEngadine,Switzerlandand was buried atPontresina.
2. Andrew Holmes Reed (1848–1892) is commemorated with his brother Talbot atAbney Park Cemeteryby an eye-catching Celtic cross executed byO'SheainKilkennyusing sparkling grey Irish granite.
3. Talbot Baines Reed(3 April 1852 – 1893), was the author of highly rated story books for boys.
4. Kenneth Reed (died 8 July 1879), the youngest son drowned in a canoeing accident on Lake Allen, Ireland before the age of twenty.

Schooling

Charles Reed was educated atMadras House,Mare Street,Hackney,which is said to have been the most distinguished 19th-century school in the enlightened tradition ofAinsworth.The school's name was the idea of religious writerJohn Allen(died 1839), who adopted the Madras system of schooling under which older pupils are appointed as "monitors" and take partial responsibility for supervising the younger boys. Allen began the school in 1817, moving to larger premises at 208 Mare Street in 1821.

Business career

Reed's Business Premises at No 33Aldersgate Street,London

Reed began the business side of his career in 1836 as an apprentice to a firm of woolen manufacturers at Leeds. In 1839, with his friendThomas Edward Plint,he started and edited a magazine calledThe Leeds Repository,and on returning to London he co-founded the firm of Tyler & Reed, printers andtypefoundersin 1842. Reed changed business partners several times, becoming a partner in the famousFann Street FoundryinFann StreetoffAldersgate Streetin 1866 (which thereby became 'Reed & Fox'). The Fann Street business formed the basis for his own type-founding businessSir Charles Reed & Sons,whose office at 33 Aldersgate Street is illustrated.

The 'Reed' company name continued into the twentieth century long after Charles Reed's death, though under the proprietorship of Stephenson Blake & Co. who had bought Reed's business interests. At one time Reed's had been the larger of the two firms but it had difficulties in financing a modernisation programme as typography changed, and its once valuable equipment became out of date. Indeed, Stephenson Blake's acquisition was thought at the time to be very generous as it looked to be buying little other than the Reed's name and reputation. Not long after, however, thorough cataloguing of Reed's typefaces proved to be a treasure trove. Designs such as the Clarendon typeface, which Charles Reed had originally acquired from Robert Besley & Sons of the Fann Street foundry, became very marketable once re-cast using new technology. Several of Reed's typefaces are now available for use in font collections on our computers, such as Clarendon, which is now owned by a German company (as a trademark ofHeidelberger Druckmaschinen AGlicensed through Linotype Library GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG).

Charles' son Talbot Baines Reed (1852–1893), an author of books for boys, wrote the standard reference work on the history oftypefoundersin England, which went through may editions. It was said to be the most complete historical study in existence in any country before its editions were supplemented by new research in the 1950s.

Lifeboat fund

There is a fund associated with theBroadstairslifeboat and Sir Charles Reed. Founded in 1867, the Fund was originally established to help support seamen who risked their own lives to save others off the coast near Broadstairs. The following account is attributed byR. M. Ballantyneto Sir Charles Reed himself:

"Eight boatmen of Broadstairs [and theirlugger—the Dreadnought] had for years done good service on theGoodwins.One night they went off in a tremendous sea to save a Frenchbarque;but though they secured the crew, a steam-tug claimed theprizeand towed her intoRamsgateHarbour. The Broadstairs men instituted proceedings to secure the salvage, but they were beaten in a London law court, where they were overpowered by the advocacy of a powerful company. In the meantime they lost their lugger off the coast of Normandy, and in this emergency the lawyers they had employed demanded their costs. The poor men had no means, and not being able to pay they were taken from their homes and lodged inMaidstone Gaol.He (Sir Charles) was then staying in Broadstairs, and an appeal being made to him, he wrote toThe Times,and in one week received nearly twice the amount required. The bill was paid, the men were liberated and brought home to their families, and the considerable balance... of the amount was invested, the interest to be applied to rewarding boatmen who, by personal bravery, had... saved life on the coast. "

London School Board

One of the early London School Board schools: Stoke Newington High Street 1877

In 1870 Reed was elected to the newly foundedLondon School Boardthat was created followingWilliam Forster'sElementary Education Actof the same year which led to end ofRagged schoolsand otherad hoccharitable provision for the poor. The London School Board was the first directly elected body covering the whole of London, and a pioneer for its time in other respects too - women were entitled to vote for its board members and also to stand for election as politicians. Reed subsequently became vice-chairman andchairman.He died in office in 1881.

Hackney's first MP

Two parliamentary seats were allotted to Hackney by the Representation of the People Act, 1867 and Charles Reed became, in 1868, the first MP to be elected to represent Hackney, along with John Holms. As a member of Britain's first Liberal government, he faced a vigorous opponent at the next election in April 1874, when Gladstone was defeated. Lieutenant William Gill stood against him for the Conservatives with support from theIndependentnewspaper, which dubbed the constituencynotorious hitherto as a hotbed of Radicalism.The vigorous Conservative campaign increased its poll share from 10 per cent to 31 per cent, but Gill still came bottom of the poll. However, the ballot was called into question on procedural grounds, with the result that a new election had to be called three months later. Charles Reed's place was taken byProfessor Fawcettfor the Liberals. He chose Holms again as his running mate in the two-seat constituency and this time Gill lost by only a small margin. However, Liberals were always returned until the constituencies of North, Central, and South Hackney were created in 1885.

Abney Park Cemetery

Abney Park Cemetery Company Annual Report for the year ending 5 April 1875

Reed had an interest in London's open spaces and their educational benefits, and became a subscriber to theAbney Park Cemetery,ajoint stock companyin whose trust lay parkland once owned by LadyMary Abney,in which DrIsaac Wattshad written hymns. The associated members sought to maintain the site for its religious associations and for its value as open space. It was the only surviving example of a landscape designed by the nurserymanGeorge Loddigesand boasted anarboretumof 2500 trees and shrubs. As the only New World cemetery design in Europe it had commissioned an entrance in an Egyptian revival style, to reflect its non-denominational character. The originality of the design and the motive force for acquiring and preserving the site had beenGeorge Collison,its first secretary, whose father had tutored Reed's father.

Reed, with a firm understanding of the historical importance of the landscape and its educational value, won election as a director of the company for 16 years between 1866 and 1881 and became a principal influence during its last decades as a joint stock company. Reed himself is buried there. Soon after Reed died, the cemetery was made over on 11 April 1882 to a new company run on commercial lines. This laid out a new cemetery,Chingford Mount Cemeteryin 1883–1884. Others atHendon ParkandGreenfordfollowed.

Bunhill Fields

List of members of the Bunhill Fields Preservation Committee

TheBunhill Fieldsburial ground is an ancient open space. Until its closure in the mid–19th century, many historically important people (particularly those whose religious beliefsdissentedfrom the Established Church), chose this as their place of quiet interment on the edge of the city.

The poetRobert Southeygave Bunhill Fields the memorable appellation theCampo Santo of the Dissenters;a phrase that also came to be applied to its "daughter" cemetery at Abney Park. This was a reference to its historical importance as a burial place for religious figures such asJohn Bunyanand DrIsaac Watts.

Monument to John Bunyan paid for by public subscription on the preservation of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground as a public park

In a move to prevent the land from being built upon on expiry of a longstanding lease, the Corporation of the City of London formed a specialBunhill FieldsBurial Ground Committee in 1865, which became formally known as theBunhill Fields Preservation Committee.The committee, appointed by the corporation, consisted of twelve advisors under Reed's chairmanship. Following the work of the committee, the City of London Corporation obtained an Act of Parliament in 1867 for the Preservation ofBunhill FieldsBurial Ground as a public open space with seating, gardens, and for the restoration of some of its worthiest monuments, including one toDaniel Defoefunded byThe Christian Worldand unveiled by Reed. The new park was opened by the Lord Mayor on 14 October 1869.

Other public activity

Reed was widely involved in other philanthropic circles. He was an associate ofGeorge Peabody,for whom Reed moved the motion of 10 July 1862 grantingFreedom of the City of London.He also developed theGuildhall Libraryof the City of London, while he was a councillor. His longstanding interest in social and educational improvement in The City of London was also reflected in membership of theCourt of Common Counciland in membership of the board of theCity of London School.

In the religious field he was active in theLondon Missionary Society,the British and Foreign Bible Society, the LondonSunday SchoolUnion, and theReligious Tract Society.Returned to Parliament again in 1880 forSt IvesinCornwall,he voted against his party in the Bradlaugh debates, deploringCharles Bradlaugh's atheism.

Death

The grave of Charles Reed, Abney Park Cemetery, London

Reed died at Earlsmead, Page Green,TottenhamHigh Road, inLondonon 25 March 1881.

He is buried atAbney Park Cemeterynear the Church Street (southern) entrance, in a grave marked by a grey graniteobelisk.The top is missing from the obelisk. His wife, Margaret (1817–1891), and eldest son, Charles Edward Baines Reed (killed accidentally in 1884), lie with him. His second son, Andrew Holmes Reed, lies nearby to the south, beneath a large grey graniteCeltic cross.

Further reading

• Stephenson Blake,R. Millington, Oak Knoll Press/British Library, 2002
• Memoir of Sir Charles Reed,C. B. E. Reed, Macmillan, 1883

External links

• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Sir Charles Reed
• Portraits of Charles Reedat theNational Portrait Gallery, London