Bradlaugh

Bradlaugh, Charles, M.P., was. born in 1833 in London. He led a somewhat chequered career, being errand-boy, small coal-merchant, pamphleteer, private soldier, clerk to a solicitor, etc. He advocated secularism and espoused the Radical movements of his time, establishing in 1860 The National Reformer, and writing and speaking under the name of Iconoclast. In conjunction with Mrs. Annie Besant he brought out in 1875 an old pamphlet, The Fruits of Philosophy, as a challenge on a point of law. For this they were sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a fine of £200 - a sentence that was reversed on appeal. In 1880 Bradlaugh was returned to Parliament for Northampton, and on account of his refusal to take the oath a long struggle between him and the House of Commons ensued. Northampton returned him four times as a protest against the treatment he received in Parliament, and not until the general election of 1885 was he allowed to take his seat. His Oaths Bill was made law in 1888. He died in 1891, having previously won the respect of all parties in the House of Commons. Amongst his writings the most widely read was his Impeachment of the House of Brunswick, 1872.