J B Williams "Worsted to Westminster" PDF

Rev Dr Charles Leach was the one Member of Parliament who lost his seat for being of 'unsound mind'. Worsted to Westminster follows him from an eight year old in a Halifax worsted mill to his breakdown under the dual pressures of being a wartime Army Chaplain and a backbencher, enthusiastically supporting the great reforming Liberal government as it pushed through the Parliament Act, and the National Insurance legislation.

Though living in a slum, he escaped the mill to train as a clog and shoemaker. His rise came through the Methodist New Connexion, and later the Congregational, churches to become a prominent preacher, and his innovative Sunday afternoon lectures in Birmingham Town Hall were capable of attracting 4000 people. He still found time to write some 20 books, edit newspapers, and be a guide for Thomas Cooks conducting parties to the Holy Land. Against all the successes were a series of family tragedies, losing his mother when only five, and four of his six children.