Nathaniel Buckley

Nathaniel Buckley (1821 – 23 March 1892)^[1] was a British landowner, cotton mill owner and Liberal Party politician. In November 1855 he was elected Mayor of Ashton-under-Lyne.^[2]

At the 1868 general election he was Liberal candidate for the constituency of Stalybridge, but was defeated by his Conservative opponent, James Sidebottom. Sidebottom died in February 1871 causing a by-election. Initially the local Liberal Party selected the Honourable Edward Lyuth Stanley as their candidate, but following a number of delegations of "working men", Buckley was chosen.^[3] The by-election was held on 28 February and Buckley won the seat by 208 votes.^[4]

By the 1870s, Buckley was a millionaire. In 1873, he purchased the Galtee estate of the Earl of Kingston, near Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ireland. Following a revaluation, he issued rent demands to his new tenants of between fifty and five hundred per cent. This led to a great deal of agrarian unrest, evictions and an attempted assassination of Buckley's land agent. His actions also demonstrated weaknesses in the Irish Land Acts, which were consequently amended.^[5]

Buckley was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire in 1867.^[6]

At the 1874 general election Buckley was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Thomas Harrop Sidebottom. He did not return to parliament.^{[citation needed]}

At the time of his death, aged 71, in 1892, he had residences at Alderdale Lodge, Droylsden, Lancashire and Galtee Castle, County Cork.^[7]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Nathaniel Buckley