The ongoing research of our House of Commons, 1832-1868 project has found a surprising number of MPs who came from relatively humble backgrounds, using politics as a means of personal advancement. In this post our former colleague Dr Stephen Ball explores the career of Alfred Rhodes Bristow, a Greenwich draper’s son who became Liberal MP for Kidderminster. By the 1850s a seat in Parliament was … Continue reading From Greenwich to the green benches: Alfred Rhodes Bristow (1818-1875)