William Barton (British politician)

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Sir Andrew William Barton (5 August 1862 – 9 July 1957) was a British Liberal politician and businessman. He was born near Glasgow, the son of Robert Barton, a mining engineer, and Annie Gray. He married Jessie Cuthbertson in 1895; they had one daughter. Jessie died in 1915, and Barton married Olive Ruth Bryson in 1918; they also had one daughter. Barton was a Presbyterian.

He went to the High School of Glasgow and the University of Glasgow, where he studied commercial law, political economy and modern languages. He became a director of the Manchester Athenaeum, an institution for arts and learning. In his work in textiles, he learned calico printing in Glasgow and later started his own calico printing business in Manchester.

Barton entered politics on Manchester City Council, serving as a councillor from 1906 to 1909. In 1909 he was chosen to replace J. A. Bright as one of Oldham’s Members of Parliament. He was elected in January 1910 and again in December 1910, serving alongside Alfred Emmott. He had comfortable majorities in both elections.

In 1913 Barton broke with his local Liberal Association after a dispute over a meeting with Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, caused in part by the treatment of women Liberal supporters. Barton supported votes for women, and he voted for women’s suffrage in 1911. He spoke at suffrage demonstrations in 1912 and 1914. His relationship with Asquith fluctuated over the years.

During World War I, Barton supported David Lloyd George after he became prime minister in 1916. He was knighted in 1917. In the 1918 general election, he stood as a Coalition Liberal in Oldham and won with a large majority. His earlier local split with the Liberal Party remained a source of tension.

By 1921–22 the Liberal Party was divided, and Barton began to be less certain about which Liberal leadership to back. In 1922 he did not defend Oldham; instead, he stood for Manchester Exchange, a safe Unionist seat, and finished second. He did not stand for Parliament again.

Beyond Parliament, Barton served as a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire, was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and was vice-president of the British Cotton Growers Association. He died in 1957.