William Sharman Crawford
William Sharman Crawford (1780–1861) was an Irish landowner who, in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom, championed a democratic franchise, a devolved legislature for Ireland, and the interests of the Irish tenant farmer. As a Radical representing first, with
Daniel O'Connell's endorsement,
Dundalk (1835-1837) and then, with the support of
Chartists, the English constituency of
Rochdale (1841–1852) he introduced bills to codify and extend in Ireland the
Ulster tenant right. In his last electoral contest, standing on the platform of the all-Ireland
Tenant Right League in 1852 he failed to unseat the
Conservative and
Orange party in
Down, his native county.
Provided by Wikipedia