Rev Charles Leach DD was a native of Illingworth.
Born 1st March 1847.
Whilst he was an infant, his parents moved to Ratten Row, Halifax, where his mother died of TB when he was 5 years old.
At the age of 8, he went to work in a mill, and by 14 was a worsted spinner.
He became apprenticed to a clog maker, and at the age of 19, he set up on his own in New Street.
He married Mary Jane Fox [1847-1926].
Children:
The family moved to Southgate in Elland where he had a successful boot and shoe-making business employing 6 people.
Having attended Salem Methodist New Connexion Chapel in Halifax, he transferred to Bethesda Methodist New Connexion Chapel in Elland, becoming a local preacher.
He was put forward for the ministry and trained at Ranmoor Theological College, Sheffield and became a Congregational minister.
He served at Birmingham [1879], Queens Park [1886], Manchester [1897], and Harecourt, London [1904].
He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Ohio University.
He wrote and published many tracts, sermons and religious stories.
In the General Election of January 1910, he was elected Liberal MP for the Colne Valley.
During World War I, he was a Chaplain to the armed forces.
In 1915, he suffered a nervous breakdown – probably a form of dementia – and he was removed from his office of MP after being declared of unsound mind – the only MP to be thus disqualified.
He died 24th November 1919.
Mary Jane died 25th July 1926.
Members of the family were buried at Bethesda Methodist New Connexion Chapel, Elland
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