Henry Handley, friendly MP with enviable whiskers

AS ALL EYES ARE ON THE HANDLEY MONUMENT REDEVELOPMENT, REPORTER TED O’NEILL LOOKS AT THE MAN’S SLEAFORD INFLUENCE

IF you were alive in Lincolnshire two hundred years ago, and you knew Henry Handley, it is unlikely that you would dismiss him as a high-handed toff.

By all accounts, Henry was friendly; good looking – better looking than his portraits perhaps; he didn’t have an enemy in the world but he did have the most unforgettable whiskers – and he was proud of those whiskers.

Henry’s facial hair, described by his contemporary as ‘striking,’ ‘ornamental,’ and ‘of ample dimensions’ was so notable as to have made the – himself very hairy – Prime Minister Lord Palmerston envious.

Witnesses swore that they had seen the great Palmerston himself looking at his hairy competitor and giving Henry, with his superior bushy chops, the stink-eye.

Henry was the son of Benjamin Handley and Frances Connington from Boston. His father was a lawyer who built a large property portfolio and was instrumental in establishing the Sleaford Navigation canal, and Sleaford’s first bank: the bank of Sleaford, Handley and co. in 1792.

Born on March 17, 1797, Henry was educated at Charterhouse, Eton, Christ Church college Oxford and Lincoln’s Inn although he didn’t finish his degree.

He married late, perhaps, by the standard of the day. On Oct. 15, 1825 he wed the Hon. Caroline Edwardes, daughter of William Edwardes – however their marriage, let’s say was fruitful.

Caroline bore even more children than her contemporary, Queen Victoria and the handsome Henry, apparently, had buns in other ovens anyway.

Perhaps, as a member of Parliament, MP for South Lincolnshire, Henry Handley was most popular amongst farmers because, in his career in the House of Commons, almost every time Henry stood up to speak, it was to defend the farming community.

He had lots of friends in the House of Commons, and he avoided making enemies of anyone by keeping his speeches short and never really criticising anyone on either side of the house.

Henry only lived to be 49, but in his short life he sired two legitimate sons, eight legitimate daughters and at least one illegitimate son whom he later disinherited.

After Henry’s death, Sleaford residents raised £942 to commemorate him - a testament to his popularity.

The “Handley Testimonial in Sleaford,” as it was known, took two years to build, with construction led by Birmingham architect William Boyle.

Though Sleaford’s roads have changed over the years, plans have always accounted for the immovable monument.

The monument is not the only Sleaford feature to bear his name.

There’s also Handley Street, which connects onto Carre Street nearby to the Kesteven & Sleaford High School.

His former home, Manor House on Northgate, is still standing today.

“Mr Handley, the member for Lincolnshire is a tall, stout, good-looking man. He has a jolly, countrified countenance with a complexion redolent of health. “His face is full, and his features are regular and pleasing.

“He sports a pair of whiskers of which any Spanish Don would be proud.

“Of them it may be said with peculiar truth that they can ‘bear no rival near the throne.’ “Mr Handley’s facial appurtenances are so striking and ornamental that I am pretty positive Colonel Sibthorpe would be almost inclined to exchange his luxuriant mustachios for them.”