Frederick Coleridge Mackarness

Frederic(k) Michael Coleridge Mackarness (31 August 1854 – 23 December 1920) born at Tardebigge, Saint Bartholomew, Worcestershire, England was a British barrister, judge and Liberal politician and Member of Parliament for the Newbury constituency.

His sister Mary was married to Bernard Coleridge, another barrister of the Middle Temple, who was Liberal MP for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1885 to 1894.

Whilst the Bill itself was unsuccessful it resulted in a Select Committee Report which set out significant and wide ranging proposals to reform the legislation.

While in Parliament he took up the cause of Chinese Labour in South Africa and campaigned on behalf of native Indians and their civil rights.

[17] In 1910, in his role as chairman of the executive of the India Civil Rights Committee, he published a pamphlet entitled Methods of the Indian Police in the 20th Century in which he showed, by quoting official reports, that untried prisoners were tortured to extort evidence.

[18][19] Apart from his interest in the issue of so-called coolie labour, Mackarness drew on his experience in South Africa to comment regularly on matters affecting the British colonies there over the years.

[23] The seat reverted to the Conservatives by a wide margin, William Arthur Mount recording a majority of 2,358 over the new Liberal candidate, Thomas Hedderwick the former MP for Wick Burghs.