Joseph Cowen

[7] A radical on domestic questions when elected, Cowen was also a sympathizer with Irish Nationalism,[8] In speech, dress and manner he identified himself with the coal miners of North East England.

[10] His individuality first shocked and then by its earnestness impressed the House of Commons; and his sturdy independence of party ties, combined with a gift of rough but genuine eloquence (of which his speech on the Royal Title Bill of 1876 was an example), rapidly made him one of the best-known public men in the country.

[2][7] Cowen retired both from parliament and from public life in 1886,[8] professing his disgust at the party intrigues of politics, and devoted himself to conducting the Newcastle Daily Chronicle (which he had established in 1858),[11] and to his private business.

In this capacity he exercised a wide influence on local opinion, and the revolt of the Newcastle electorate in later years against "doctrinaire Radicalism" was largely due to his constant preaching of a broader outlook on national affairs.

[14] His name lives on in The Joseph Cowen Lifelong Learning Centre, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation also based in Newcastle upon Tyne, delivering the 'Explore' lecture programme.