Sir Francis Edwards, 1st Baronet (28 April 1852 – 10 May 1927), commonly known as Frank Edwards, was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician.

Sir Francis was the fourth son of Edward Edwards of Llangollen

Llangollen

Llangollen is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains. It has a population of 3,412.-History:...

. Educated at Shrewsbury School

Shrewsbury School

Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...

 and Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...

 (graduated 1875). Married in 1880 to Catherine, daughter of David Davis of Aberdare

Aberdare

Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...

. The marriage had issue, one daughter.

Edwards served as Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 and Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 for Radnorshire

Radnorshire

Radnorshire is one of thirteen historic and former administrative counties of Wales. It is represented by the Radnorshire area of Powys, which according to the 2001 census, had a population of 24,805...

. In 1898, he was High Sheriff

High Sheriff of Radnorshire

- History :The office of High Sheriff is over 1000 years old, with its establishment before the Norman Conquest. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office under the...

 of the County. Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Radnorshire

Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Radnorshire was created in 1542 as a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...

 1892-1895, 1900- January 1910 and December 1910-1918. He was created baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

 in 1907. He did not stand in 1918, the Radnorshire Constituency having been amalgamated with Brecon

Brecon (UK Parliament constituency)

Brecon was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election.-Boundaries:...

.

Edwards was a determined Liberal and a supporter of the Disestablishment of the Church in Wales

Church in Wales

The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...

, of which he was a member. In 1894, Edwards joined with David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

, David Alfred Thomas

David Alfred Thomas

David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda PC , sometimes known as D. A. Thomas, was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician...

 and Herbert Lewis

Herbert Lewis

Sir John Herbert Lewis GBE, PC was a British Liberal politician.-Background and education:Born at Mostyn Quay, Flintshire, Lewis was one of five sons of Enoch Lewis and Elizabeth Roberts. He was educated at McGill University and Exeter College, Oxford.-Political career:Lewis was the first Chairman...

 in resigning the Liberal Whip in protest at the delay of the Government of Lord Rosebery in introducing a Welsh Disestablishment measure. He was a relative of Alfred George Edwards

Alfred George Edwards

Alfred George Edwards was elected the first Archbishop of the disestablished Church in Wales.The son of a priest of the Church of England, Edwards was born in Llanymawddwy in Gwynedd. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford before being appointed Warden of Llandovery College in 1875...

, Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of St. Asaph, and first Archbishop of Wales

Archbishop of Wales

The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...

.

Defeated in 1895, Edwards was to play no part in the struggle to unite Welsh Liberalism under the auspices of Cymru Fydd

Cymru Fydd

The Cymru Fydd movement was founded in 1886 by some of the London Welsh, including J. E. Lloyd, O. M. Edwards, T. E. Ellis , Beriah Gwynfe Evans and Alfred Thomas. Initially it was a purely London-based society, later expanding to cities in England with a large Welsh population...

. Edwards appears to have been viewed as under the ‘baleful’ influence of David Alfred Thomas

David Alfred Thomas

David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda PC , sometimes known as D. A. Thomas, was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician...

 by Lloyd George

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

 and Herbert Lewis

Herbert Lewis

Sir John Herbert Lewis GBE, PC was a British Liberal politician.-Background and education:Born at Mostyn Quay, Flintshire, Lewis was one of five sons of Enoch Lewis and Elizabeth Roberts. He was educated at McGill University and Exeter College, Oxford.-Political career:Lewis was the first Chairman...

. In 1900, Edwards fought Radnorshire on a platform of opposition to the Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

.

Francis Edwards published a volume of Welsh poetry entitled 'Translations from the Welsh' in 1913.