Francis Schnadhorst

Francis Schnadhorst (24 August 1840 – 2 January 1900) was a Birmingham draper and English Liberal Party politician. He briefly held elected office on Birmingham Council, and was offered the chance to stand for Parliament in winnable seats, but he found his true metier was in political organisation and administration both in his home town as secretary of the highly successful Birmingham Liberal Association from 1867 to 1884, and nationally as secretary of the newly formed National Liberal Federation from 1877 to 1893. He was famously described as "the spectacled, sallow, sombre" Birmingham draper who within a short period of time was to establish himself through the Birmingham Liberal caucus as one of the most brilliant organisers in the country.

Francis Schnadhorst was the son of a draper and hosier of German descent. who carried on business in Bull Street, Birmingham. His father died when he was very young and he was brought up by his mother and his paternal grandfather who owned a tailoring business in Moor Street. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham.

When Schnadhorst was sixteen his grandfather died, and Francis took over the family business. However, like many Victorian tradesman and ardent nonconformists, he was keenly interested in improving himself and his town. He involved himself in the civic life of Birmingham. He served as secretary to the Central Nonconformist Committee set up in Birmingham to oppose Church influence in education. He was also an active member of a number of Birmingham civic and local improvement societies. Through these groups and the close connection between nonconformity, self-help and Liberalism, Schnadhorst was drawn into political activity for the Liberal Party.

Before the end of the 19th century the Liberal party's championing of reform and improvement had created in Birmingham a model of civic government. The 1885 Redistribution Act created seven single-member constituencies, more than doubling Birmingham's representation in Parliament. A Royal decree declared the corporation of the City of Birmingham in 1889 and the first Lord Mayor was elected in 1896. The local Liberal Party was compelled to rethink its structure in response to this civic expansion, and in anticipation of the additional electors enfranchised by the 1867 Reform Act. The Birmingham Liberal Association was established in 1865, and radically reorganised by its secretary, William Harris, in 1868: Schnadhorst succeeded Harris as secretary in 1873. Membership was open to anyone able to pay the one shilling annual fee, meaning that political participation was no longer the preserve of the traditional ruling classes. In 1868 the Association had 400 members, but by 1886 it had become known as "the Two Thousand". Its existence enabled the Liberals to fight general, town council and school board elections more effectively and successfully. This party structure was what subsequently became known, both locally and nationally, as the Liberal Caucus – a name initially coined by detractors as a term of abuse, but afterwards adopted by the Liberals themselves. As an example of political efficiency the Caucus could not be rivalled, and this was due in large part to Schnadhorst's administrative abilities.

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