Mark Philips, the son of Robert Philips, was born in 1880. A merchant
and manufacturer in Manchester, Philips was a supporter of social
reform. Members of the group included Thomas
Potter, Richard Potter, John
Shuttleworth, John Edward Taylor, Archibald
Prentice, Absalom Watkin, Joseph
Brotherton and William Cowdray.
The
group that Prentice called the 'little circle' was strongly influenced
by the ideas of Jeremy Bentham and Joseph
Priestley. The group objected to a system that denied such important
industrial cities as Manchester, Leeds
and Birmingham, representation in the
House of Commons.
In 1831 Absalom Watkin was given the task
of drawing up the petition asking the government to grant Manchester
two Members of Parliament. As a result of the 1832
Reform Act Manchester had its first two Members of Parliament,
Mark Philips and Charles Poulett Thompson.
Philips
retired from Parliament in 1847 but served as Sheriff of Warwickshire
in 1851. Mark Philips died on 23rd December, 1873.
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