3-057-101 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Joseph Cowen, MP, 1881. Cowen, the son of a Newcaste-upon-Tyne mine owner, was elected to Parliament as a Liberal in 1874. His radical views and independence of mind frequently found him at loggerheads with the party establishment. In 1885 he was re-elected despite the opposition of his constituency party, largely due to his personal popularity with the voters, but soon afterwards he quit politics in disgust at its party intrigues. For the rest of his life Cowen concentrated on running his newspaper, the Newcastle Daily Chronicle, and his mining interests.