local magistrate for Ashton-under-Lyne in 1857. During his time in office he had to deal with the bread riots of 21–22 March 1863 (caused by the cotton famine) and the Murphy Riots in May 1868. The Murphy Riots were anti-Catholic demonstrations, fueled by Fenianism (an Irish nationalist organisation), across Lancashire led by William Murphy. He personally went to one mob during the Murphy Riots to read them the riot act face-to-face. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County Palatine of Lancaster on 21 June 1862. Such was his significance in Manchester he was appointed President of the Chamber of Commerce for two years from 1871. At the same time he was a Governor of Owen's College in the city. Mason was appointed a member of the Board of the Mersey Docks and Harbour. National Mason, along with a group of other Advanced Liberals supporting John Morley, the gladstonian, was one of the founding members of the Reform Club in Manchester, a political club founded in 1867 for Liberals and their supporters. Despite retiring from local politics because of conflict with the Liberals, by 1878 he was back in favour and Liberal councillors were encouraging Mason to stand for parliamentary election. Although he was a popular candidate, he was initially reluctant to put himself forward. However, he stood for Parliament in the 1880 General Elections. His campaign in March and April 1880 involved vitriolic attacks on the local Conservative Party and on 3 April 1880 he was elected MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, beating his opponent, John Ross Coulthart, by 2,966 votes to 2,586. As an MP he lived at 33 Onslow Square, Kensington, and was a member of the Reform Club. Mason supported many reformist bills and became a spokesman of the Women's Suffrage Association in 1881. He proposed motions for women's suffrage in 1881 and again in 1883 but was defeated on both occasions. He led the women's suffrage movement until 1883 when illness forced him to retreat from public life temporarily. His defeat in the 1885 General Elections was ascribed to his support of William Ewart Gladstone over the issue of Irish Home Rule and to his illness. He lost to the Conservative John Wentworth Addison by 3,152 votes to 3,104. Mason demanded a recount, but this increased the majority by one vote; he succumbed to illness and died before the result was announced. Personal life In 1846