The 1892 Rossendale by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Rossendale in Lancashire on 23 January 1892. It was one of the most important political contests in the struggle over Irish Home Rule and a pointer to the outcome of the 1892 general election which took place in July. Vacancy The by-election was caused by the succession to the peerage of the sitting Liberal Unionist Party MP, the Marquess of Hartington on the death of his father the Duke of Devonshire. Hartington had been the MP for Rossendale since 1885. He was elected first as a Liberal and had formerly represented a number of other constituencies. He was a former leader of the Liberal Party but split with Gladstone over the issue of Irish Home Rule and was re-elected as a Liberal Unionist in Rossendale in 1886. Candidates Liberal Unionists The health of the Duke of Devonshire must have been giving some cause for concern because in December 1891 the Rossendale Liberal Unionists asked their President and former chairman, Sir Thomas Brooks, to stand ready to be their Parliamentary candidate should the need occur. The Duke did not pass away until 23 December. Brooks was a retired colliery and quarry owner, with his sons now looking after the family businesses. He was a member of the Church of England. Liberals The Gladstonian Liberals selected John Henry Maden as their representative. Maden was only 28 years old and was a cotton spinner and manufacturer, employing local people in Bacup. He was a Wesleyan by religion. Issues Brooks stated early that Home Rule was the political issue which he proposed to place at the forefront of his election campaign and it was generally believed that this was the question on which the outcome of the election would turn. Brooks said he favoured the extension of local government arrangements to Ireland but Maden was an advocate of an Irish Parliament with legislative and statutory powers. and believed that the tide of opinion opposing Home Rule which had swept Hartington back in as a Unionist in 1886 had now swung round in favour of the reform. Both candidates appealed to the electors as reformers on the land question and in relation to the licensing laws. Both were in favour of electoral reform on the principle of one-man-one-vote. Maden proposed disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Scotland as