National Portrait Gallery - Person

Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891), Politician and freethinker

Sitter in 15 portraits
Bradlaugh left school at eleven and worked as a clerk to a coal merchant. He enlisted in the army in 1850 and served in Ireland until 1853. On his return to London he became a pamphleteer and writer about 'secularist' ideas under the pseudonym 'Iconoclast'. In 1880 he was elected as an MP, and claimed the right to affirm, a non-religious alternative to taking the Oath of Allegiance, but this was denied. Because all MPs had to take the Oath before taking their seat or voting, he effectively forfeited his seat in Parliament. With the support of his constituency he successfully recontested Northampton four times, and on each occasion pleaded his case to affirm. Finally in 1888 he secured an act to permit parliamentary affirmations.

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Charles Bradlaugh

by Sydney Prior Hall
pencil
NPG 2313

Charles Bradlaugh

by Sydney Prior Hall
pencil
NPG 2314

Three sketches

by Sydney Prior Hall
pencil
NPG 2316

Charles Bradlaugh

by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1880s-1900s
NPG 3555

The Lobby of the House of Commons, 1886

by Liborio Prosperi ('Lib')
oil on canvas, published in Vanity Fair Christmas Supplement 1886
On display in Room 25 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5256