going incumbent had raised Leeds to the position which it still occupies as the most important parochial cure in the north of England, and Atlay carried on the work of his predecessor with conspicuous success. His businesslike qualities won him the respect of a great mercantile community, and his sincerity and earnestness of character proved irresistible to churchmen and nonconformists alike. He initiated a great scheme of church extension, and his organising capacity made Leeds the best-worked parish in the kingdom. He was appointed canon-residentiary at Ripon in 1861; in 1867 he refused the bishopric of Calcutta, but in 1868 he accepted the offer made him by Disraeli, the prime minister, of the bishopric of Hereford in succession to Renn Dickson Hampden [q. v.]
Atlay brought to the management of his diocese the same thoroughness which had marked his career at Leeds and Cambridge. Rarely quitting it except to attend the House of Lords or convocation, he lived and died among his own people. He made a point of officiating in every church of a wide though sparsely populated diocese; his great parochial experience rendered him the trusted counsellor and guide of his clergy; his geniality and frankness, united to a fine presence, endeared him to all who were brought near him. Archbishop Benson described him as 'the most beautiful combination of enthusiasm, manliness, and modesty.' A conservative in politics, he exercised in convocation by his strong commonsense and sagacity an influence which was scarcely suspected out of doors, and in 1889 Archbishop Benson selected him as an assessor in the trial of Bishop King of Lincoln for alleged ritual offences. Atlay was a high churchman of the old school, but he enjoyed the respect of all parties in the church, and the peace of his diocese was unbroken during the stormiest ecclesiastical controversies. He died on 24 Dec. 1894, after a long illness, and was buried in 'the ladye arbour' under the walls of his cathedral.
Atlay was married in 1859 to Frances Turner, daughter of Major William Martin of the East India Company's service, by whom he left a numerous family. One of his sons, the Rev. George William Atlay, attached to the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, was murdered by natives on the shores of Lake Nyassa in August 1895; another, Charles Cecil, died in March 1900 of wounds received at Wagon Hill, Ladysmith, while serving in the imperial light horse.
There are two portraits of Atlay: one by E. A. Fellowes Prynne (1882), the other by the Hon. John Collier (1893). The latter was a presentation from the diocese, and there is a replica of it in the palace at Hereford. There is also a fine recumbent effigy in Carrara marble in the north transept of Hereford cathedral, erected by public subscription.
[Times, 25 Dec. 1894; Leeds Mercury, 25 Dec. 1894; Chronicle of Canterbury Convocation, February 1895; personal information.]
ATTWOOD, THOMAS (1783–1856), political reformer, born at Hawne House, in the parish of Halesowen, Worcestershire, on 6 Oct. 1783, was the third son of Matthias Attwood (1746–1836), a banker of Birmingham, by his wife Ann (d. 8 Oct. 1834), daughter of Thomas Adams of Cakemore House, Halesowen. He was educated at the grammar school at Halesowen, and afterwards at that at Wolverhampton. On leaving school about 1800, he entered his father's bank in New Street, Birmingham. On 9 Sept. 1803, when a French invasion was expected, he was gazetted a captain in the third battalion of the Loyal Birmingham volunteer infantry, and retained his commission till 8 March 1805. In 1806 he married, and took up his residence at the Larches, Sparkbrook, near Birmingham, whence in 1811 he removed to the Crescent, Birmingham. In October 1811 he was elected high bailiff of Birmingham. In the following year he first took a prominent part in public affairs, by agitating for the repeal of the orders in council which restricted British trade with the continent and the United States. Attwood and Richard Spooner were chosen to represent to government the position of the manufacturing interest of the town. The orders were partially revoked in June, and on 6 Oct. 1813 the artisans of Birmingham presented Attwood with a silver cup in acknowledgment of his services. In 1823 he spoke vehemently against the renewal of the East India Company's charter, and, proceeding to London, exerted himself to organise a parliamentary opposition. Although the charter was renewed, many of its conditions were modified, and the company's monopoly of trade was abolished.
In 1815 or 1816 Attwood first appealed to the public on the subject of the currency, which became henceforth the central interest of his life. He was opposed to the policy of government in reducing the paper currency while specie was scarce. In his own words, 'by limiting the amount of our money' the government 'have limited our means of exchanging commodities, and this gives the limit to consumption, and the limit to con-
