Fielden was born in Todmorden on 8 March 1827. He was the son of the Radical politician John Fielden of Todmorden, and his first wife, Anne Grindrod of Rochdale. In 1869, Fielden's uncle Thomas died; his will divided an estate of £1.3m equally amongst his three nephews.
Career
After education at a Unitarian school in Switzerland, Fielden returned to England to act as his father's private secretary, and to work in the family textile firm, Fielden Brothers. He became a partner in the firm in 1852. The business was very successful and profitable, and the Fielden family dominated public life in Todmorden, controlling the town's local board and preventing the erection of a workhouse in Todmorden until the 1870s. He was a justice of the peace for both Lancashire and Yorkshire. Joshua played a part in the opposition to the Factory Act of 1850 which added two hours to the working week in order to secure an end to the relay system. By the 1860s Fielden was again becoming involved in national politics, notably by his campaign against the Malt Tax. He also continued to argue for shorter working hours for labourers, while seeking cuts in government expenditure and was opposed to the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland. After receiving his inheritance from his uncle in 1869, Joshua retired from the family business and purchased the Nutfield Priory Estate, near Redhill, Surrey. He rebuilt as a Gothic mansion, employing John Gibson as his architect. Gibson had already worked for Fielden in Todmorden: he was responsible for the Town Hall, the Unitarian church and for extending Stansfield Hall. He moved from Stansfield Hall to Nutfield in 1872, hiring a special train to move his possessions. In 1885 he became a JP for Surrey. He led an increasingly extravagant lifestyle, having withdrawn his capital from the family firm in 1879. He was a director of the South Eastern Railway from 1874 to 1879. in 1877 he led the Board in passing a vote of censure on the chairman and requiring the resignation of Watkin's son Alfred Watkin from the SER's employment. When the shareholders voted to give Sir Edward extraordinary powers, Fielden resigned; he was replaced on the board by Alfred Watkin.
In August 1868, he was selected along with Christopher Denison as Conservative candidates for the two-seat Eastern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the general election of that year. Accused of betraying his father's principles, he "defended his father from the imputation of being a Liberal", noting that Conservative MPs such as Lord John Manners and Benjamin Disraeli had supported John Fielden's Ten Hours Act. He supported extension of the Factory Acts and opposed centralising 'reforms' which took power away from local bodies; the New Poor Law showed how much evil they could bring about. Both Conservatives were elected to serve in the Commons, and Fielden was a Member of Parliament for 12 years. In 1871, he was described as "one of those obstinately independent members whom nobody and nothing can move". That year he declared himself to be, like the rest of his family, a Cobbettite Radical and hence wishing to defend and purify the existing Constitution, not to make dangerous innovations on theoretical grounds. He was in poor health from April 1876 onwards, being absent from Parliament for most of the next year and in later years thinking it imprudent to attend when there was a heavy fog. He took up yachting for his health and in 1879 indicated he would not stand at the 1880 general election, subsequently spending much of his time sailing in his yacht Zingara.
Personal life
In 1851, he married Ellen Brocklehurst, the daughter of Thomas Brocklehurst and a niece of John Brocklehurst, MP for Macclesfield. In the same year of his marriage, he purchased Stansfield Hall outside Todmorden as his residence. Two of Joshua Fielden's sons were to have parliamentary careers. Their children included:
Anne Fielden
John Fielden
Thomas Fielden was MP for Middleton, which included the Lancashire portion of Todmorden, from 1886–1892, and 1895 and 1897. He married Martha Knowles, daughter of Thomas Knowles, in 1878.
Ellen Unett Fielden
Edward Brocklehurst Fielden was MP for Middleton from 1900–1906, and for Manchester Exchange from 1924 to 1935. He married Mary Ellen Knowles, another daughter of Thomas Knowles, in 1884.
Joshua Fielden died in March 1887 at the Hotel Monte Carlo, Cannes, France. In spite of his lavish spending, he left an estate in excess of half a million pounds. He left Nutfield Priory and an annual income to his wife. The remainder of his property was divided between his 4 sons and 8 daughters. This included Stansfield Hall, estates at Hollins, Middletown Towers, Walsden and Rochdale, and Smithyholme and Rochdale Mills. He was buried in the churchyard of the church he and his brothers had built in Todmorden on 15 March.
Philanthropy
In 1865, Joshua and his brothers provided funds for the building of Todmorden Unitarian Church.; they later paid for the building of the town hall. Joshua was a strong Unitarian, and together with his older brother Samuel, helped to sustain the denomination in northern England by the paying of salaries to ministers.
