In 1887, Lionel Cohen was taken ill with pleurisy whilst on holiday in Nice. He returned home to recuperate, but was thought by his doctor to have returned to work too early. He died of coronary thrombosis on 26 June 1887, thereby forcing a by-election. The Conservatives quickly (on 28 June) invited John Aird to defend the seat. Aird had nearly forty years of experience as a public works contractor and engineer, and was a Paddington local. Paddington North Liberals chose Edmund Routledge, a member of the Routledge publishing family.