DRAMATIS PERSONAE OF VICTORIAN BRITAIN

The following thumb-nail sketches of Victorian people represent the personal views of the author; they are not designed as a substitute for e.g. the Dictionary of National Biography where more balanced accounts may be found.

ABERDEEN, George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of (1784-1860). Much over-rated as a diplomat in his youth, and powerfully satirised by Byron for his pretensions, Aberdeen entered office under WELLINGTON [q.v.] in 1828 as Foreign Minister. After serving under PEEL [q.v.] (1834-5) he became Foreign Secretary again 1841-6. Though a critic of PALMERSTON [q.v.], the general trend of their policy was similar. Aberdeen became Prime Minister in 1852, following the defeat of Lord DERBY [q.v.], but his Government's inept handling of the Crimean War led to his downfall in 1855.

ACLAND, Arthur Herbert (1847-1926). M.P. for Rotherham 1885-99. Entered Cabinet as Vice-President of the Council on Education, 1892. One of a new generation of Liberal positivist M.P.s.

ALBERT, Prince (1819-61) first visited England in 1836, when he was already pencilled in as a possible husband to their heir to the throne, the Princess VICTORIA [q.v.]. In 1839 she proposed to him, and they were married the following year. Albert exercised a restraining political influence over the Queen, though the role that he played was not as welcome to all politicians as it was to PEEL [q.v.]. Influential in many spheres behind the scenes, his most notable claim to fame in his lifetime was his support for what became the Great Exhibition of 1851. His Lutheranism perhaps inspired the Queen's own sceptical attitude to denominational religion, an interesting position for the 'Head of the Church of England' to maintain. His death from typhoid in 1861 was a devastating blow to the Queen.

ASQUITH, Herbert Henry (1852-1928). As a lawyer, Asquith was junior counsel for Charles Stewart PARNELL [q.v.] in the Commission to investigate The Times' libellous accusations that Parnell was involved in criminal activity in Ireland. Entering Parliament in 1886, he was an "ardent Gladstonian." As Home Secretary from 1892-95 helped to forward social reforms, earning the praise not only of Liberals but Socialists. One of the first leading politicians to embrace "New Liberal" collectivist thinking. A supporter of the 'Liberal Imperial' group during the Boer War. Subsequently, of course, went on to be Prime Minister.

BENTINCK, Lord George (1802-1848), 2nd son of the 4th Duke of Portland, was private secretary to Canning, when the latter was Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons. Entered Parliament in 1826 as a Canningite, and followed Lord STANLEY [q.v., sub DERBY] into the 'Derby Dilly' and thence to Conservatism. A silent M.P., devoting himself to horse-racing (hence his nickname of 'The Jockey') until incensed by PEEL's [q.v.] "betrayal" over the Corn Laws, when he became the most vicious critic of the Prime Minister. Unable to moderate his tone thereafter, his leadership of the Protectionists in the House of Commons became something of an embarrassment to the party, who "deposed" him from the leadership for his support of Jewish emancipation. His sudden death in 1848 terminated what might have been an interesting career. His friend DISRAELI [q.v.] wrote a biography of him in 1852; more recent studies are Robert Stewart's The Politics of Protection (Cambridge, 1971) and the late Angus Macintyre's essay, "Lord George Bentinck and the Protectionist Case; a lost cause?" Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser., xxxix (1989), pp. 141-165. See also the revealing portrait Charles Greville (his sometime racing partner) painted of Bentinck.

BESANT, Annie (1847-1933). Annie Wood married Frank Besant, a clergyman, in 1867, but left him in 1873. Joined the National Secular Society in 1874, and the Fabian Society in 1885, though she later abandoned secularism for theosophy. In 1888 was one of the organisers of the strike of London match-girls, and helped to found their trade union. Convicted of obscenity for distributing literature advocating contraception for the poor, but acquitted on appeal. In 1895 she went to India, becoming a founder of the Home Rule League (1916) and in 1918 President of the Indian National Congress.

BHOWNAGGREE, Mancherjee Merwanjee (1851-1933). Called to the bar in London in 1885, Bhownaggree became Conservative M.P. for Bethnal Green in 1895, though Lord SALISBURY [q.v.] has earlier expressed his distaste for the Liberal party nominating an India in the person of Dadabhai NAORAJI [q.v.]. He sat till 1906.

BIRRELL, Augustine (1850-1933). Liberal M.P. and Professor of Law at London University. Chief Secretary for Ireland 1907-16, resigning for failing to anticipate the 1916 Dublin Rising.

BONHAM, Francis Robert (1785-1863). Conservative political agent, who was "re-discovered" by Norman Gash [Cf. N.Gash, "F.R.Bonham - Conservative 'Political Secretary,' 1832-1847," English Historical Review, lxiii (1948), pp. 502-22]. Much to Gash's disappointment, did not make the original Dictionary of National Biography. His Whig counterpart, Joseph PARKES [q.v.] has perhaps been even more overlooked in recent times.

BRIGHT, John (1811-1891), son of a Rochdale miller, he formed an early friendship with Richard COBDEN [q.v.], the two of them emerging as the champions of the Anti-Corn-Law League, overshadowing C.P.VILLIERS [q.v.]. Entered Parliament in 1843 as M.P. for Durham City, following an earlier defeat there at a by-election, but in 1847 transferred to the (to him) more congenial surroundings of Manchester, which he represented from 1847-1857. Bright was one of a handful of Quakers in the House of Commons, and was a champion of religious liberty and the abolition of the death penalty, but his rigid views on political economy made him an opponent of factory reform. Defeated at Manchester in 1857 following his opposition to both the Crimean War and PALMERSTON's [q.v.] war agaiunst China, and subsequently sat for Birmingham from 1857-1886. A passionate advocate of further Parliamentary Reform, he nevertheless tended to exaggerate the popular enthusiasm for it in the 1850s and early 1860s. Joined GLADSTONE's [q.v.] first Government (1868-74) as President of the Board of Trade, and later as Chacellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, an office he resumed in 1880. Resigned in protest at the invasion of Egypt in 1882, and ended his career as a critic of Gladstone's policy of Home Rule for Ireland.

BROADHURST, Henry (1840-1911). Worked as a stonemason, 1853-72. Elected secretary of the Labour Representation League, 1873, and secretary of the Parliamentary committee of the Trades' Union Congress in 1875. Liberal M.P. for Stoke on Trent, 1880-1906. Under-secretary at the Home Office 1806. Increasingly disillusioned with the 'new Unionism' of his later years.

BRYCE, James (1838-1922). On Newcastle Commission on Education, as Assistant Commissioner, 1865-66. Assisted development of university education in Manchester, where he lectured in law, till becoming reguis professor of civil law at Oxford, 1870-93. Liberal M.P. 1885-1906. Helped to draft second Home Rule Bill. President of the Board of Trade 1894. Chief Secretary for Ireland 1905-6. Ambassador at Washington 1907-13.

BURNS, John Elliot (1858-1943). Burns joined the Social Democratic Federation in 1884, but left in in 1889 to found his own Battersea Labour League, which was to be his power base thereafter. Prominent in the London dock strike of 1889. Represented Battersea on the new London County Council, and later in Parliament (1892-1918). In 1892 he rejected Liberalism, but refused to join the Independent Labour Party, and became President of the Local Government Board in 1906, the first working man to join a British cabinet.

BURT, Thomas (1837-1922). Secretary, Durham Miners' Association, 1865-1913, he entered Parliament as M.P. for Morpeth in 1874, retaining the seat till 1918. Secretary to the Board of Trade 1892-5.

BUTT, Isaac (1813-1879) was initially a Unionist, opposing Daniel O'CONNELL [q.v.] in Dublin Corporation's three-day debate on Repeal of the Union. The failure of the British government to see the famine as a British (as opposed to an Irish) issue, led him strongly to question the Union. Defended the rebels of 1848, and subsequently the Fenian rebels of 1867, in his capacity as a barrister, and emerged as leader of the Home Government Association, after GLADSTONE [q.v.] rejected amnesty for the Fenian convicts. Led the embryonic Home Rule party in Parliament, though his vague federalist aims, and his sympathetic attitude towards DISRAELI's [q.v.] imperialism, as well as his own financial difficulties, undermined his credibility.

BUXTON, Sydney Charles (1853-1934). Liberal M.P. Under-secretary for the Colonies 1892-5, one of the progressive under-secretaries of GLADSTONE's [q.v.] last Government. A Cabinet Minister in early twentieth century Liberal Government, and Governor General of South Africa 1914-20.

CAINE, William Sproston (1842-1903). Radical M.P. for Scarborough, 1880-1885, he broke with the Liberals over Home Rule for Ireland, but split with the Unionists in 1890 because of his temperance beliefs. Liberal M.P. for Bradford, 1892-5, threatening GLADSTONE [q.v.] with an independent Prohibitionist party if the Local Liquor Veto was not vigorously pursued by the party.

CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN, Henry (1836-1908). Liberal M.P. for Stirling from 1868 until his death. Junior office under GLADSTONE [q.v.] in the 1870s and 1880s, he became Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1884. Entered the Cabinet in Gladstone's Home Rule Government of 1886, and actively supported Home Rule. Secretary for War under Gladstone and ROSEBERY [q.v.], 1892-5, when he introduced the 8-hour day into the Government Ordnance factories; the Government fell on a censure motion upon his munitions policy. Succeeded HARCOURT [q.v.] as leader of the Liberal party in 1899. Though a member of the committee which exonerated Jameson, he became a critic of the Boer War, denouncing English "methods of barbarism" in South Africa. Prime Minister following the Liberal landslide of 1906, till ill-health forced his retirement in 1908.

CHADWICK, Edwin (1800-1890) a friend and disciple of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who used his influence in the "civil service" to advance Bentham's "greatest happiness" principles. Came to prominence as an assistant Poor-Law Commissioner, ceoming chief commissioner in 1833, and as secretary to the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws is sometimes credited with having "invented" the new Poor Law of 1834. Served also on the Factory Commission of 1833, and the Sanitary Commissions of 1839 and 1844. His report On the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Classes (published at his own expense in 1842) was desiogned to push forward his own agenda, but his reliance of heavy engineering rather than medicine alienated the doctors, and his period at the newly established Board of Health (1848-54) was not a success. An irrascible, self-opinionated man, difficult to work with, but more influential in his times that cart-loads of politicians. The latest biography, A. Brundage, England's "Prussian Minister" (Penn State Univ. Press, 1988) gives an excellent flavour of the man.

CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph (1836-1914). Initially came to prominence in Birmingham, of which he was mayor 1873-5, but by then had already established a national reputation in Radical circles, especially as founder of the National Education League, which grew up in reaction to GLADSTONE's [q.v.] Education Act of 1870. Helped to organise the 'caucus' system in Birmingham, designed to deliver all three of the city's seats to the Liberals. Entered Parliament for his natuve city in 1876, where he and Sir Charles DILKE [q.v.] formed a Radical alliance within Gladstonianism. President of the Board of Trade under Gladstone in 1880. Negotiated with Charles Stewart PARNELL [q.v.] through the untrustworthy medium of Capt. William O'Shea, husband of Parbell'' mistress, and through him persuaded that Parnell would accept his Local Board scheme as a settlement to the Irish problem. His 'unauthorised programme' tried to push Liberalism in a more radical direction, to the consternation of more conservative elements in the party, such as Lord HARTINGTON [q.v.], but he shared with Hartington hostility to Home Rule for Ireland. Resigned from Gladstone's third Government in 1886, when the Home Rule Bill was introduced, and became a leading Liberal Unionist. Joined Lord SALISBURY's [q.v.] Government in 1895 as Secretary for the Colonies, and was probably complicit in the so-called "Jameson raid" against the Boers of the Transvaal. A strong supporter of the Boer War, he resigned from the government in 1903 to undertake a campaign for imperial preference in tariff duties, alienating many of his erstwhile Liberal Unionist colleagues, who clung to free trade.

CHURCHILL, Lord Randolph (1849-1894), 3rd son of the 6th Duke of Marlborough (and incidentally grandson of that Lord Londonderry whose statue dominates Durham market-place). Entering Parliament for the family seat of Woodstock in 1874, he became a critic of what he saw as the lethargic performance of the Conservative leadership of Sir Stafford NORTHCOTE [q.v.], with John GORST [q.v.] and others becoming known as the 'Fourth Party.' An advocate of popular Toryism, he with Gorst was an advocate for e.g. the Primrose League, and became leader of the National Union of Conservative Associations, insisting to SALISBURY [q.v.] that it must ultimately supercede as director of the party's affairs. An advocate of extending the 1884 franchise to Ireland (where he spent some time), he successfully negotiated with PARNELL [q.v.] in 1885, persuading the latter to put Irish support behind the Tories, but when GLADSTONE [q.v.] announced his conversion to Home Rule, decided to play 'the Orange card', and famously and ominously declared that "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." Chancellor of the Exchequer 1886, but Salisbury called his bluff when he offered his resignation, and never held office again. The Dictionary of National Biography politely notes that he died of "general paralysis"; his best modern biographer, R.F.Foster, Lord Randolph Churchill: A Political Life [Oxford, 1981 ] suggests that Churchill's terminal syphilis made him a driven man.

COBDEN, Richard (1804-1865) came from Sussex farming stock, but settled in Manchester in 1832, entering the calico business. A founder of the 'Manchester school' of political economy, he was an ardent advocate of repeal of the Corn Laws. M.P. for Stockport from 1841-6, PEEL [q.v.] in his famous valedictory speech in 1846 gave Cobden personally the credit for securing Corn Law repeal, and a public subscription was raised for him, perhaps inappropriately so that he could buy a landed estate! For his part, Cobden urged Peel to lead a new centrist political party, an offer the former Prime Minister politely declined. While other former members of the Anti-Corn-Law League concentrated on e.g. suffrage reform after 1846, Cobden remained a devotee of world free trade, entertaining great hopes that it would lead to world peace. His opposition to the war in China in 1857 led to his defeat in his constituency of the West Riding of Yorkshire (1847-57) at the subsequent election. By 1859, as M.P. for Rochdale, he negotiated the free-trade treaty with France, which some might think was not especially consistent with notions of world free trade. The best recent biography is that by N.C. Edsall: Richard Cobden; Independent Radical [London, 1986].

CROSS, Richard Assheton (1823-1914) entered Parliament as M.P. for Preston in 1857. Appointed Home Sectretary in 1874 under DISRAELI [q.v.], he famously noted Disraeli's absence of any systemtic plans for the new Government. Nevetheless secured his leader's support for proposals such as the Artisans' Dwellings Act (1875) or the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act (1875). At the Home Office again in SALISBURY's [q.v.] minority government of 1885-6, he was created Viscount Cross in 1886. He was Secretary for India in Salisbury's next government (1886-92), and Lord Privy Seal from 1895 to 1900. An unsung hero, who lacks a biographer.

DERBY, Edward George Geoffrey Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of (1799-1869), known until 1851, when he succeeded his father, as Lord STANLEY. Began his political career as a moderate Whig, serving under Canning and Goderich. Joined Grey's Government in 1830, and supported the Reform Bill, but becoming disillusioned with what he perceived as growing radicalism, especially over the Irish Church, broke with the Whigs in 1834 to lead the "Derby Dilly," a group of disillusioned Whigs, including e.g. Lord George BENTINCK [q.v.]. Nevertheless, refused to join PEEL [q.v.] when the latter formed his brief Government in 1834. Moved into the Conservatives ranks by 1836, and was Colonial Secretary under Peel from 1841-44, being responsible for the Canadian Corn proposals of 1843. Raised to the House of Lords in his own right in 1844 as Lord Stanley. Held out against Peel'' Corn Law proposals in late 1845, eventually being the only Cabinet minister to resign on the issue, and after initially saying he would remain neutral, emerged as leader of the Protectionist Tories in 1846. Failed to form a Government in 1851, but took office briefly in 1852, initially pledged to restore Protection, but moderating his position having failed to win a majority in the 1852 General Election, so that he was willing to accept the end of Protection in November 1852. Resumed office 1858-9, but his Government was defeated on its Reform Bill. Prime Minister for a third time 1866, and carried (with DISRAELI's [q.v.] assistance) the second Reform Bill. Resigned to make way for Disraeli in February 1868 and died shortly thereafter. His leadership of the Tory party characterised it as "the country party"; Derby himself constantly expected a reaction against radicalism, which never materialised. The best recent studies are Robert Stewart, The Politics of Protection; Lord Derby and the Protectionist Party 1841-52 [Cambridge, 1971], for the early part of Stanley's career under Victoria, and Angus Hawkins, "Lord Derby and Victorian Conservatism; a Reappraisal," Parliamentary History, vi (1987), pp. 280-301.

DILKE, Sir Charles Wentworth (1843-1911). Radical M.P. for Chelsea, 1868-86, he was distinguished for his republican views, though later became a friend of the Prince of Wales. Entered Cabinet as President of the Local Government Board (1882-5), and as an expert on local boundaries was an invaluable member of the Committee which negotiated the Redistribution Bill of 1885. Like his close acquaintance CHAMBERLAIN [q.v.] opposed GLADSTONE's [q.v.] Home Rule policy. A sensational divorce case in 1885 effectively terminated his career, though he did return to Parliament 1892-1911.

DISRAELI, Benjamin (1804-1881). Son of the novelist Isaac D'Israeli, historians have (in the main) taken an unduly cynical view of Disraeli. After beginning his political career as a Radical, came under the patronage of the Tory Lord Lyndhurst, and entered Parliament in 1837, where his foppish manner and grandiloquent style caused instant derision. Overcoming both this, his reputation as a popular novelist (Vivian Grey, 1824, etc.), and his Jewish background, he emerged as a more serious politician by the 1840s. Further novels (Coningsby, 1844, and Sybil, 1845) contained thinly disguised attacks on Peelite Conservatism in the former, and a plea for one-nation Toryism in the latter, which, combined with his association with "Young England," gave him some slight reputation. Emerged into the limelight with his vitriolic, but often humourous, attacks on PEEL [q.v.] for his "betrayal" of the Tory party in the Corn Law debates of 1846. With Lord George BENTINCK [q.v.] became a leader of the Protectionists in the House of Commons, under Lord Stanley, later Earl of DERBY [q.v.] in the Lords, but with Bentinck was "deposed" by the Tories for their support of Jewish Emancipation. Nevertheless was Derby's choice as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons in February 1852. Finally accepted the end of Protection in November 1852, following PALMERSTON's [q.v.] amendment to VILLIERS' [q.v.] resolution. The defeat of his budget the following month brought down the Government. Resumed his former offices under Derby in February 1858, but was defeated (1859) on his Reform Bill, notable for its "fancy franchises." For a third time Leader of the House of Commons in June 1866, following the defeat of the GLADSTONE/RUSSELL [q.v.] Reform Bill of that year, and went on to carry through the Commons the Second Reform Act by a combination of embracing household suffrage, and accepting Radical amendments. Became Prime Minister on Lord Derby's retirement in February 1868, but lost the subsequent election. Victorious in 1874, his Government passed a series of "social" reforms, but notoriously his home secretary, R.A.CROSS [q.v.] lamented that Disraeli had embarked on his first Cabinet with no clear proposals for reform. Nevertheless, Disraeli demonstrated his commitment to e.g. the Artisans' Dwelling Act by insisting that Cross be given the necessary financial support, overriding the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Stafford NORTHCOTE [q.v.]. From 1876, when Disraeli was elevated to the House of Lords as Earl of Beaconsfield, he concentrated his energies on foreign affairs. Retired after defeat at the general election, 1880, making a farewell speech warning of the dangerous radicalism of Gladstone, and died 1881, the Queen, with whom he had a close working relationship, sending bunches of primroses to his funeral. The best modern biography is that by Robert [Lord] Blake, Disraeli [London, 1966]. For a fuller bibliography, see Disraeli.

GLADSTONE, Herbert John (1854-1930). Youngest son of the Prime Minister. M.P. for Leeds 1885-1910. Liberal whip. In 1885 it was Herbert Gladstone's leaking of his father's conversion to Home Rule that put the cat among the Liberal pigeons. As chief Whip after 1899. it was Herbert's difficulty duty to maintain the peace between the 'Pro-Boers' and Liberal Imperialists. Achieved the pact in 1903 with the emerging Labour Party that prevented the "left" from splitting its electoral support to the advantage of the Conservatives, but thereby (perhaps) paved the way for the eventual replacement of the Liberals by Labour. Home Secretary 1905-10. Governor General of South Africa 1910-14.

GLADSTONE, William Ewart (1809-1898). Colin Matthew notes at the beginning of his two volume life of Gladstone, which remains the best life [H.C.G.Matthew, Gladstone, 1809-1874 (Oxford, 1986) and Gladstone, 1875-1898 (Oxford, 1995)] that there has never been (and is not likely to be) another Gladstone, comparing him to a man first entering office under Ramsay Macdonald in 1931 who would, by the time of Mrs. Thatcher's mid-career in 1985, still have ten more years in Parliament, and two further terms as Prime Minster to go. Beginning life as the stern hope of the unbending Tories, as he was famously described for his book The Church in its Relations with the State (1836), Gladstone traversed the political spectrum. Offered a seat at Newark by the Duke of Newcastle, after his opposition to Parliamentary Reform while a student at Oxford University, Gladstone ended his parliamentary career over seventy years later, having passed the most democratic Reform Bill of the century, attacking the House of Lords. A junior Minister under PEEL [q.v.], Gladstone resigned in 1845, because while he now supported the Maynooth grant, he felt it was incompatible with his earlier book which had upheld the Established Church. Peel unusually took pains to explain his conversion to repeal of the Corn Laws to Gladstone, when offering the latter the Colonial Office, but Gladstone found the Duke of Newcastle now hostile, and having vacated his Newark seat on accepting office, remained out of Parliament till 1847, when he was returned for Peel's old seat at Oxford University. Critical of Peel for his role in Parliament 1846-50, which he felt was a major contributing factor to the dislocation of parties following Corn Law repeal. Gladstone himself was continually expected to follow many other Peelites in rejoining the Conservative party, notwithstanding his successful attack on DISRAELI's [q.v.] budget in 1852 which brought down Lord DERBY's [q.v.] Government. Joined Lord ABERDEEN's [q.v.] new Government in December 1852 as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and briefly held office under PALMERSTON [q.v.] in 1855, but (with fellow Peelites) resigned when Palmerston failed to resist ROEBUCK's [q.v.] motion critical of the conduct of the Crimean War. Opposed Palmerston over the China War in 1857, and supported the Derby/Disraeli Reform Bill of 1859. But that year finally gave in his adherence to the Liberal party, where he was to remain for the rest of his career, reshaping the party in his own image. He joined Palmerston's Government, and remained Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1859 to 1865. Visits to Lancashire during the cotton famine, and to Tyneside, in 1862, were both highly popular events. The fomer visit gave Gladstone a platform to enable him to become M.P. for South Lancashire in 1865. Both visits helped established Gladstone as 'the people's William,' though his own views on 'the people' were not that sympathetic. In 1864 he famously said that every man who was not morally disqualified was entitled to come within the pale of the constitution, falsely interpreted by those who overlooked his caveats as a call for extensive Parliamentary reform. When Palmerston died he became leader of the House of Commons under RUSSELL [q.v.], and was responsible for introducing the Reform Bill of 1866 into the Commons, but was defeated by Robert LOWE [q.v.] and the so-called 'Adullamites.' To his surprise, failed on his almost instant attempt to overturn Disraeli's subsequent Reform Bill, but defeated Disraeli on resolutions on the Irish Church, and won the subsequent general election of 1868 on a platform of Irish Church disestablishment, succeeding in uniting all the constituent parts of the United Kingdom in a common cause. As Prime Minister (1868-74) his Government was condemned for its "blundering and plundering" approach to reforming most of the major institutions of the state, the army, the judiciary, the law, and universities, as well as passing the first national Education Act (to the dismay of the Protestant Dissenters, who felt the bill showed too much of Gladstone's Anglicanism), and the first legal recognition of Trade Unions, which trade unionists themselves recognised as half-hearted.

Defeated in the 1874 election, in spite of a last-minute campaign to abolish the income tax, Gladstone announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal party, though stayed on the back-benches, a looming presence over his successor, Lord HARTINGTON [q.v.]. In 1879 embarked on a campaign in Midlothian (south-east of Edinburgh) which he was to represent from 1880 till 1895, denouncing Disraelian foreign and imperial policy. Winning the general election of 1880, his new Government rapidly became enmeshed in issues not of Gladstone's making - the Bradlaugh affair, Egypt, General Gordon's fate, etc, - before re-emerging following a brief illness in 1883 to carry the 3rd Reform Bill in 1884, and the subsquent deal with Lord SALISBURY [q.v.] over re-distribution. [See The Third Reform Act]. Resigned 1885 following a defeat on the budget, when he was succeeded by Lord Salisbury.

During 1885 Gladstone rejected overtures from PARNELL [q.v.], who was seeking to elicit his policy towards Ireland. Having disestablished the Irish Church in 1869, and passed the first Irish Land Act in 1870, in the hope that he would "pacify" Ireland, in his second Ministry Gladstone had adopted a more coercive approach towards the Irish, notwithstanding his Second Land Act of 1870. The arrest and subsequent release of Parnell in 1881-2 (the 'Kilmainham Treaty') not unnaturally encouraged Tory suspicions that Gladstone was prepared to sell out for Irish support, and his son Herbert's announcement (the 'Hawarden kite') that his father was in favour of Home Rule for Ireland following the close result of the 1885 election seemed to confirm those views. Defeated on his first Home Rule Bill, Gladstone went to the country, when a Liberal party weakened by the defection of the Liberal Unionists (led on the one side by Joseph CHAMBERLAIN [q.v.], and on the other by Lord Hartington) was defeated, allowing Salisbury to resume office. [See Gladstone, Parnell, and Ireland]. The Liberals with their Irish allies won the general election of 1892, however, suggesting that Home Rule was not as horrifying a spectre for the English electorate as some have argued. Gladstone introduced his second Home Rule Bill in 1893, but having passed the House of Commons, it was unceremoniously rejected by the House of Lords, leading to Gladstone's final campaign of his career. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1894, and the rapid disintegration of the Liberal Government of Lord ROSEBERY [q.v.] thereafter served to underline the crucial role that Gladstone had played in keeping the party together. He resigned from Parliament in 1895, and died in 1898.

The G.O.M. - Grand Old Man - was loved or loathed; Queen VICTORIA [q.v.] was in the latter camp, though rumours that numerous prostitutes were in the former are unfounded. Gladstone apparently only "sinned" with one of them.

For fuller bibliography, see Gladstone, in the main listing.

GORST, John Eldon (1835-1916). Entered parliament in 1866, and sought to fulfil DISRAELI's [q.v.] wish to re-awaken urban Torysim. In 1880-84 he with Randolph CHURCHILL [q.v.] and others comprised the "fourth party", attacking GLADSTONE [q.v.] but showing contempt for the weak Tory leadership in the Commons of Stafford NORTHCOTE [q.v.]. See E.J.Feuchtwanger, "J.E.Gorst and the Central Organisation of the Conservative Party, 1870-1882," Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, xxxi (1959), pp. 192-108.

GOSCHEN, George Joachim (1831-1907). Entered Parliament as a Liberal, and served under RUSSELL [q.v.] 1866 and GLADSTONE [q.v.] 1868-74, but declined to serve under the latter in 1880 due to his growing hostility to further Parliamentary reform. A Liberal Unionist in 1886, he was one of the first to embrace Toryism, and became Chancellor of the Exchequer under SALISBURY [q.v.], 1886-92. A strong opponent of the second Home Rule bill, he once more served under Salisbury from 1895-1900. One of the first of a growing number of Liberal businessmen to move towards the Tory camp, inspired by their perception of a new (and dangerous) radicalism. Ironically, their chief bogey-man, Joseph CHAMBERLAIN [q.v.] was to join them in the ranks of the Conservative party.

GRAHAM, Sir James Robert George (1792-1861). Graham had been one of the committee who had drafted the Reform Bill, but by 1832 had, with Lord STANLEY [q.v.] become disillusioned with the Whigs, and while declining to join PEEL [q.v.] in 1834, emerged in 1841 as his chief lieutenant. Appointed Home Secretary in 1841, Graham shared an almost telepathic relationship with Peel; without consulting each other in 1842, they both agreed simultaneously that any future change in Corn Laws must be to repeal, and by 1845 both had come to see repeal as inevitable. Unsurprisingly, Graham was one of the few Cabinet Ministers who backed Peel from the outset. Unlike Peel, Graham did not go into retirement after 1846. He joined ABERDEEN [q.v.] as First Lord of the Admiralty, and retained office briefly under PALMERSTON [q.v.], retiring with GLADSTONE [q.v.] and Sidney Herbert when Palmerston failed to oppose ROEBUCK's resolution on the misconduct of the war in the Crimea. Graham was one of life's first lieutenants, and Peel (at least) relied very heavily on his judgement. He was a friend and confidante of the diarist GREVILLE [q.v.], much of whose insights were supplied by Graham. Probably (though publicly disclaiming it) always wanted to be Prime Minister, though most of his contemporaries felt he was not up to the job.

GREEN, Thomas Hill (1836-1882). Whyte professor of moral philosophy at Oxford, 1878-82, said to be one of the major influences behind changing Liberal thought at the end of the nineteenth century.

GREVILLE, Charles Cavendish Fulke (1794-1865). As clerk to the Privy Council, Greville was intimate with most of the politicians of his day, and his Journals are regarded as a major historical source for the period. A moderate Whig by inclination, he became a great admirer of PEEL [q.v.], Was cousin to Lord George BENTINCK [q.v.], with whom he ran a successful horse-racing partnership until the latter abandoned his horses to undertake opposition to Peel in 1846.

GREY, Sir Edward (1862-1933). Sent down from Oxford for "incorrigible idleness", he became Liberal M.P for Berwick upon Tweed in 1885. Parliamentary under Secretary at the Foreign Office 1892-5, he was one of those junior ministers anxious to advance the cause of labour. Supported the South African War. Foreign Secretary 1905-16, famously watching the lights going out all over Europe in 1914.

GREY, Henry George, 3rd Earl (1802-1894). Son of the Reform Prime Minister, whom he succeeded as Earl Grey in 1845, being known till then as Viscount Howick. A somewhat turbulent politician, on the "left" of the Whig party, he unfairly was blamed for the failure of Lord John RUSSELL [q.v.] to form a Government in December, 1845. Served under Russell as Colonial Secretary 1846-52, but never thereafter held office. Author of Parliamentary Government considered with Reference to Reform of Parliament [1858], in which he advocated separate seats for Cabinet Ministers to free them from popular pressure. In his last years a firm opponent of GLADSTONE's [q.v.] Home Rule proposals.

HALDANE, Richard Burdon (1856-1928). Liberal M.P. for East Lothian, 1885-1911. Secretary of State for War 1905-12. Lord Chancellor 1912-15. Joined the Labour party, and served as Labour Lord Chancellor, 1924.

HAMILTON, Sir Edward Walter (1847-1908). Private secretary to Robert LOWE [q.v.] and GLADSTONE [q.v.]. A Treasury official and diarist.

HARCOURT, Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon (1827-1904). After a distinguished career as a lawyer, entered Parliament at M.P. for Oxford in 1868. An active Gladstonian in his early years in Parliament, both in government and opposition, he was made Home Secretary by GLADSTONE [q.v.] in 1880, and was a strong supporter of coercion towards Irish violence. Convinced that Ireland had become ungovernable, he was an advocate of Home Rule before Gladstone's public acceptance of the idea, and served under Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 1886 Government. One of those Gladstonians who hoped for Liberal reunion after the Home Rule split, though he was hostile to CHAMBERLAIN's [q.v.] radicalism. Chancellor of the Exchequer under Gladstone in 1892, he hoped to succeed as leader of the party, and was bitter towards the new Prime Minister, ROSEBERY [q.v.], though continuing to serve under him. His strong teetotalism, and insistence on the Local Liquor Veto, was credited with helping to lose the Liberals the election of 1895, when he himself was sensationally defeated at Derby. Succeeded Rosebery as Liberal leader briefly 1896-8. An opponent of the Boer War, which he denounced accurately as "unjust and engineered", he went on to oppose Joseph Chamberlain's tariff reform campaign in 1903. The Dictionary of National Biography calls him the last of the old-style Parliamentarians.

HARDIE, James Kier (1856-1915), A Lanarkshire miner, and union organiser, Hardie was refused the Liberal party nomination for Mid Lanark, and stood as an independent, though his initial political stance supported both Mr. GLADSTONE [q.v.] and Irish Home Rule. Rapidly distancing himself from his Liberal past, he founded the Scottish Labour Party in 1888. In 1893 he became chairman of the newly formed Independent Labour Party, and was elected Independent Labour M.P. for West Ham, but lost the seat in 1895. M.P. for Merthyr Boroughs, 1900-1915, he became the first leader of the Labour Party in Parliament.

HARTINGTON, Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquis of (1833-1908). Son of the Duke of Devonshire (whom he succeeded in 1891), Hartington entered the Cabinet under RUSSELL [q.v.] in 1866. Served under GLADSTONE [q.v.] and succeeded him as official Liberal leader when the latter resigned in 1874. Took office again under Gladstone in 1880, but was only a reluctant covert to the third Reform Act, fearing at once the radicalism of Joseph CHAMBERLAIN [q.v.], and the growing influence of PARNELL [q.v.] when Gladstone insisted that Ireland must be treated on an equal footing. Finally broke with Gladstone over Home Rule for Ireland in 1886, and, with Chamberlain, became a leading figure in Liberal Unionism. He led the House of Lords opposition to Gladstone's second Home Rule bill in 1893, and finally joined Lord SALISBURY's [q.v.] Government as President of the Council, 1895-1902. Served in the same capacity under Balfour 1902-3, but was a staunch opponent of Chamberlain's tariff reform proposals in 1903.

HENDERSON, Arthur (1863-1935). Trade unionist and member of Newcastle City Council, he was recommended as Liberal candidate for the City by John MORLEY [q.v.], but the local Liberal Association turned him down. He, however, remained in the Liberal party, and may well have continued there had not he been required to take an Independent Labour stand when he fought (and won) a by-election at Barnard Castle, an event highly influential in producing the Gladstone-Macdonald pact, to avoid Liberal/Labour conflicts. Secretary to the Labour Party 1911-34, when his pacifism forced his resignation. Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary in Labour Governments of the 1920s, he led the party's opposition to Ramsay Macdonald in 1931.

HERBERT, Sidney (1810-1861). An Oxford contemporary of GLADSTONE [q.v.] and Lord LINCOLN [q.v. sub NEWCASTLE], Herbert entered Parliament in 1832 as M.P. for South Wiltshire, and held the seat till 1860. After junior office under PEEL [q.v.] in 1834-5 and 1841-5, he entered the Cabinet as Secretary at War 1845, and was one of the initial supporters of Corn Law repeal. Returned to the same office under ABERDEEN [q.v.], Herbert was largely responsible for sending Florence NIGHTINGALE [q.v.] to the Crimea. Indeed, he was fond of sending women abroad, being a promoter of schemes to send women to Australia to encourage the equal balance of the sexes there. Having quit office with the other Peelites when PALMERSTON [q.v.] failed to resist ROEBUCK's [q.v.] committee of inquiry into the conduct of the Crimean War, he returned to office under Palmerston as, once again, Secretary at War, in 1859, but retired through ill health in 1859. The least well-known of the Peelite triumvirate with Gladstone and Lincoln, he sadly lacks a biographer.

HERSCHELL, Farrer (1837-1899). Liberal M.P. for Durham, 1874-1885. Solicitor General 1880. Lord Chancellor (with the title of Baron Herschell of the City of Durham) in GLADSTONE's [q.v.] Home Rule Government, 1886, and again in 1892-5 under Gladstone and ROSEBERY [q.v.]. Reservations about the reform of the House of Lords.

HOBHOUSE, Leonard Trelawny (1864-1929). Oxford don. Worked for Manchester Guardian, 1897-1902. One of those Liberal intellectuals credited with giving a new direction to late nineteenth century Liberalism. First professor of sociology at London University, 1897-1902.

HOWELL, George (1833-1903). A former Chartist, Howell was one of the so-called 'Junta' who controlled the skilled Trade Unions of the 1860s. A prominent member of the Reform League, he campaigned actively for the Liberals in the 1868 election. He became Secretary to the parliamentary committee of the Trades Union Congress 1871-5, exerting strong pressure for the Trade Union Acxts of 1871 and 1875, after which he suggested the work of the committee was done. Became Liberal M.P. for Bethnal Green, 1885-1895.

HYNDMAN, Henry Mayers (1842-1941). A journalist on the Pall Mall Gazette, Hyndman founded the Social Democratic Federation in 1881, one of those socialist societies whose influence on the early labour movement has been much exaggerated. His book, England for All (1881), sought to preach English Marxism.

JONES, Ernest Charles (1819-1869). A barrister. Chartist advocate of physical force. Imprisoned for two years 1848-50. His son, L.A. Atherley-Jones, became a prominent Radical M.P. in the late Gladstonian period.

KITSON, Sir James (1835-1911). Ironmaster of Leeds, and first Lord Mayor of Leeds, 1896-7. President of the National Liberal Federation, 1883-1890. M.P. 1892-1902. One of the last laissez-faire die-hards.

LINCOLN, Earl of - See NEWCASTLE, Duke of

LLOYD GEORGE, David (1863-1945). A solicitor, elected M.P. for Caernarvonshire 1890, and retained the seat till 1945. Made reputation as speaker against House of Lords, for temperance causes, and in favour of Welsh disestablishment. A leading opponent of the South African war. Entered Cabinet in 1905. Prime Minister 1916-1922.

LOWE, Robert (1811-1892) was trained as a lawyer, and went to Australia as a young man, where his experience of democracy made him a strong critic of the working classes. Entering Parliament in 1859, he held several junior offices in Government, but emerged as the fiercest critic of the Reform Bill of 1866, being cast by John BRIGHT [q.v.] as the leader of the 'Adullamites,' those permanently discontented. He nevertheless joined GLADSTONE's [q.v.] Government in 1868 as Chancellor of the Exchequer. A perceptive portrait of him is to be found in Asa Briggs, Victorian People [London, 1954].

MANN, Tom (1856-1941). A member of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, Tom Mann joined the Social Democratic Foundation in 1885. Supported Ben TILLETT [q.v.] in the great London docks strike of 1889, and became President of the Dockers' Union 1889-93, with Tillett as Secretary. Secretary of the Independent Labour Party from 1894-7, in 1902 Mann went to Australia as a Labour organiser. He was a founder member of the British Communist party in 1920.

MELBOURNE, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount (1779-1848), was Prime Minister at the time of Queen VICTORIA's [q.v.] accession, having succeeded Lord Grey in 1834. She developed a firm affection for him, though ribald Londoners who nicknamed the Queen 'Mrs. Melbourne' were more accurate on Melbourne's sexual reputation than the Queen's. Defeated on his budget in 1841, he determined to go to the country rather than resign, and became the first serving Prime Minister to lose a general election. A critic of Corn Law repeal, Melbourne hoped for a return to office in 1846, but by then had been superceded by Lord John RUSSELL [q.v.].

MORLEY, John (1838-1923). A journalist, who after several unsuccessful attempts, entered Parliament as M.P. for Newcastle upon Tyne 1883.Though an early Radical acquaintance of CHAMBERLAIN [q.v.] and DILKE [q.v.], he split with the former over the Home Rule issue, and was Chief Secretary for Ireland under GLADSTONE [q.v.] in 1886, a post he resumed in Gladstone's last Government in 1892, helping pilot the second Home Rule Bill through the House of Commons. An opponent of the South African war. Secretary for India 1905-10. Resigned from Government when Britain went to war in 1914. Wrote lives of COBDEN [q.v.], with whom he had great sympathy, and the "official" life of Gladstone, though only undertaking the task on condition that he did not have to discuss Gladstone's religion, being himself an unbeliever. In spite of leaving out this major part of Gladstone's life, Morley's Life of Gladstone (3 vols, London, 1903) remains one of the great biographies.

MUNDELLA, Anthony John (1825-1897). Radical M.P. for Sheffield 1868-97. Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education. Famous for attempts an industrial conciliation.

NAORAJI, Dadabhai. A Parsi. Founded the Voice of India newspaper, 1883, to inform the British of events in India. A founder of the London Indian Society. A founding member of the Indian National Congress, 1885. Returned to England 1886 to seek a parliamentary seat, consulting the likes of Florence NIGHTINGALE [q.v.], or John BRIGHT [q.v.] on his prospects. Unsuccessfully contested Finsbury (Holborn) in 1886, but elected for Finsbury Central 1892. Defeated 1895. Contested Lambeth North, 1906, as an independent. 1889 formed the British Committee of the Indian National Congress. Maintained a touching belief that "the English are both willing and desirous to do India justice."

NEWCASTLE, Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham Clinton, 5th Duke of (1811-1864). At Oxford with GLADSTONE [q.v.] and HERBERT [q.v.], with whom he shared both a political and a religious sympathy, Lord Lincoln (as he was known until he succeeded to the Dukedom in 1851) entered Parliament with them in 1832. His support for Corn Law repeal led to a split with his irrascible father, who not only disowned him, but actively campaigned against his re-election as M.P. for South Notts. His more sympathetic father-in-law found him a seat at Falkirk, but his wife ran off to Italy, abandoning her children. The unlikely figure of Gladstone was sent to seek her return, but eventually Lincoln divorced her in 1850. Lincoln had been Chief Secretary for Ireland 1845-6, at the start of the Irish famine. In 1855, he re-entered the Cabinet as Secretary for War and the Colonies, and thus took much of the blame for the failings in the Crimean War.Re-entered the Cabinet as Colonial Secretary 1859-64 under PALMERSTON [q.v.]. His daughter, Lady Susan Clinton, married Lord Adolphus Vane contrary to her father's earnest wishes, he rightly believing that "Dolly" Vane, the spoilt youngest son of that Marquess of Londonderry whose statue dominates Durham Market Place, was half insane. After "Dolly" Vane's death, she became one of the Prince of Wales's many mistresses, and bore him an illegitimate son. Not surprisingly, his most recent biographer, F.D.Munsell, christened Newcastle The Unfortunate Duke [Columbia, Missouri, 1985].

NIGHTINGALE, Florence (1820-1910). Having taken an early interest in nursing, and visited hospitals in London and abroad in the 1840s and 1850s, she herself trained as a nurse at Kaiserwerth, 1851. Superintendent of the London Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen, 1853, she was invited by Sidney HERBERT [q.v.], secretary at war under ABERDEEN [q.v.], to take out nurses to the Crimea. Arriving at Scutari in 1854, she revolutionised conditions in the military hospitals, and made nursing "respectable" at home. St. Thomas's Hospital in London founded its Nightingale School for the training of nurses in 1860, and she herself founded many hospitals and nursing facilities. Consulted by foreign governments on the American civil war, and during the Franco-Prussian war, on how best to nurse military casualties.

NORTHCOTE, Sir Stafford Henry (1818-1887). After a long career as private secretary to GLADSTONE [q.v.], Northcote entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1855. Was a member of DERBY's [q.v.] 1866 Government, and became Chancellor of the Exchequer under DISRAELI [q.v.] in 1874, taking over as Leader of the House of Commons when Disraeli went to the Lords in 1876. Expected to succeed Disraeli as leader of the Conservative party, but displaced by SALISBURY [q.v.]. A member of the Commission to establish redistribution proposals 1885, though generally felt to be ineffective, a charge frequently levelled at him by e.g. Lord Randolph CHURCHILL [q.v.] in his time as Tory leader in the Commons. Appointed Foreign Secretary 1886, by which time he was in the Lords as Earl of Iddesleigh, but died within six months.

O'BRIEN, William Smith (1803-1864). A Protestant landowner, O'Brien had initially been sympathetic to Irish Toryism, but increasing disillusion drove him towards repeal of the Anglo-Irish Union. Following the failure of his remonstrance in 1843, he joined the Repeal Association, succeeding O'CONNELL [q.v.] as leader during the latter's imprisonment. Rivalry with O'Connell's son John marginalised him within the mainstream Repeal movement, and he gradually emerged as leader of the more violently inclined Irish Confederation. Failure in his abortive rising in 1848 led to his being sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, a sentence later commuted (to O'Brien's apparent disgust) to transportation. Conditionally pardoned in 1854, when he returned from Tasmania to Brussells, he finally received a full pardon in 1856. Remained a source of romantic inspiration to subsequent generations of Irishmen.

O'CONNELL, Daniel (1775-1847), an Irish lawyer and landlord, had led the campaign for Catholic Emancipation in Ireland, his electoral victory at County Clare in 1828 forcing the issue on the attention of Parliament. In 1835 he came to a rapprochement with the Whigs, but by the late 1830s was disillusioned with them, and was once more beginning to campaign for Repeal of the Anglo-Irish Union. Arrested for alleged sedition following a series of 'monster meetings' in 1843, the subsequent political trial was later overturned. A broken man on his release, O'Connell died on his way to a pilgrimage to Rome. He had, however, provoked PEEL [q.v.] into a series of reforms (not all of which O'Connell himself welcomed), designed to undermine his influence, including a commission under the Earl of Devon to investigate Irish land, the Charitable Bequests Act, the foundation of non-denominational Colleges at Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Galway, and most famously the increased grant to Maynooth seminary.

PALMER, Sir Charles Mark (1822-1907). Established major ship-yard in "his" town of Jarrow, becoming first mayor of the town in 1875. Liberal M.P. for North Durham, 1874-85, and for Jarrow, 1885-1907, with the aid of ship-yard workers successfully resisting the challenge of Independent Labour.

PALMERSTON, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount (1784-1865). [N.B. his name is spelled without a final 'e'.] After a long political apprenticeship of a moderate Tory / Canningite nature [excellently covered in J.Bourne, Palmerston; the Early Years, 1784-1841 (London), 1982] Palmerston joined Grey's Government as Foreign Secretary in 1830, and held the Foreign Office again under Grey and Melbourne 1834-41. His conduct of foreign affairs alienated the opposition, as well as some of his colleagues - Lord GREY [q.v.] making it one of his objections to joining RUSSELL's [q.v.] potential Government in December 1845. Palmerston himself expressed doubts about the idea of Corn Law repeal. Nevertheless he resumed the Foreign Office in July 1846, in spite of the hostility of Queen VICTORIA [q.v.] and Prince ALBERT [q.v.], whose objections were in part founded on Palmerston's sexual appetites, which were considerable. Dismissed by Russell in 1851, for an alleged premature recongition of the new French Government under Louis Napoleon, he got his revenge on Russell by joining the opposition in 1852 to defeat him. He was thus expected to join Lord DERBY's [q.v.] Government, but emerged as the compromise spokesman on free trade, successfully proposing the amendment to VILLIERS' [q.v.] resolution which terminated the controversy. To considerable surprise, agreed to serve under ABERDEEN [q.v.] (who had been his great rival over foreign policy in the past) and with Russell, taking the Home Office, a post he was said to have coveted. Resigned 1853, ostensibly over Russell's reform proposals, but when they were dropped resumed office. Popularly expected to be the saviour of the country following the Crimean debacle, Palmerston became Prime Minister in 1855 following Aberdeen's fall, but quickly provoked disillusion. Nevertheless survived till 1857, when a combined opposition of Radicals, Peelites and Conservatives brought him down over his handling of relations with China. Publicly vindicated by the General Election of 1857, which saw the defeat of his leading critics, he was defeated in 1858 on the somewhat surprising perception that he was kow-towing to the French over the Orsini affair. Resumed office following DERBY's [q.v.] defeat in 1859, and remained Prime Minister until his death in 1865. Popularly perceived as a conservative, not to say reactionary. figure by the end of his career, and as a block to Parliamentary Reform, Palmerston was proud of his reform credentials. The enormous energy which characterised his younger days had, however, disappeared by his last years as premier, though DISRAELI [q.v.] was a trifle unfair to call him "an old painted pantaloon." In the absence of a second volume of Bourne's excellent biography, the best recent work on Palmerston's domestic career is E.D.Steele's Palmerston and Liberalism {Cambridge, 1991).

PARKES, Joseph [1796-1865], a radical solicitor from Birmingham, and member of the Birmingham Political Union. Appointed secretary to the Municipal Reform Commission, and was instrumental in directing attacks on Tory Corporations. He became "Mr. Fixit" for the Liberal party (the Liberal equivalent of F.R.BONHAM [q.v.] on the Tory side. Famously (and mistakenly) advised Lord John RUSSELL [q.v.] that a fixed duty on corn would be an electoral winner in 1841. Cf. N. Gash, Reaction and Reconstruction in English Politics, 1832-1852 [Oxford, 1965] pp. 206-13.

PARNELL, Charles Stewart (1846-1891). A county Wicklow landlord, elected to Parliament in 1875, he rapidly established himself as one of the leaders of Irish 'obstructionism.' In 1879, he succeeded Isaac BUTT [q.v.] as leader of the Irish Parliamentary party, and in the succeeding years converted it into an efficient, pledge-bound, Parliamentary force. GLADSTONE's [q.v.] Second Land Act (1881) posed him a dilemma, since some of his party supported the proposal, whilst he himself was sceptical. His subsequent campaign in Ireland led to his arrest and imprisonment in Kilmainham jail, whence he was released in 1882 following the so-called Kilmainham Treaty, by which Parnell (to Gladstone's discomfort) offered his support to the Liberals in exchange for further land concessions. In 1885 negotiated with Lord Randolph CHURCHILL [q.v.] to secure the end of Gladstonian coercion, and also the passage of Lord Ashborne's Irish Land Act, which set Ireland on the path to peasant proprietorship. Approaches to Gladstone before the 1885 election were, however rebuffed, and Parnell consequently instructed the considerable Irish electorate to vote Tory. In Ireland itself, Parnell's Home Rule party won a majority of seats in every province (an outcome predicted by Lord HARTINGTON [q.v.] following the 1884 Reform Act), a fact which helped induce Gladstone's conversion to the cause of Home Rule. Accepted the subsequent first Home Rule Bill as a final settlement of Anglo-Irish relations. The disclosure in 1891 of his long-standing liason with Kitty O'Shea, wife of one of his fellow M.P.'s, induced Gladstone to seek his replacement as leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. Deposed by the majority of the party, and denounced by the Roman Catholic Church, Parnell fought a series of bitter by-election campaigns in his final year. Excellent recent biographies are F.S.L.Lyons, Charles Stewart Parnell (London, 1977) and R.F.Foster: Charl;es Stewart Parnell; the Man and his Family (Hassocks, 1976).

For fuller bibliography, see Gladstone, Parnell and Ireland

PEEL, Sir Robert (1788-1850). Over-rated [?] statesman; held office (notably as Chief Secretary for Ireland) under Liverpool, but refused to serve under Canning along with most "high" Tories. Resumed office with Wellington in 1828 as Home Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, in which post he was responsible for piloting Catholic Emancipation through the House of Commons. Became a last-ditch opponent of Parliamentary Reform (according to the diarist GREVILLE [q.v.] because he could not afford to "rat" again as he had on Catholic Emancipation, though his remarkable letter to Lord Harrowby of Feb. 5th 1832 suggests a more die-hard mentality). By 1833, however, he had accepted Reform, and the following year (to his own surprise) became Prime Minister. The Tamworth "Manifesto" of 1834 appealed to a more moderate Toryism, and while it may have been influential in changing the image of the Tory party, there is evidence that it was less welcome among Tory traditionalists [I..D.C.Newbould, "Sir Robert Peel and the Conservative Party 1832-41; a Study in Failure?", English Historical Review, xcviii (July 1983), pp. 529-558.]. Led the opposition to Melbourne's Whig government 1835-41, where he sought to restrain radicalism in Government, while rejecting the extremism of his own followers in the Commons and more especially the Lords. Declined office when the new Queen insisted on retaining Whig laidies-in-waiting (the "bed-chamber crisis") in 1839, but defeated the Whig government in a vote of no-confidence on the Budget of 1841, which included Lord John Russell's [q.v.] proposal to substitute a fixed duty for the 1828 sliding scale on corn imports, implying (though Peel never stated it) support for continued protection to agriculture. Won the 1841 election on that basis, though by 1842 had (with general though not universal support) modified the sliding scale. Quarrelled with his party over Canadian corn imports (1843), factory reform (1844), sugar import duties (1844) and most notably the increase of the grant to the Roman Catholic seminary at Maynooth in Ireland (1845), the latter being the last of a series of measures Peel belatedly took to try and wean moderate Catholic opinion in Ireland away from Daniel O'CONNELL [q.v.] and his campaign for Repeal of the Union. Though reduced to a minority within his own party on the Maynooth vote, there was no alternative to Peel apparent for the Tories. As Greville put it in 1845, "The Tories loathe and fear him, but do not dare oppose him." With his announcement that he intended to repeal the Corn Laws in December 1845, an alternative leader in the form of Lord Stanley (later Earl of DERBY [q.v.]) appeared, and the way was opened for the lasting split of the Conservative party. RUSSELL [q.v.] having failed to form a Government [Cf. F.A.Dreyer, "The Whigs and the Political Crisis of 1845," English Historical Review, lxxx (July 1965), pp. 514-537], the way was clear for Peel to carry Corn Law repeal with Whig and Radical support, though with only a minority of his own party behind him, while most, egged on by Lord George BENTINCK [q.v.] and DISRAELI [q.v.] opposed Repeal. The Protectionist Tories, however, got their revenge, defeating Peel on Irish Coercion, and forcing his resignation in July 1846. Peel then retired to the back benches, expressing contempt for his erstwhile supporters, and refusing to act as leader of the rump of "Peelites," dedicating his last four years to keeping the Protectionists out of office. [Cf. J.B.Conacher, Peel and the Peelites, 1846-50," English Historical Review, lxxiii (1958), pp. 431-52]. He died suddenly in 1850, having been thrown from his horse, but his final vote against the Whig Government over the Don Pacifico affair, hints that he might have been contemplating a return to a major political role. The best modern biography is that by N. Gash, the scond volume of which, Sir Robert Peel [London, 1972] is relevant to the period; but Gash's favourable view of Peel should be firmly set alongside Boyd Hilton, "Peel - A Reappraisal," Historical Journal, xxii, no. 3 (Sept., 1979), pp. 585-614. For fuller bibliographies, see booklists under Peel or Corn Law Repeal.

PICKARD, Ben (1842-1904). Worked in the coal mines from the age of 12. Secretary of the West Yorkshire Miners' Association, 1876, and of the Amalgamated Yorkshire Miners' Association 1881. Played a leading part in the strike of 1893. Liberal M.P. for Normanton, 1885-1904.

RITCHIE, Charles Thomson (1838-1906). A London-based Conservative M.P., given junior office under SALISBURY [q.v.] 1885-6, became President of the Local Government Board in Salisbury's second government, entering the Cabinet in 1887. He was responsible for the introduction of County Councils in England and Wales in 1888. President of the Board of Trade 1895-1900, when he carried the Conciliation Act of 1896, rejected originally by the Lords when introduced by the Liberals. Home Secretary 1900, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer under Balfour, but resigned over CHAMBERLAIN's [q.v.] tariff reform proposals in 1903.

RITCHIE, David George. An Oxford, and subsequently St. Andrews academic. His Principles of State Interference (1891) was important in the development of late nineteenth/early twentieth century Liberal thinking.

ROEBUCK, John Arthur (1801-1879). A radical politician, Roebuck was M.P. for Bath 1832-37, and 1841-47, and for Sheffield from 1849-68 and 1874-79. In 1842, he called for a Select Committee to investigate corruption among his fellow M.P.'s (though he was apparently drunk when he did so). More soberly, it was his motion for a Committee into the conduct of the Crimean War which brought down Lord ABERDEEN's [q.v.] Government. By his death, he had become a strong opponent of Trade Unions. Cf. Asa Briggs, Victorian People (London, 1964) and W.Thomas, "John Arthur Roebuck and the People," in Thomas, The Philosophical Radicals (Oxford, 1979).

ROSEBERY, Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of (1847-1929). Entering the House of Lords in 1868, he held junior office under GLADSTONE [q.v.] in 1880, entering the Cabinet in 1885, and being appointed Foreign Secretary in 1886. Chairman of the newly formed London County Council 1889-90. Foreign Secretary in Gladstone's last Government (1892-4), he succeed Gladstone as Prime Minister, but his rivalry with Sir William HARCOURT [q.v.] helped bring about the defeat of 1895. Though a peer himself, Rosebery supported the campaign for reform of the House of Lords, following the rejection of the second Home Rule Bill. Resigned as Liberal leader in 1896, to be succeeded by his hated rival Harcourt. Whereas Harcourt stayed loyal to Gladstonianism, Rosebery formed the Liberal League, an enthusiastic imperialist body, and by 1906 was expressing doubts over the advisability of retaining Home Rule in the Liberal programme. History has not really judged whether or not he would have been better sticking to horse-racing; as a three-time winner of the Derby, he was certainly more successful in that field than in politics.

RUSSELL, Lord John (1792-1878), was 3rd son of the Duke of Bedford. A Whig statesman, he came to prominence when entrusted by Lord Grey with introducing the Reform Bill into the House of Commons (a decision Grey later regretted). Influential in the decision to add reduced corn duties into Chancellor of the Exchequer Francis Baring's budget, 1841, believing the advice of Joseph PARKES [q.v.] that while this might cost the Whigs votes in the counties, it would gain them votes in the boroughs. Became Prime Minister 1846 in succession to PEEL [q.v.] having failed to form a Government in December 1845 when Peel resigned, ostensibly because of a quarrel between GREY [q.v.] and PALMERSTON [q.v.] [Cf. F.A.Dreyer, "The Whigs and the Political Crisis of 1845," English Historical Review, lxxx (July 1965), pp. 514-537]. A weak government was undermined further by Russell's growing fears that his colleagues were seeking to displace him; and by their growing irritation with his methods. Having pledged himself to introduce a new Reform Bill in a vain attempt to pre-empt the Radical politician Locke King's motion to extend the County Franchise, and having dismissed Palmerston for his premature recognition of the new French Government of 1851, Russell was in turn defeated by a Palmerston-led opposition to his Militia Bill, allowing the Tories under Lord DERBY [q.v.] into office. With the formation of the ABERDEEN [q.v.] coalition in December 1852, became Foreign Secretary, but resigned in the face of a motion hostile to the conduct of the Crimean War (for which, of course, he bore collective responsibility), effectively bringing about the fall of the Government. Had introduced further Reform proposals, frustrated by the outbreak of war. Served under Palmerston as plenipotentiary at Vienna, but resigned when his peace proposals were found unacceptable at home. Foreign Secretary under Palmerston 1859, and created Earl Russell in 1861. Succeeded Palmerston as Prime Minister 1865, when he was responsible for yet another Reform Bill in 1866, introduced into the Commons by GLADSTONE [q.v.]. Withdrew from active politics following the defeat of those Reform proposals, and the coming to power of DERBY and DISRAELI [q.v.]. Known as "Johnny", or "Little John" because of his diminutive stature, and also as "Finality Jack" for his claim that the Reform Bill of 1832 was a "final solution" to the problem. The best biography of him is John Prest: Lord John Russell [London, 1972].

SALISBURY, Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of (1830-1903) entered Parliament in 1853. A regular contributor to the influential Tory periodical the Quarterly Review. Succeeded his brother as Viscount Cranborne in 1863. Though initially accepting office under DERBY [q.v.] in 1866, resigned when the Government adopted household suffrage as a basis for Parliamentary Reform. Became Foreign Secretary in 1878 under DISRAELI [q.v.], whom he succeeded as leader of the Tory party in 1881. Conducted negotiations over the Redistribution Bill in 1885 in a manner that impressed GLADSTONE [q.v.]. Became head of a minority government in 1885, and again in 1886, following Gladstone's defeat on Home Rule. Remained as Prime Minister from 1886 till 1902, with a brief interval from 1892-5 following the government's defeat in the 1892 general election. An unlikely leader to take Britain into the twentieth century, but a much under-rated politician, who is currently the subject of a minor biographical industry.

SCOTT, Charles Prestwich (1846-1932). Liberal M.P. for Leigh, Lancs., 1895-1905. Editor (1872-1929) and from 1905 proprietor of the Manchester Guardian. Supported Home Rule; opposed the Boer War.

SHAW, George Bernard (1856-1950). Born in Dublin to a drunken father and musical/literary mother, whom he followed to London in 1876. Reviewer for Pall Mall Gazette, 1885-8; music critic, art critic, etc; joined Fabian Society 1884; edited Essays on Fabian Socialism 1889. First play Widowers' Houses produced 1892; followed by The Philanderer (1893); Mrs. Warren's Profession (banned by the Lord Chamberalin until 1925); Arms and the Man; Candida; You Never Can Tell; The Devil's Disciple (1897); corresponded with Ellen Terry from 1897, for whom he wrote Captain Brassbound's Conversion. A delegate from the London Fabian's to the founding conference of the Labour Representation Committee, 1900. Wrote Caesar and Cleopatra 1899, produced by Mrs. Patrick Campbell. For later career, see D.N.B.

SMITH, William Henry (1825-1891). Entered father's newsagency business in 1841, be became wealthy by securing a monopoly of the railway bookstall trade. Entered Parliament 1868, and the Cabinet under DISRAELI [q.v.] in 1877. Leader of the House of Commons under Lord SALISBURY [q.v.] 1886-1891. [Thanks to Mr. J.J.Flynn for corrections]

STANLEY, Lord - see DERBY, Earl of

STEAD, William Thomas (1849-1912). Editor of the Northern Echo, in Darlington, 1871-80, he moved to the Pall Mall Gazette, becoming editor 1883-90, which he converted into a campaigning newspaper, exposing, for example, child prostitution in London, and bringing thereby official censure on his head. Campaigned for the sending of General Gordon to the Sudan, and for the criminalisation of homosexuality, though when he was drowned in the Titanic no one, apparently, said this was God's punishment on gay-bashers!

THORNE, Will (1857-1946). Began work at age of six in Birmingham gas works, subsequently moving to London as a gas worker. Joined the Social Democratic Federation in 1884, becoming chairman in 1930. Established the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers (1889), and was general secretary from 1889 to 1934. Obtained the 8-hour day for gasworkers, 1889. Influential in London dock strike, 1889. West Ham Town Councillor 1891-1946, and mayor 1917-18. Labour M.P. for West Ham South 1906-1945. President of the T.U.C. 1912.

TILLETT, Ben (1860-1943). Secretary to the tiny Tea Operatives Union, Ben Tillet orgaised the great London dock strike of 1889, calling in the help of Socialists such at Tome MANN [q.v.] and John BURNS [q.v.]. Became Secretary of the newly formed Dockers' Union after the strike, and remained in that post till its amalgamation with the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1922.

WATSON, Robert Spence (1837-1911). Newcastle solicitor and benefactor, he founded the Newcastle Liberal Association in 1874, and became President of the National Liberal Federation, 1890-92, in succession to Sir James KITSON [q.v.].

WELLINGTON, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of (1769-1852). By the time VICTORIA [q.v.] came to the throne, Wellington's military glories were a thing of the past, but he nevetheless professed his willingness to go to Ireland in 1843 to suppress O'CONNELL [q.v.], Successfully steered the repeal of the Corn Laws (to which he was basically unsympathetic) through the House of Lords. Called on by RUSSELL's [q.v.] Government to advise on the defence of London at the time of the Chartist demonstration on Kennington Common in 1848, he gave the same advice as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Richard Mayne, but was more deferentially listened to. By 1852, as a deaf old man, he provided a source of amusement by calling out in the Lords "Who? who?" as the names of Lord DERBY's [q.v.] Cabinet of political unknowns was announced, thus providing a nickname for the "Who? who? Government." Neville Thompson's Wellington after Waterloo [London, 1986] covers the relevant period of his career.

VICTORIA, Queen (1819-1901) gave her name (perhaps inappropriately) to an era. Succeeding to the throne at the age of 18, she at once impressed with her grace and sense of duty, though the latter quality was perhaps undermined by her early political partizanship, most apparent in her refusal to have Tory ladies-in-waiting thrust on her in 1839. Proposed marriage to Prince ALBERT [q.v.] in 1839, and married in February 1840, apparently blissfully happily. Albert steadied her politically, and when PEEL [q.v.] left office, she was apparently as upset as she had been at the earlier departure of Lord MELBOURNE [q.v.]. She never quite became a neutral figure in politics, exercising a strong preference, for example, for DISRAELI [q.v.] over GLADSTONE [q.v.], and never quite reconciling herself to PALMERSTON [q.v.]. The death of Prince Albert in 1861 was a devastating blow, from which she never quite recovered; she retired from public life, and was considerably criticised for the length of her retirement. Rumours (and films) that suggest she later had a sexual relationship with her manservant John Brown lack authentic foundation. By 1867 she had resumed her public duties, and by the time of her Jubilee in 1897 had raised the monarchy to a peak of popularity perhaps unknown before or since. The best biography of her is Elizabeth, Lady Longford, Victoria R.I. [London, 1964].

VILLIERS, Charles Pelham (1802-1898). The earliest Parliamentary advocate of the total and immediate repeal of the Corn Laws, he tabled an annual motion to that effect in the House of Commons every year from 1838, gradually increasing in support. In 1846 he repeated his motion for total and immediate repeal, but the House preferred PEEL's [q.v.] gradualist proposals. In 1852 he proposed a resolution that the free trade measures of 1846 had been "wise, just, and beneficial," but this being too much for the Protectionists to swallow, his resolution was successfully moderated by PALMERSTON [q.v.]. Nevertheless 53 Protectionists clung die-hard to their principles. Villiers has been overshadowed in popular recollection of the anti-Corn-Law League by both COBDEN [q.v.] and BRIGHT [q.v.].

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