Who was Benjamin Disraeli?
Prime Minister and Novelist.
Date and Place of Birth:
21st December 1804, London, England.
Family Background:
Eldest son and second child of Isaac Disraeli,
the author of several books on literature and history and Maria
Basevi from an Italian Jewish family.
Education:
Small Unitarian private school at Walthamstow
Trained as a Solicitor for nine terms Lincoln’s Inn, London.
Chronology/Biography of Benjamin Disraeli:
1813: Father quarreled
with the Synagogue of Bevis Marks.
1817: Father his
children baptised as Christians, which was fortunate for Disraeli
as Jews were excluded from Parliament until 1858.
1837: Interested
early on in Politics he had stood for election as a Whig, a Radical
and an Independent before finally being successful representing
Maidstone in Kent for the Conservatives. His maiden speech in the
House of Commons was drowned by howls of laughter.
1841: The Conservative’s
win the General Election. He suggests to the Prime Minister Sir
Robert Peel that he should be made a Minister but is rejected and
becomes a fierce critic of the Government from the backbenches.
1842: Helps form
the “Young England” Group arguing that the Middle Class now had
too much power and that an alliance should be formed between the
aristocracy and the Working Class with the former helping the poor.
This political philosophy is expressed in his novels “Coningsby”,
“Sybil” and “Tancred”. He strongly opposed Peel’s decision to repeal
the Corn Laws, which was an issue that strongly divided the Conservative’s
and eventually brought about the downfall of Peel.
1852: Lord John
Russell the Whig Prime Minister resigned and Lord Derby succeeded
for the Conservative’s appointing him Chancellor of the Exchequer.
This government, however, only lasted a few months and was replaced
by that of the Earl of Aberdeen.
1858: Lord Derby
again becomes Prime Minister and appoints him Chancellor of the
Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. He was responsible
for measures to reform Parliament, proposing the equalisation of
town and county franchise. This would have led to some people in
towns losing the vote and was bitterly opposed by the Liberals.
1859: Lord Palmerston
becomes Prime Minister for the Liberals and Disraeli is once again
in opposition, but now gains a reputation as a tenacious and skilful
debater.
1866: The Conservatives
regain power under Lord Derby who appoints him once again Chancellor
of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. He is sure
that the new leader of the Liberals, William Gladstone, if returned
to power would bring in extensive reforms and he is worried that
the Conservatives would be seen as the anti-reform party.
1867: Proposes a
new Reform Act which gives the vote to every male adult householder
living in a borough constituency and those in rented accommodation
paying over ten pounds for unfurnished rooms. This act, supported
by Gladstone, was to give the vote to about one and a half million
men. It was so controversial at the time that a prominent member
of his own party, Lord Cranborne (later the Marquis of Salisbury)
resigned in protest. Constituencies with less than 12,000 inhabitants
also lost one of their M.P.’s and these forty-five seats were distributed
amongst the larger cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool
and Leeds and Counties whose populations had increased dramatically.
1868: Lord Derby
resigned and Disraeli now became the new Prime Minister However
at the General Election which followed shortly afterwards the Liberals
won power and Gladstone became Prime
Minister
1874: After six
years in opposition the Conservatives again won power and this was
the first time since 1841 that they had had a clear majority. He
now had the authority to bring in social reforms.
1875: The Artisan’s
Dwelling Act, the Public Health Act, the Pure Food and Drugs Act
the Climbing Boys Act were all passed. The Conspiracy and Protection
of Property Act allowed peaceful picketing by Trade Unions. Made
Great Britain the shared owner of the Suez Canal in Egypt.
1876: The Education
Act was passed. Queen Victoria, who got on very well with Disraeli
in sharp contrast to her dislike of Gladstone,
agreed to his suggestion that she should accept the title Empress
of India although she was not keen on all of his imperialist ideas.
The Queen granted Disraeli the title of Lord Beaconsfield and he
now continued as Prime Minister from a seat in the House of Lords.
1878: The Employers
and Workmen Act enabled workers to sue employers in the civil courts
if they broke legal contracts. After a British fleet had been sent
to the Dardanelle’s to counter the Russians who were then threatening
the Turks, he went to the Congress of Berlin. Disraeli there met
with great success, and the praise of the German Chancellor Bismarck
in his attempts to limit Russia’s power in the Balkans and achieve
“peace with honour”.
1880: At the General
Election the Conservative’s were defeated and once again Gladstone
became Prime Minister Disraeli decided to retire from politics at
this point in order to spend more time writing his novels however
he soon met with ill health which forced him to retire completely.
Written Works:
- 1826: "Vivian
Grey".
- 1828:
"The Voyage of Captain Popanilla".
- 1831:
"The Young Duke".
- 1832: "Contarini
Fleming, A Psychological Autobiography".
- 1833:
"The Wondrous Tale of Alray and the Rise of Iskander".
- 1837:
"Henrietta Temple". "Venetia".
- 1840: "Isaac:
Amenities of Literature".
- 1844:
"Coningsby or the New Generation".
- 1845: "Sybil
or the Two Nations".
- 1847:
"Tancred".
- 1862:
"The Life of Lord George Bentinck".
- 1870: "Lothair".
- 1880:
"Endymion".
Marriage:
1839: To extremely wealthy widow Mrs. Wyndham
Lewis. He later remarked he had married for money but she replied
“Ah …you would do it again for love”.
Places of Interest:
AVON:
Lived at No 8 Brock Street, Bath
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE:
Hughenden Manor, High Wycombe, HP14 4LA (Home
NT)..
OXFORD:
Bodleian Library holds his papers.
LONDON:
Houses of Parliament, Westminster.
Date and Place of Death:
19th April 1881, London, England.
Age at Death:
76.
Site of Grave:
St. Michael’s Churchyard, Hughenden, Buckinghamshire,
England.
