Who was W.E. Gladstone?
Politician and Prime Minister.
Date and Place of Birth:
29th December 1809, Liverpool, England. Christened
William Ewart Gladstone.
Family Background:
Fourth son of a Scottish merchant and parliamentarian
Sir John Gladstone.
Education:
Eton College. Christ Church, Oxford. (Became
a noted orator in the Oxford Union Debating Society).
Chronology/Biography of William Ewart Gladstone:
1832: The Duke of
Newcastle was looking for a Conservative Candidate for his Newark
Constituency and his friend Sir John Gladstone suggested his son
would be a good MP.
1834: The Prime
Minister Sir Robert Peel appoints him as his junior Lord of the
Treasury.
1835: Gladstone
loses his post with the resignation of Peel.
1841: (August) The
Tory's oust the Whigs and Gladstone is promoted to vide President
of the board of Trade.
1843: Promoted to
President of the Board of Trade.
1844: He was responsible
for the introduction of the Railway Bill which meant that railway
companies had to carry Third Class passengers at less than one penny
per mile.
1845: The Duke of
Newcastle now refused to support his candidacy for Newark as he
was upset by Gladstone's support of the Corn Laws. Although he was
no longer an MP he was still allowed to remain in the cabinet as
Colonial Secretary.
1847: The Whig Lord
John Russell ousted the Tories and became Prime Minister, thus Gladstone
was out of a job. At the following General Election he was returned
as an MP by Oxford University but his party remained in opposition.
Eventually a coalition Government was formed by Lord Aberdeen with
Lord John Russell as Foreign Secretary
and Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
1852: Makes his
first really great speech against Disraeli's budget.
1859: (June) The
Whig Lord Palmerston became Prime Minister and offered Gladstone
the position of Chancellor of the exchequer again. He was responsible
for many reforms including the abolition of paper duty which meant
the newspapers could be printed more cheaply. He also spoke up in
favour of Edward Baine's plan to give the vote to more people in
the working class although they were heavily defeated.
1865: (July) The
voters at Oxford University were annoyed by Gladstone's defection
to the Whigs nd he lost his seat. He now moved to Lancashire. Lord
John Russell the new Prime Minister asked him to become the Leader
of the House as well as Chancellor of the exchequer.
1866: He introduced
the Government's new Reform Bill. (19th June) Failing to get their
reforms past the House of Commons Russell's government resigned.
The Conservatives under Lord Derby now became the Government. Benjamin
Disraeli the Leader of the House of Commons argued that the Conservative's
now looked as if they were anti-reform.
1867: Disraeli proposed
a new Reform act". Despite resignations by some Tories such
as Lord Cranborne, the conservatives were supported by Gladstone
and his followers and the bill was passed. The "Reform Act"
gave the vote to every male adult householder living in a borough
constituency. Male lodgers paying over £10 for unfurnished
rooms were also granted the vote. Altogether all this was over one
and a half million men. The reforms also took away MNP's from constituencies
where there were less than 10,000 inhabitants and redistributed
them to the New thriving towns of Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds.
1868: At the General
Election the Conservative's were defeated and Gladstone became the
new leader of the Liberals and Prime Minister.
1870: The Education
Act was passed which set up school boards in Britain.
1872: The Ballot
Act was brought in to bring secret voting to stop landlords and
factory owners intimidating their men into voting against their
wishes.
1874: The Conservative's
regained Government with a majority of 46.
1880: Gladstone,
now MP for Midlothian, and the Liberals were returned to power with
an overwhelming majority.
1884: The "Reform
Act" became law after the Conservative led House of Lords finally
allowed it. This added another 6 million men to the amount of people
who could vote.
1886: Gladstone
and the Liberals win another General Election. Gladstone tried to
get Parliament to accept Irish Home Rule and there was much opposition
within his own party. He was defeated in the polls later in that
year.
1892: Gladstone
wins the General Election.
1893: Irish Home
Rule Bill was eventually passed in the House of Commons but was
defeated by the Lords.
1894: (March) Gladstone
resigned from office.
Marriage:
1839 to Catherine Glynne of Hawarden.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
The House of Commons
SCOTLAND:
Fusque, Fettercairn, Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire,
AB30 1DN
Gladstone's Land, 477B, LawnMarket, Royal Mile, Edinburgh
WALES:
Hawarden
Date and Place of Death:
19th May 1898, Hawarden, Flint, Wales.
Age at Death:
88
Site of Grave:
Westminster Abbey, London, England.
Westminster Abbey, London
(© A Blagg)
