1859-1886
The Liberals in opposition 1875-1880
At the beginning of 1875, following his defeat by Disraeli in the 1874 general election, Gladstone resigned the leadership of the Liberal party, convincing himself that at the age of 65 he deeply desired an interval between parliament and the grave. But he did not resign his seat.
Gladstonian Liberalism
Few statesmen left a deeper and more permanent mark on British Liberalism than William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898). What secured a unique place for him in the history of Liberalism was not simply the fact that he was Prime Minister four times (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886 and 1892-94), having previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for…
William Edward Forster, 1818-1886
W. E. Forster was a typical nineteenth century Radical: a successful self-made businessman of nonconformist origins who was driven by his conscience to work for the less well-off in the community. His great achievement was the successful creation of the framework for a state education system which is still recognisable today. His ill fortune was…
Sir William Harcourt, 1827-1904
William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt was born at York on 14 October 1827, of a land-owning and clerical family which traced its ancestry to the Plantagenet kings. His elder brother, Edward Harcourt, was a staunch Conservative and for eight years an MP. William Harcourt’s views, however, began to take a Liberal turn in the…
John Stuart Mill’s ‘On Liberty’ 150 years later
An analysis of the most well-known work of the greatest of the Victorian Liberal philosophers, published 150 years ago this year, and an assessment of its relevance to 2009.
David and Maggie
Diaries and correspondence files are used to examine the courtship between David Lloyd George and Margaret Owen between 1884 and their marriage in 1888.
A Liberal in power
Review of Roy Jenkins, Asquith (Collins, 1964).
Sir Edward Watkin and the Liberal cause in the nineteenth century
The life of Liberal MP Edward Watkin, the last of the railway kings.
An intractable problem? Gladstone and Irish home rule
1880 – 1886: Gladstone’s efforts to achieve Home Rule for Ireland.