On This Day
17 December 1885
The ‘Hawarden Kite’ is flown
Herbert Gladstone, the son of W.E. Gladstone, revealed to the press that his father was seriously considering Irish Home Rule. In a letter published in The Times he attributed the following words to the Grand Old Man: ‘Nothing could induce me to countenance separation, but if five-sixths of the Irish people wish to have a Parliament in Dublin, for the management of their own local affairs, I say, in the name of justice, and wisdom, let them have it.’ This was the culmination of a series of press speculation and disclosure. It paved the way for a Liberal political accommodation with the Home Rulers and victory in the 1885 general election.