Herbert Gladstone, 1st & last Viscount Gladstone

Herbert Gladstone was M.P. for Leeds (1880). On 17 December 1885, Herbert revealed to the press that his father was dedicated to achieving Home Rule for Ireland: the incident has become known as the 'Hawarden Kite'. Herbert Gladstone's announcement did nothing to endear his father to the Liberals or the Irish and gave the Conservatives another stick with which to beat the elderly statesman. Herbert Gladstone sat in parliament for Leeds from 1880 to 1910, and filled various offices, being home secretary 1905-1910; in 1910 he was created Viscount Gladstone, on being appointed governor-general of united South Africa

Wikipedia: Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone GCB, GCMG, GBE, PC, JP (18 February 1854 – 6 March 1930) was a British Liberal statesman. The youngest son of William Ewart Gladstone, he was Home Secretary from 1905 to 1910 and Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1914.

Contents [hide] 1 Background and education 2 Political career 3 Later life 4 Family 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Background and educationGladstone was the youngest son of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and his wife Catherine, daughter of Sir Stephen Glynne, 8th Baronet, and was born in Downing Street where his father was living at the time as Chancellor of the Exchequer. William Henry Gladstone and Lord Gladstone of Hawarden were his elder brothers. He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford, and lectured in history at Keble College, Oxford, for three years.[1]

[edit] Political careerIn 1880 he Gladstone became private secretary to his father.[1] That same year, having unsuccessfully contested the Middlesex constituency,[citation needed] he was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Leeds,[1][2] and in the 1885 General Election was returned to Parliament for Leeds West.[1][2] Having been a junior Lord of the Treasury from 1881 to 1885, Gladstone became Deputy Commissioner of the Office of Works in 1885. The following year served for a brief period as Financial Secretary to the War Office in his father's third administration. In 1892, on his father's return to power, he was made Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department,[1] and two years later he became First Commissioner of Works in Lord Rosebery's government,[3] at which time he was also sworn of the Privy Council.[4] The Liberals fell from power in 1895. He became the Liberals' Chief Whip in 1899[1] and in 1903 he negotiated on behalf of the Liberals an electoral pact with the Labour Representation Committee.[citation needed]

Gladstone returned to office in 1905 when Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman appointed him Home Secretary.[5] His tenure as Home Secretary was not widely considered a great success and notably included the inept handling of a (somewhat controversial) parade by Catholics through the streets of London. This incident disturbed both the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, and King Edward VII, and directly led to his leaving the position of Home Secretary in 1910[citation needed] to become the first Governor-General of the Union of South Africa as well as the High Commissioner there.[6] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George and raised to the peerage as Viscount Gladstone, of the County of Lanark, the same year.[7]

[edit] Later lifeAfter his return from South Africa in 1914, Lord Gladstone was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB),[8] and spent much of the First World War being involved with various charities and charitable organizations, including the War Refugees Committee, the South African Hospital Fund, and the South African Ambulance in France.[citation needed] He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1917.[9]

[edit] FamilyLord Gladstone married Dorothy Mary, daughter of Sir Richard Paget, 1st Baronet, in 1901. She was over twenty years his junior. There were no children from the marriage. Lord Gladstone died in March 1930, aged 76, at his Ware home, and was buried in the town's Little Munden Church. With no children, his title became extinct at his death. The Viscountess Gladstone died in June 1953.[1]

[edit] References1.^ a b c d e f g thepeerage.com Herbert John Gladstone, 1st and last Viscount Gladstone 2.^ a b leighrayment.com House of Commons: Ladywood to Leek 3.^ London Gazette: no. 26502, p. 2019, 10 April 1894. 4.^ London Gazette: no. 26494, p. 1517, 13 March 1894. 5.^ London Gazette: no. 27863, p. 8897, 12 December 1905. 6.^ London Gazette: no. 28363, p. 3162, 6 May 1910. 7.^ London Gazette: no. 28350, p. 2029, 22 March 1910. 8.^ London Gazette: no. 28842, p. 4877, 19 June 1914. 9.^ London Gazette: no. 30250, p. 8794, 24 August 1917. Ian Machin, entry in Dictionary of Liberal Biography, Brack et al. (eds.) Politico's, 1998