The Right Honourable The Lord Aberdare GCB PC FRS |
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---|---|
Home Secretary | |
In office 9 December 1868 – 9 August 1873 |
|
Monarch | Queen Victoria |
Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
Preceded by | Gathorne Hardy |
Succeeded by | Robert Lowe |
Lord President of the Council | |
In office 9 August 1873 – 21 February 1874 |
|
Monarch | Queen Victoria |
Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
Preceded by | The Earl de Grey and Ripon |
Succeeded by | The Duke of Richmond |
Personal details | |
Born |
16 April 1815 Duffryn, Aberdare, Glamorganshire |
Died |
25 February 1895 (aged 79) London |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse(s) | (1) Annabella Beadon (d. 1852) (2) Norah Napier (c. 1827–1897) |
Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare GCB PC FRS FRHistS JP DL (16 April 1815 – 25 February 1895) was a British Liberal Party politician, who served in government most notably as Home Secretary (1868–1873) and as Lord President of the Council.
Henry Bruce was born at Duffryn, Aberdare, Glamorganshire, the son of John Bruce, a Glamorganshire landowner, and his first wife Sarah, daughter of Reverend Hugh Williams Austin. John Bruce's original family name was Knight, but on coming of age in 1805 he assumed the name of Bruce: his mother, through whom he inherited the Duffryn estate, was the daughter of William Bruce, high sheriff of Glamorganshire.
Henry was educated from the age of twelve at the Bishop Gore School, Swansea (Swansea Grammar School). In 1837 he was called to the bar from Lincoln's Inn. Shortly after he had begun to practice, the discovery of coal beneath the Duffryn and other Aberdare Valley estates brought his family great wealth. From 1847 to 1854 Bruce was stipendiary magistrate for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, resigning the position in the latter year, after entering parliament as Liberal member for Merthyr Tydfil.