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Sir William Harcourt

The Right Honourable
Sir William Vernon Harcourt
KC
Sir William Harcourt.jpg
Leader of the Opposition
In office
6 October 1896 – 8 December 1898
Preceded by The Earl of Rosebery
Succeeded by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
18 August 1892 – 21 June 1895
Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
The Earl of Rosebery
Preceded by George Goschen
Succeeded by Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt
In office
6 February 1886 – 20 July 1886
Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt
Succeeded by Lord Randolph Churchill
Home Secretary
In office
28 April 1880 – 23 June 1885
Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by R. A. Cross
Succeeded by R. A. Cross
Personal details
Born 14 October 1827 (2017-02-16UTC20:28:40)
Died 1 October 1904(1904-10-01) (aged 76)
Nationality British
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) (1) Maria Theresa Lister
(d. 1863)
(2) Elizabeth Cabot Motley
(d. 1928)
Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge

Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt, KC (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of the Opposition. A talented speaker in parliament, he was sometimes regarded as aloof and possessing only an intellectual involvement in his causes. He failed to engender much emotional response in the public and became only a reluctant and disillusioned leader of his party.

Harcourt was the second son of the Rev. Canon William Vernon Harcourt, of Nuneham Park, Oxford and his wife Matilda Mary Gooch, daughter of Colonel William Gooch. His father was himself the fourth son and eventually heir of Edward Harcourt, Archbishop of York and his wife Lady Anne Leveson-Gower. Anne was a daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford and his second wife Lady Louisa Egerton. Her maternal grandparents were Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater and his second wife Rachel Russell. Rachel was a daughter of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford and the rich heiress Elizabeth Howland, daughter of John Howland of Streatham. William was therefore born a Vernon, and by his connection with the old families of Vernon and Harcourt was related to many of the great English houses, a fact of which he was proud. In later life his descent from the Plantagenets was a joke among his political opponents.


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