The Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS |
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Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
In office 15 August 1892 – 2 March 1894 |
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Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | The Marquess of Salisbury |
Succeeded by | The Earl of Rosebery |
In office 1 February 1886 – 20 July 1886 |
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Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | The Marquess of Salisbury |
Succeeded by | The Marquess of Salisbury |
In office 23 April 1880 – 9 June 1885 |
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Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | The Earl of Beaconsfield |
Succeeded by | The Marquess of Salisbury |
In office 3 December 1868 – 17 February 1874 |
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Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | Benjamin Disraeli |
Succeeded by | Benjamin Disraeli |
Personal details | |
Born |
62 Rodney Street, Liverpool, England |
29 December 1809
Died | 19 May 1898 Hawarden Castle, Wales |
(aged 88)
Nationality | British |
Political party |
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Spouse(s) | Catherine Glynne (m. 1839) |
Children | William, Agnes, Stephen, Catherine, Mary, Helen, Henry, Herbert |
Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Signature |
William Ewart Gladstone, FRS, FSS (/ˈɡlædˌstən/; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British Liberal and earlier conservative politician. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times (1868–74, 1880–85, February–July 1886 and 1892–94), more than any other person, and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister; he resigned for the final time when he was 84 years old.
Gladstone first entered Parliament in 1832. Beginning as a High Tory, Gladstone served in the Cabinet of Sir Robert Peel. After the split of the Conservatives Gladstone was a Peelite – in 1859 the Peelites merged with the Whigs and the Radicals to form the Liberal Party. As Chancellor Gladstone became committed to low public spending and to electoral reform, earning him the sobriquet "The People's William".
Gladstone's first ministry saw many reforms including the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland and the introduction of secret voting. After his electoral defeat in 1874, Gladstone resigned as leader of the Liberal Party, but from 1876 began a comeback based on opposition to Turkey's reaction to the Bulgarian April Uprising. Gladstone's Midlothian Campaign of 1879–80 was an early example of many modern political campaigning techniques. After the 1880 election, he formed his second ministry, which saw crises in Egypt (culminating in the death of General Gordon in 1885), and in Ireland, where the government passed repressive measures but also improved the legal rights of Irish tenant farmers. The government also passed the Third Reform Act.