by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – Wikipedia

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom once during the reign of Queen Victoria: March 1894 – June 1895. Born on May 7, 1847 at his parents’ house on Charles Street in Mayfair, London, he was the eldest of the two sons and the third of the four children of Archibald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny and Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope (1819–1901), a historian and genealogist, the daughter of Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope. Primrose’s father used the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny as the heir of his father Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery.

Unfortunately, during the Christmas season of 1859, Rosebery’s father Lord Dalmeny was ill with pleurisy and during his recovery, he died of heart failure on January 23, 1851, at the age of 41. At that time 3 ½-year-old Rosebery became the heir to his grandfather’s peerage and was styled Lord Dalmeny. Upon his grandfather’s death in 1868, 21-year-old Rosebery became the 5th Earl of Rosebery.

Rosebery’s mother, born Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope, was a Maid of Honor at Queen Victoria’s coronation and one of the bridesmaids at her wedding. After her first husband’s death, she married again in 1854 to Lord Harry Vane, youngest son of William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland who succeeded his brother as Duke of Cleveland in 1864, and changed his surname to Powlett. Wilhelmina was a historian and among her works were three volumes of The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages, short histories concerning the origins of several hundred English families of Norman origin.

Rosebery had three siblings:

• Lady Mary Catherine Constance Primrose (1844 – 1935), married Henry Walter Hope-Scott, had one child
• Lady Constance Evelyn Primrose (1846 – 1939), married Henry Wyndham, 2nd Baron Leconfield, had nine children
• Everard Henry Primrose (1848–1885), Colonel in the Grenadier Guards and the Military Attaché at Vienna, unmarried

After attending preparatory schools in Hertfordshire and Brighton, Rosebery attended Eton College from 1860 – 1863. He then attended Brighton College between 1863 and 1865 and then entered Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1869. When his grandfather died in 1868, Rosebery was eligible to sit in the House of Lords as in 1828, his grandfather had been created 1st Baron Rosebery in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Earl of Rosebery was a Scottish peerage and Peerages of Scotland did not automatically entitle their holders a seat in the House of Lords.

Credit – Wikipedia

Rosebery literally had the good fortune to marry Hannah de Rothschild, the only child and sole heiress of Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild. Upon the death of her father in 1874, 23-year-old Hannah was the richest woman in the United Kingdom, inheriting Mentmore Towers which was a large country house in Buckinghamshire, a London mansion, a large art collection, and assets of more than two million pounds.

On March 20, 1878, Rosebery and Hannah were married at the Board Room of Guardians in Mount Street, London, and had a blessing at Christ Church in Down Street, Piccadilly, London. Rosebery’s mother was horrified at the thought of her son marrying a Jewish woman, even a Rothschild. No male member of the Rothschild family attended the wedding. However, the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) and Queen Victoria’s cousin Prince George, Duke of Cambridge attended and Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli gave the bride away. Rosebery felt that raising their children in the Jewish faith was an impassable barrier at this time and his four children were raised in the Church of England.

• Lady Sybil Primrose (1879–1955), married General Sir Charles Grant, had one son
• Lady Margaret Primrose (1881–1967), married Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, had one son and one daughter
• Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery (known as Harry) (January 1882 – 1974), married (1) Dorothy Grosvenor, had two children, divorced (2) Dame Eva Bruce (DBE),  daughter of Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare, had one son Neil Primrose who succeeded his father as the 7th Earl of Rosebery
• The Honorable Neil Primrose ( December 1982 – 1917), married Lady Victoria Stanley, daughter of Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, had one daughter; Neil was killed in action during World War I.  See Unofficial Royalty: November 1917: Royalty and World War I.

Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery by George Frederick Watts. After her death, Rosebery always traveled with this portrait; Credit – Wikipedia

While Hannah gave Rosebery wealth, he gave his Jewish wife an entrance into the aristocracy, something that her wealth could not buy because of anti-Semitism. The Countess of Rosebery supported her husband in his political career and became a philanthropist concentrating on public health, especially with working-class Jewish women living in the poorer parts of London.

Sadly, Hannah died from typhoid fever on November 19, 1890, at the age of 39. She was also suffering from nephritis, a kidney disease, which had greatly weakened her condition, and would have killed her within two years. Hannah was buried following the rites of the Jewish religion and was buried with her birth family at Willesden Jewish Cemetery in London. Only male mourners attended the funeral service which included most of Prime Minister William Gladstone’s cabinet. Hannah’s death was particularly difficult for Rosebery. He confessed to Queen Victoria in a letter of the great pain he suffered when “another creed steps in to claim the corpse.”

Tomb of Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1881, Rosebery was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department by Prime Minister William Gladstone who owed Rosebery in part for the electoral success of the Liberal Party in 1880. He was appointed Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs in the new Gladstone Government in February 1886 but resigned in July with Gladstone. He served again as Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs in 1892-1894.

In early 1894, the 84-year-old Gladstone retired from active politics, almost blind and hard of hearing. However, Queen Victoria, who rejected the other leading Liberals, did not ask Gladstone who should succeed him but sent for Rosebery. His term as Prime Minister was unsuccessful. On June 21, 1895, Rosebery’s Government lost a vote in committee on army supply by just seven votes. Rosebery saw this as a vote of censure on his government and resigned as Prime Minister and in October 1896, he resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. In 1911, Rosebery made his last appearance in the House of Lords.

Captain The Honorable Neil Primrose; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 15, 1917, Rosebery’s youngest child 34-year-old Neil died from wounds received in action at Gezer, Palestine while leading his squadron against Turkish positions on the Abu Shusha Ridge during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the Third Battle of Gaza. He was buried in the Ramleh Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery now in Ramla, Israel. Neil had followed his father into politics and was elected in 1910 as a Member of Parliament for Wisbech. He served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. In June 1917, he became a member of the Privy Council. See Unofficial Royalty: November 1917: Royalty and World War I.

Rosebery in 1918; Credit – Wikipedia

A few days before the World War I Armistice (November 11, 1918), Rosebery suffered a stroke. While he regained his mental faculties, his movement, hearing, and sight remained impaired for the rest of his life. Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery died at one of his homes, The Durdans in Epsom, Surrey, England on May 21, 1929, at the age of 82. He was buried at the Dalmeny Parish Church in Dalmeny, Scotland near Dalmeny House, the ancestral seat of the Earls of Rosebery.

Dalmeny Parish Church; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• De.wikipedia.org. (2018). Archibald Primrose, 5. Earl of Rosebery. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Primrose,_5._Earl_of_Rosebery [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Primrose,_5th_Earl_of_Rosebery [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Primrose,_Countess_of_Rosebery [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – Wikipedia

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the reign of Queen Victoria three times: 1885 – 1886, 1886 – 1892 and 1895 – 1902. Born on February 3, 1830 at Hatfield House in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, he was the third of the four sons and the fifth of the six children of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury and his first wife Frances Mary Gascoyne, daughter of Bamber Gascoyne, Member of Parliament for Liverpool from 1780 to 1796. Salisbury had two older brothers. James Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, a historian and the heir to their father until he died unmarried at the age of 43 and Lord Arthur who had died in early childhood. Upon his father’s death in 1868, Salisbury succeeded him as the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury.

Salisbury had five siblings:

• James Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne (1821 – 1865), died unmarried
• Lady Mildred Gascoyne-Cecil (1822 – 1881), married Alexander Beresford Hope, had three sons and seven daughters
• Lord Arthur Gascoyne-Cecil (1823 – 1825), died in early childhood
• Lady Blanche Gascoyne-Cecil (1825 – 1872), married James Maitland Balfour, had five sons and three daughters including Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Eustace Gascoyne-Cecil (1834 – 1921), married Lady Gertrude Scott, daughter of John Scott, 2nd Earl of Eldon, had two sons and one daughter

Salisbury had five half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Lady Mary Catherine Sackville-West, daughter of  George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr.

• Lord Sackville Cecil (1848 – 1898), died unmarried
• Lady Arabella Cecil (1850 – 1903), married Alan Stewart, 10th Earl of Galloway, no children
• Lady Margaret Elizabeth Cecil (1850 – 1919), died unmarried
• Lord Arthur Cecil (1851 – 1913), married (1) Elizabeth Ann Wilson, had two sons; (2) Frederica von Klenck
• Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Lionel Cecil (1853 – 1901), died unmarried

Salisbury was a male-line descendant of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, and his son Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, who succeeded his father as the advisor of Queen Elizabeth I and served in the same capacity during the early years of King James I’s reign. Hatfield House, Salisbury’s birthplace, built by Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, has been the home of the Cecil family ever since.

Hatfield House; Credit – By Allan Engelhardt – Hatfield House, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4585384

After attending a preparatory school near Hatfield, ten-year-old Salisbury went to Eton College where he was unmercifully bullied. With the permission of his father, Salisbury withdrew from Eton when he was fifteen years old and was then educated by a tutor at his family home, Hatfield House. Memories of the bullying, remained with him his whole life and had a profound effect upon his personality. In January 1848, Salisbury enrolled at Christ Church, Oxford and majored in mathematics. He joined the Oxford Union, a debating society, where he developed a bitter and ironic debating technique he later used in Parliament. While at Oxford, Salisbury was ill and depressed, perhaps an effect of the bullying, left early, and received an honorary fourth class in mathematics conferred by nobleman’s privilege due to ill health. After leaving Oxford, Salisbury spent some time traveling and recovering his health, and observing the situations in the British colonies of Cape Colony, Australia, and New Zealand.

In 1853, Salisbury won an election and became a Conservative Member of Parliament for the constituency of Stamford in Lincolnshire. He retained this seat until he succeeded his father as 3rd Marquess of Salisbury and as a peer, had to move to the House of Lords.

Georgina Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury, Credit – Wikipedia

Salisbury’s father wanted him to marry a rich heiress but instead, in 1857, he married Georgina Alderson, daughter of Sir Edward Alderson, a judge and of lower social status than the Cecils. Because of his marriage, Salisbury was cut off from the Cecil family’s money and had to support his family through journalism. However, he later reconciled with his father.

Salisbury and his wife had eight children:

• Lady Maud Gascoyne-Cecil, women’s rights activist (1858 – 1950), married William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, had four sons
• Lady Gwendolen Gascoyne-Cecil, author and biographer of her father, (1860 – 1945), unmarried
• James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury (1861 – 1947), married Lady Cicely Gore, daughter of Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran, had seven children
• Lord William Gascoyne-Cecil, Bishop of Exeter (1863 – 1936), married Lady Florence Bootle-Wilbraham, daughter of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Earl of Lathom, had four sons and three daughters
• Lord Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, one of the architects of the League of Nations, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937 (1864 – 1958), married Lady Eleanor Lambton, daughter of George Frederick D’Arcy Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham
• Lady Fanny Gascoyne-Cecil (1865 – 1867), died in early childhood
• Lord Edward Gascoyne- Cecil, died during the 1918 flu epidemic (1867 – 1918), married Violet Maxse, had two children
• Lord Hugh Heathcote Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood (1869 – 1956), unmarried

Salisbury served in a number of Conservative Cabinets: Secretary of State for India (1866 – 1867, 1874 – 1878), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1878 – 1880, 1885 – 1886, 1887 – 1892, 1895 – 1900). Three times when William Gladstone from the Liberal Party was Prime Minister, Salisbury served as Leader of the Opposition (1881 – 1885, January – July 1886, and 1892 – 1895).

Salisbury first became Prime Minister in June 1885 when William Gladstone’s Liberal government was unexpectedly defeated on a budget vote. Gladstone resigned as Prime Minister and Salisbury formed a minority Conservative government. Salisbury was Prime Minister when Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901. However, Salisbury was in failing health and did not last as Prime Minister much longer. On July 11, 1902, ill and still broken-hearted over the death of his wife who had died in late 1899, Salisbury retired and was succeeded by Arthur Balfour, his nephew, the son of his sister Blanche.

Lord Salisbury; Credit – Wikipedia

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury died at the age of 73 at Hatfield House on August 22, 1903, a little more than one year after retiring. Salisbury, Queen Victoria’s last Prime Minister, was buried at St. Etheldreda’s Church in Hatfield, where William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister, is also buried.

Tomb of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury; Credit – By Gareth E Kegg – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35707528

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gascoyne-Cecil,_3rd_Marquess_of_Salisbury [Accessed 2 Aug. 2018].
• Ja.wikipedia.org. (2018). ロバート・ガスコイン＝セシル (第3代ソールズベリー侯). [online] Available at: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AD%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AC%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B3%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%EF%BC%9D%E3%82%BB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AB_(%E7%AC%AC3%E4%BB%A3%E3%82%BD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%82%BA%E3%83%99%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E4%BE%AF) [Accessed 2 Aug. 2018].
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – Wikipedia

Born on December 21, 1804 in Bloomsbury, London, England, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice during the reign of Queen Victoria, from February 1868 – December 1868 and from 1874 – 1880. Disraeli was the eldest son and the second of the five children of Isaac D’Israeli, a literary critic and historian, and Maria (Miriam) Basevi. All of Disraeli’s grandparents and great-grandparents were born in Italy and were from a Sephardic Jewish background. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin D’Israeli was a Jewish merchant who had emigrated from Cento, Italy in 1748.

Disraeli had five siblings:

• Sarah D’Israeli (1802–1859)
• Naphtali D’Israeli (born and died 1807), died in infancy
• Raphael D’Israeli (“Ralph”; 1809–1898), known as Ralph Disraeli, held the office of Deputy Clerk of the Parliaments, married and had one son and one daughter
• Jacobus D’Israeli (1813–1868), known as James Disraeli, married Isabella Anne Cave, no surviving children

When Disraeli was about six-years-old, he began to attend a dame school, a private elementary school with a woman teacher often located in the teacher’s home. About two years later, he became a boarder at Rev. John Potticary’s St Piran’s School in Blackheath, London. Disraeli was originally raised in the Jewish faith but in 1816, his father had a dispute with his synagogue, renounced Judaism, and had his four children christened in the Church of England.

This change of religion allowed an older Disraeli to think about a career in politics. Until 1858, Members of Parliament were required to take an oath of allegiance containing these words: “…and I make this Declaration upon the true Faith of a Christian…” The Jews Relief Act 1858 allowed any person professing the Jewish religion to omit those words when taking the oath of allegiance.

In 1817, Disraeli began to attend a school run by run by Eliezer Cogan, a minister and a scholar, in Higham Hill, Walthamstow, near London. He was unhappy at the school and had wanted to attend Winchester College, one of the most prestigious schools in England, attended by many future politicians and where his two younger brothers were sent.

Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield after Sir Francis Grant mezzotint, (circa 1830-1850) NPG D18883 © National Portrait Gallery, London

In 1821, Disraeli was employed as a clerk at a law firm and began to study law. In 1827, he began writing the first of his seventeen novels. He continued writing novels the rest of his life and when he died, he left an unfinished novel. With the money earned from his first novel, he traveled in Europe. Between 1832 and 1835, Disraeli unsuccessfully ran several times for a seat in the House of Commons. Finally, in 1837, the year of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne, he won a seat as a Conservative Member of Parliament. After having a rough start, Disraeli became a loyal supporter of the party leader Sir Robert Peel and his policies.

Mary Anne Lewis by James Godsell Middleton, circa 1820 – 1830; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 28, 1839, at St. George’s Church, in Hanover Square in London, England, Disraeli married Mary Anne Lewis, the widow of Wyndham Lewis, a Member of Parliament and a close associate of Disraeli. Mary Anne was twelve years older than Disraeli and had a substantial income of £5,000 a year. It is thought that Disraeli married her for her money but the couple learned to love each other. They had no children.

When Sir Robert Peel became Prime Minister in 1841, Disraeli hoped for a Cabinet position but did not receive one and he gradually became a critic of Peel’s government. The Great Irish Potato Famine had caused a disastrous fall in food supplies and so Peel decided to join with Whigs and Radicals to repeal the Corn Laws which imposed tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and grain. Peel’s Conservative Party failed to support the bill but it passed with support from other parties and the Duke of Wellington persuaded the House of Lords to pass it. Following the repeal of the Corn Law, Peel resigned as Prime Minister on June 29, 1846.

When the Conservative Party came back in power in 1852 with Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby as Prime Minister, Disraeli finally got a Cabinet position. He served in the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1852, 1858 – 1859 and 1866 – 1868. In 1868, Lord Derby died in office and Disraeli succeed him as Prime Minister. In the 1869 elections, the Liberal Party won a majority and William Ewart Gladstone became Prime Minister. Disraeli served as Leader of the Opposition during two of Gladstone’s terms: 1868 – 1874 and from 1880 until his death in 1881.

Disraeli in the 1860s; Credit – Wikipedia

Disraeli served one more term as Prime Minister, from 1874 – 1880. Queen Victoria originally disliked Disraeli due to his treatment of Sir Robert Peel, her second Prime Minister. However, over time she grew to like Disraeli because he took great pains to treat her with flattery. One of his famous quotes was, “Everybody likes flattery and, when you come to royalty, you should lay it on with a trowel.” One thing Queen Victoria wanted was an imperial title. She was disturbed because Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia held a higher rank than her, and was appalled that her eldest daughter Victoria who was married to the Crown Prince of Prussia and the future German Emperor, would outrank her when her husband came to the throne.

A cartoon from the magazine Punch, New Crowns for Old, depicts Disraeli as Abanazer from the pantomime Aladdin, offering Victoria an imperial crown in exchange for a royal one; Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Victoria pressured Disraeli to introduce a bill that would make her Empress of India. Disraeli did so but his handling of the bill was awkward. He did not notify either the Prince of Wales or the Liberal opposition. When they found out, the Prince of Wales was irritated and the Liberals went into motion with a full-scale attack. Disraeli was reluctant to bring the bill to a vote because he thought it would be defeated. However, it passed with a majority of 75. For the rest of her life, Victoria signed her name “Victoria R & I” – Regina et Imperatrix in Latin, Queen and Empress in English. For Disraeli, the unpopular Royal Titles Act undermined his authority in the House of Commons. Four of Victoria’s successors, her son Edward VII, her grandson George V and her great-grandsons Edward VIII and George VI also were Emperors of India. George VI ceased to use the title when India became an independent country in 1947.

In 1868, at the end of Disraeli’s first term as Prime Minister, Queen Victoria wanted to create Disraeli a peer in recognition of his services to the country. If he were a peer, Disraeli would have to leave the House of Commons for the House of Lords, and he did not want to do so at that time. Instead, Disraeli’s wife Mary Anne was created Viscountess Beaconsfield in her own right, allowing her husband to remain a member of the House of Commons. When Disraeli finally agreed to accept the Earl of Beaconsfield peerage in 1876, he automatically lost his seat in the House of Commons but remained Prime Minister, leading his government from the House of Lords. In 1878, Disraeli refused Queen Victoria’s offer to make him a duke, instead, accepting a knighthood in the Order of the Garter.

Disraeli in 1878; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1880, Disraeli called for new elections but his party, the Conservatives, lost and Gladstone was again Prime Minister. Queen Victoria, who detested Gladstone, was very bitter about the election results. Despite being 76 years old and ill with gout and asthma, Disraeli continued serving as the Conservative Party Leader and the Leader of the Opposition. In March 1881, Disraeli became ill with bronchitis. Queen Victoria wanted to visit him but Disraeli declined saying, “She would only ask me to take a message to Albert.” On April 19, 1881, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield died at his home 19 Curzon Street in London, at the age of 76.

Disraeli was buried with his wife, who had died in 1872, in the family vault which is located in the west wall of St. Michael and All Angels Church on the grounds of Hughenden Manor, his country home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Queen Victoria also erected a memorial in the chancel of the church. Disraeli also has a memorial in Westminster Abbey which was erected at the instigation of Gladstone who recommended it in his eulogy before the House of Commons.

The grave of Benjamin Disraeli and his wife Mary Anne with primroses growing; Credit – Par Rob Farrow, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9274309

Queen Victoria’s memorial to Disraeli inside At. Michael and All Angels Church; Credit – Von Hans A. Rosbach – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4669256

Until World War I, Primrose Day was celebrated annually on the anniversary of Disraeli’s death. On this day, Disraeli’s tomb and his statue in Parliament Square in London were decorated with primroses. Primroses were his favorite flower and Queen Victoria would often send him bunches of them from Windsor Castle and Osborne House and she sent a wreath of primroses to his funeral.

‘Primrose Day’ (Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield) by W. Saull wood engraving, 1886 NPG D21540 © National Portrait Gallery, London

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• De.wikipedia.org. (2018). Benjamin Disraeli. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Benjamin Disraeli. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Mary Anne Disraeli. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anne_Disraeli [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Primrose Day. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primrose_Day [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. (2018). Benjamin Disraeli. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli [Accessed 30 Jul. 2018].
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

by Francis Cruikshank, 1855; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice during the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1855 – 1858 and from 1859 – 1865. He was the only son and the youngest of the three children of Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston and his second wife Mary Mee, daughter of Benjamin Mee, a London merchant. The 2nd Viscount Palmerston was born into the Protestant Ascendancy, a minority of landowners, clergy, and members of the professions, all Protestants, who dominated Catholic Ireland socially, politically and economically between the 17th century and the early 20th century. He was a member of the House of Commons and had settled in a house in Hanover Square in Westminster, London, England where his son Henry John Temple (henceforth called Palmerston) was born on October 20, 1784.

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston had two elder sisters:

• The Honorable Frances Temple, married Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Bowles,  no children
• The Honorable Elizabeth Temple, married Rt. Hon. Lawrence Sulivan, had two sons and three daughters

Palmerston at age 18 by Thomas Heaphy, 1802; Credit – Wikipedia

Palmerston was educated at Harrow School where two future Prime Ministers, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen and Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet and the poet Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron) were his fellow students. From 1800 – 1803, he studied political economy at the University of Edinburgh. While at the University of Edinburgh, Palmerston’s father died and he succeeded to his father’s title as 3rd Viscount Palmerston at the age of 17. Palmerston attended St John’s College, Cambridge from 1803–1806. During his years at university, Palmerston met Lawrence Sulivan who later became his Private Secretary and married his sister Elizabeth.

Because he had no seat in the House of Lords as an Irish peer, Palmerston began his political career as a Tory in the House of Commons in 1807. He defected to the Whigs in 1830, and became a member of the newly formed Liberal Party in 1859. Palmerston served in Cabinets as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1830 – 1834, 1835 – 1841, and 1846 – 1851), Home Secretary (1852 – 1855). He was Leader of the Opposition from 1858 – 1859.

The British Empire’s uneasy alliance with France and the Ottoman Empire in the mismanagement of the Crimean War caused Prime Minister George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen to rapidly lose popularity and in February 1855, he was forced to resign as Prime Minister. After exhausting the possibilities of several possible Prime Ministers, Queen Victoria reluctantly invited Palmerston to Buckingham Palace on February 4, 1855 to form a government. At the age of 70 years, 109 days, Palmerston became the oldest person to become Prime Minister for the first time and no one since has surpassed his record.

A peace treaty ending the Crimean War was signed on March 30, 1856 and the following month, Queen Victoria created Palmerston a Knight of the Order of the Garter. Immediately after the Crimean War, Palmerston’s government had to deal with the Indian Rebellion of 1857.  After the Italian republican Felice Orsini tried to assassinate Napoleon III, Emperor of the French with a bomb made in the United Kingdom (The Orsini Affair), the French were outraged. Palmerston introduced a Conspiracy to Murder Bill which would make it a felony to plot in the United Kingdom to murder someone abroad. At the first reading of the bill, the Conservatives voted for it but at the second reading, they voted against it. Palmerston lost by nineteen votes and was forced to resign as Prime Minister in February 1858. In 1859, Palmerston returned to power, this time in an alliance with his former rival John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, in what is regarded as the first Liberal government. Palmerston remained Prime Minister until his death in 1865, when Lord Russell succeeded him.

Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper by William Owen by William Owen circa 1810; Credit – Wikipedia

Beginning around 1807, Palmerston had a long-time affair with Emily Cowper, Countess Cowper, born The Honorable Elizabeth Lamb, the sister of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister. Previous to this affair, Palmerston had the nickname “Cupid” for his various affairs. In 1805, Emily married Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper. Lord Cowper was rather dull and not into the social scene. Emily threw herself into the Regency social scene, became one of the patronesses of the exclusive club Almack’s, and had several affairs. Emily was frequently seen with Palmerston at Almack’s and they began a romantic relationship. Lady Emily Cowper, one of the five children born during Emily’s marriage to Lord Cowper, may have been Palmerston’s child.

Emily, Viscountess Palmerston, circa 1860; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1837, two days after the reign of Queen Victoria began, Lord Cowper died and Emily and Palmerston hoped to marry. However, both were in their 50s and Emily’s family was concerned about Palmerston’s reputation as a womanizer. After Queen Victoria was consulted and her approval was received, Palmerston and Emily married on December 16, 1839. Their marriage was a happy one and when not in their London townhouse Cambridge House on Piccadilly in Mayfair, they lived at Palmerston’s country estate Broadlands in Romsey, Hampshire, England or at Brockett Hall in Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England which Emily had inherited from her brother William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne upon his death. After her marriage, Emily remained an active hostess and Palmerston would encourage her to float his ideas among her guests and report their impressions back to him.

Lord Palmerston in 1863; Credit – Wikipedia

Palmerston remained healthy and active into his old age. An apocryphal version of his last words is: “Die, my dear doctor? That is the last thing I shall do.” He died at Brockett Hall on October 18, 1865, two days before his eighty-first birthday. Queen Victoria wrote in her journal after his death that though she regretted his passing, she had never liked or respected him: “Strange, and solemn to think of that strong, determined man, with so much worldly ambition – gone! He had often worried and distressed us, though as Pr. Minister he had behaved very well.”

Palmerston wanted to be buried at Romsey Abbey nearby his Broadlands home but the Cabinet insisted that he should have a state funeral and be buried at Westminster Abbey, which he was, on October 27, 1865, in the North Transept.  At the time, he was the fourth non-royal person to be granted a state funeral – after Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Nelson, and the Duke of Wellington. When his wife Emily died four years later on September 11, 1869, at the age of 82, she was buried with her husband and Westminster Abbey. Their grave is marked by red granite marker on the floor and nearby is a statue of Lord Palmerston dressed in his robes of the Order of the Garter.

The funeral of Lord Palmerston from Harper’s Weekly; Credit – Wikipedia

Palmerston left no heirs and upon his death his title Viscount Palmerston became extinct. Emily’s second son from her first marriage, born The Honorable William Cowper, inherited parts of his stepfather’s estates, including Broadlands, and assumed the additional surname of Temple. In 1880, he was created Baron Mount Temple, a subsidiary title held by the Viscounts Palmerston but he died childless and the peerage became extinct at the time of his death. However, the title Baron Mount Temple was created once again in 1932 for his great-nephew Wilfrid Ashley. He had no sons and the title became extinct again upon his death in 1938. However, his daughter, born Edwina Ashley, wife of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the future 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, inherited Broadlands.

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Works Cited

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• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_John_Temple,_3rd_Viscount_Palmerston [Accessed 29 Jul. 2018].
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• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012