Category Archives: Queen Victoria’s Household

Sir Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham, Private Secretary to Queen Victoria and King George V

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Sir Arthur Bigge, painted by Rudolf Swoboda, 1889. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 404843

Lieutenant Colonel The Right Honourable Sir Arthur John Bigge was Private Secretary to Queen Victoria from 1895 until she died in 1901. He then served as Private Secretary to the future King George V from 1901 – 1910, and for twenty-one years of King George V’s reign until he died in 1931. Queen Victoria did not have an official Private Secretary until she appointed General Charles Grey to the office in 1861. Lord Melbourne informally served as Private Secretary while he was Prime Minister from 1837 – 1840. Prince Albert then informally served as Private Secretary from 1840 until he died in 1861. The official position of Private Secretary came about because it was realized that the monarch required advice and support because the growth of the government had caused the government ministers to have insufficient time to provide daily advice and support. It was traditional for Queen Victoria’s Private Secretaries to be provided with homes at her various residences including apartments in the Norman Tower at Windsor Castle, apartments in St. James’s Palace in London, and Osborne Cottage on the grounds of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

Arthur was born on June 18, 1849, one of nine children of Reverend John Frederick Bigge, Vicar of Stamfordham, and Caroline Mary Ellison. He attended the Rossall School in Lancashire before entering the Royal Military Academy Woolwich. While at Woolwich, Arthur was a classmate and became a close friend of Louis Napoleon, Prince Imperial, the only son of French Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie. His friendship and connection to the Prince Imperial would bring Arthur to royal service in the coming years. Arthur was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1869 and later served on the staff of Field Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood in the Zulu War of 1878-1879. After the death of the Prince Imperial in battle in June 1879, Arthur was summoned to Balmoral Castle to provide The Queen with the details of the Prince’s death. He also accompanied Empress Eugenie when she visited the site of her son’s death. According to Arthur himself, the kind words of Empress Eugenie to Queen Victoria led to his appointment to the Royal Household in 1880.

On February 10, 1881, Arthur married Constance Neville, the daughter of Rev. William Frederick Neville and Franny Grace Blackwood. The couple had three children:

  • The Hon. Victoria Bigge (1881) – married Captain Henry Robert Adeane (killed in World War I), had issue
  • The Hon. Margaret Bigge (1885) – unmarried
  • Lt. The Hon. John Bigge (1887) – unmarried, killed in action in World War I; served as a Page of Honour to both Queen Victoria and King Edward VII

Arthur’s grandson, Michael Adeane, served as Assistant Private Secretary (1952-1953) and Private Secretary (1954-1972) to Queen Elizabeth II and Michael’s son Edward Adeane also served extensively in the Royal Household. He was a Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II (1954-1956), Private Secretary and Treasurer to The Prince of Wales (1979-1985), Treasurer to The Princess of Wales (1981-1985), Private Secretary to The Princess of Wales (1984-1985) and Extra Equerry to The Prince of Wales (1985-2015).

Arthur’s service in the Royal Household began in 1880 when he was appointed Groom-in-Waiting, and then quickly named Assistant Private Secretary to Queen Victoria. Later that year, he was also appointed Assistant Keeper of the Privy Purse, serving until 1895. In May 1895, he succeeded Sir Henry Ponsonby as Private Secretary to Queen Victoria and served until her death in January 1901.

Arthur BIgge, Private Secretary, February 1901. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2911902

Following Queen Victoria’s death, Arthur was appointed as Private Secretary to the future King George V, whom he would serve for the next 31 years. He was officially the Private Secretary to The Duke of Cornwall and York (March-November 1901); Private Secretary to The Prince of Wales (November 1901-May 1910), and then Private Secretary to The King (June 1910-March 1931). During his service, he joined George on numerous trips and tours and became a close friend and advisor to the future King. He was involved with the decision to choose Windsor as the new name for the royal house during World War I the decision not to grant asylum to the Russian Imperial Family. His importance to the King was best described in the King’s own words following Arthur’s death – “He taught me how to be a king. He was the most loyal friend I have ever had.”

King George V in Buckingham Palace Gardens with Baron Stamfordham, June 1918. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2108037

During his time in service, Sir Arthur received numerous orders and honours, including the Order of the Bath, Royal Victorian Order, Order of the Indian Empire, Order of the Star of India, Order of St. Michael and St. George, and the Imperial Service Order. He also received several foreign orders, including the French Legion of Honour, the Greek Order of the Redeemer and the Danish Order of the Dannebrog. In 1910, he was made a member of His Majesty’s Privy Council, and the following year, on July 10, 1911, he was created Baron Stamfordham in the County of Northumberland. As his son had predeceased him, the barony became extinct upon Arthur’s death.

On March 31, 1931, following several weeks of illness, Lord Stamfordham died at his apartments in St. James’s Palace in London, England. He was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London, England.

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.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Sir Henry Ponsonby, Private Secretary to Queen Victoria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

General Sir Henry Ponsonby. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2931062

Major-General The Right Honourable Sir Henry Ponsonby was Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary from 1870-1895 and Keeper of the Privy Purse from 1878-1895.  Queen Victoria did not have an official Private Secretary until she appointed General Charles Grey to the office in 1861. Lord Melbourne informally served as Private Secretary while Prime Minister from 1837 – 1840. Prince Albert then informally served as Private Secretary from 1840 until he died in 1861. The official position of Private Secretary came about because it was realized that the monarch needed advice and support. The growth of the government had caused the government ministers to have insufficient time to provide daily advice and support. It was traditional for Queen Victoria’s Private Secretaries to be provided with homes at her various residences including apartments in the Norman Tower at Windsor Castle, apartments in St. James’s Palace in London, and Osborne Cottage on the grounds of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

The son of Major General Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby and Lady Emily Charlotte Bathurst (a daughter of the 3rd Earl of Bathurst), Henry was born December 10, 1825 in Corfu, Greece, where his father was stationed with the British Army, commanding the troops in the Ionian Islands. He had five siblings:

  • Arthur Ponsonby (1827-1868) – married Catina Dahl
  • Georgina Ponsonby (1829-1895) – unmarried
  • Harriet Ponsonby (1830-1906) – unmarried
  • Selina Ponsonby (1835-1919) – married William Windham Baring
  • Frederick Ponsonby (1837-1894) – unmarried

Henry’s father had served as an Aide-de-Camp to the Prince Regent (later King George IV), and his mother occasionally served as a lady-in-waiting to The Duchess of Cambridge (the former Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel). His paternal aunt was Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby), the wife of the future Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister.

After his father died in 1837, Henry’s mother was given apartment #39 at Hampton Court Palace, spanning three floors and overlooking the West Front and the main entrance to the Palace. Lady Emily remained there until her death in 1877. Later, his brother Arthur served as Chaplain of Hampton Court Palace.

In 1842, 17-year-old Henry entered the British Army, serving as an Ensign in the 49th Regiment of Foot. In 1844 he transferred to the Grenadier Guards, with whom he would be attached for many years. From 1847-1858, he served as an Aide-de-Camp to Lord Clarendon and Lord St. Germans, successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland. During this time, he also served during the Crimean Campaigns of 1855-1856, receiving numerous medals and honours for his service. In 1857, Henry was appointed Equerry to Prince Albert, The Prince Consort, beginning his service in the Royal Household which would continue until just months before his death in 1895.

The Honourable Mary Bulteel, August 1854. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2906545

On April 30, 1861, at St. Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge, Henry married The Honourable Mary Elizabeth Bulteel, the daughter of John Crocker Bulteel and Lady Elizabeth Grey. They had known each other for some time, having been in the same social circles, and then through their service in the Royal Household. Mary had served as Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria from 1853-1861, and her maternal grandfather was Sir Charles Grey, Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary from 1861-1870. They were third cousins once removed through their mutual descent from Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Earl of Bessborough. Henry and Mary had five children:

Frederick “Fritz” Ponsonby. source: Wikipedia

Henry’s son Fritz later played a prominent role in the Royal Household for over 40 years. He was first appointed Equerry to Queen Victoria in 1894, and Assistant Keeper of the Privy Purse and Assistant Private Secretary to The Queen in 1897. Following Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, he continued as Assistant Keeper of the Privy Purse and Assistant Private Secretary to King Edward VII until the King died in 1910. He served King George V as Assistant Private Secretary from 1910-1914 and Keeper of the Privy Purse from 1914-1935. In addition, he was named Lieutenant Governor of Windsor Castle from 1928-1935.

In February 1901, Fritz accompanied King Edward VII on a visit to the King’s elder sister Vicky (and Fritz’s godmother), the Dowager German Empress Friedrich who was dying. In a private meeting with Fritz, Vicky expressed her fear that her personal letters would fall into her son’s hands and asked Fritz to secretly take them back to England. That evening, two large boxes were delivered to Fritz’s rooms, which he marked as “Books” and “China”, and they were returned to England with the rest of his luggage. He kept the letters safely locked away at his home for over 25 years. In 1928, he edited the letters and they were published as Letters of The Empress Frederick.

Following their marriage, Henry and Mary settled at Windsor, leasing apt no.6 in the Horseshoe Cloister, in the Lower Ward of Windsor Castle. While they had considered finding a home in London, the home at Windsor fit better with their somewhat limited finances. Mary, who was required to leave her post as Maid of Honour, received a dowry from The Queen of £1,000, and Henry received £500 per year as Equerry, in addition to his smaller salary from the Grenadier Guards (which didn’t even cover the costs of the uniforms). Their financial position changed months later when The Prince Consort died in December 1861. Having depended on his Equerry’s salary, the couple were relieved when The Queen appointed Henry as an Extra Equerry, although at a reduced salary of £300 per year.

A group photo at Osborne, May 1867.  L-R: Mr Welsh; Mr Sahl; Sir John Cowell; Prince Leopold; Mr Legg; The Hon. Miss Macdonald; General Grey; Hon. Mrs Grey; Lady Caledon; Lady Churchill; Col. Henry Ponsonby; Hon. Mrs Ponsonby; Revd Mr Duckworth.  source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2901665.

Henry, accompanied by his wife, spent a year in Canada from 1862-1863, commanding a battalion of the Grenadier Guards stationed there during the American Civil War. Returning in 1863, he was elevated to Equerry in Ordinary to The Queen, serving several months at a time during the year. The rest of the time, he continued his ‘full-time job’ with the Grenadier Guards, having reached the rank of Colonel.

On April 8, 1870, Henry was appointed Private Secretary to The Queen, following the death of his wife’s grandfather, Sir Charles Grey. As was traditional for the Sovereign’s Private Secretary, Henry was provided with homes at the Queen’s various residences – apartments in the Norman Tower at Windsor Castle, apartments in St. James’s Palace in London, and Osborne Cottage on the grounds of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

The bronze memorial to Sir Henry Ponsonby, in St. Mildred’s Church. photo: © Geoff Allan, Isle of Wight Family History Society

After suffering a stroke several months earlier, Henry formally retired from his positions on May 9, 1895. He was succeeded by Sir Arthur Bigge as Private Secretary, and by Sir Fleetwood Edwards as Keeper of the Privy Purse. Sir Henry Ponsonby died at Osborne Cottage on the Isle of Wight on November 21, 1895, and is buried in the churchyard at St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham. A memorial to Sir Henry is featured in the North Transept of the church. The memorial, in bronze, was created by Countess Feodora Gleichen, a great-niece of Queen Victoria (her grandmother was Queen Victoria’s sister, Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.)

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.

Recommended Books
– Henry & Mary Ponsonby: Life at the Court of Queen Victoria by William M. Kuhn
– Henry Ponsonby, Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary: His Life From His Letters by Arthur Ponsonby
– Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Sir Charles Grey, Private Secretary to Queen Victoria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Sir Charles Grey, by Maull & Polyblank, albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s. source: National Portrait Gallery, NPG Ax68094

General The Hon. Sir Charles Grey was Private Secretary to Queen Victoria from 1861 until 1870. Queen Victoria did not have an official Private Secretary until she appointed General Charles Grey to the office in 1861. Lord Melbourne informally served as Private Secretary while he was Prime Minister from 1837 – 1840. Prince Albert then informally served as Private Secretary from 1840 until his death in 1861. The official position of Private Secretary came about because it was realized that the monarch was in need of advice and support because the growth of the government had caused the government ministers to have insufficient time to provide daily advice and support. It was traditional for Queen Victoria’s Private Secretaries to be provided with homes at her various residences including apartments in the Norman Tower at Windsor Castle, apartments in St. James’s Palace in London, and Osborne Cottage on the grounds of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

Sir Charle Grey was born at Howick Hall in Howick, Northumberland, England on March 15, 1804, to Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey and The Hon. Mary Ponsonby. His father would later serve as Prime Minister from 1830-1834, and is the person for whom ‘Earl Grey Tea’ is named. Charles had fourteen siblings:

  • Lady Louisa Grey (1797) – married John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, had issue
  • Lady Elizabeth Grey (1798) – married John Crocker Bulteel, had issue
  • Lady Caroline Grey (1799) – married Captain George Barrington, had issue
  • Lady Georgiana Grey (1801) – unmarried
  • Henry Grey, 3rd Earl Grey (1802) – married Maria Copley, no issue
  • Admiral Sir Frederick Grey (1805) – married Barbarina Sullivan, no issue
  • Lady Mary Grey (1807) – married Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax, had issue
  • The Hon. William Grey (1808) – died in childhood
  • Admiral The Hon. George Grey (1809) – married Jane Stuart, had issue
  • The Hon. Thomas Grey (1810) – died in childhood
  • Rev. John Grey (1812) – married (1) Lady Georgiana Hervey, had issue; (2) Helen Spalding, no issue
  • Rev. Francis Grey (1813) – married Lady Elizabeth Howard, no issue
  • Captain The Hon. Henry Grey (1814) – unmarried
  • The Hon. William Grey (1819) – married Theresa Stedink, no issue

Charles also had a half-sister, Eliza Courtney (born February 1792), who was the daughter of his father and Georgiana Cavendish (née Spencer), The Duchess of Devonshire, who was married. Charles’s father and the Duchess had an affair prior to his marriage, and she became pregnant. The Duchess traveled to France to give birth and returned to England in September 1793. Upon returning, Eliza was raised by her paternal grandparents as though she was one of their own children. She never learned of her true parentage until after the death of the Duchess of Devonshire in 1806. Eliza is an ancestress of Sarah, Duchess of York.

In addition to his father’s service in the government, several of Charles’s family members also served in the royal household. His sister Caroline served as a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria from 1837-1875, as well as being Lady Superintendent (Governess) to The Queen’s daughters.  His niece, Mary Bulteel, was a Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria from 1853-1861 before marrying Sir Henry Ponsonby (who would later succeed Charles as Private Secretary to Queen Victoria). Another niece, Alice, Countess of Morton, was an Extra Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexandra from 1901-1907.

After receiving a private education, Charles joined the British Army in 1820, and over the next 45 years, quickly rose through the ranks, reaching the rank of General in 1865. He also served as a Member of Parliament from 1832 until 1837, when he retired following Queen Victoria’s accession.

Caroline Eliza Grey (née Farquhar), by Elliott & Fry, albumen carte-de-visite, 1876. source: National Portrait Gallery, NPG x196260

On July 26, 1836, Charles married Caroline Eliza Farquhar, the daughter of Sir Thomas Farquhar, 2nd Baronet, and Sybella Rockcliffe. Caroline would later serve as an Extra Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria from 1870-1890. The couple had six children:

John Lambton, 1st Earl of Dunham, Charles’s brother-in-law. source: Wikipedia

In 1837, he was appointed as an Equerry to The Queen, serving in that role until 1867. The following year, in 1838, Charles accompanied his brother-in-law, The Earl of Durham, to Canada where the Earl was appointed Governor-General. Charles was named a member of the Executive Council and Special Council for Lower Canada, serving from June to November 1838. After returning to Britain, he continued with his military service.

Charles Grey (far right) in a group photo taken at Balmoral, September 1858. Pictured l-r: Colonel Robert Bruce, Mr. Frederick Gibbs, Major Christopher Teesdale, HRH The Prince of Wales, Dr. Ernst Becker, Colonel Henry Ponsonby, General Charles Grey. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2906725

In October 1849, Charles was appointed Private Secretary to Prince Albert. He was given apartments at St. James’s Palace and lived in the Norman Tower at Windsor Castle, and at Osborne Cottage at Osborne House, and his children grew up as playmates of some of Victoria and Albert’s children. Over the next twelve years, he became an influential member of the royal household and a close confidante and advisor to Prince Albert. Following Albert’s death in 1861, Charles seamlessly moved into the position of Private Secretary to The Queen – a role which had largely been filled by Prince Albert since he and Victoria married in 1840. He was aided in his duties as Private Secretary by Sir Charles Phipps until Phipps’ death in 1866. During the nine years Charles served as Private Secretary, he would become a great source of support to The Queen, particularly in her darkest days of mourning in the weeks and months following Albert’s death.  In addition, from 1866-1867, Charles served with Col. Thomas Myddelton-Biddulph as Keeper of the Privy Purse.

General The Hon. Sir Charles Grey died on March 31, 1870. He is buried in St. Michael and All Angels Churchyard at Howick Hall in Howick, Northumberland, England.

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.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Sir Charles Phipps

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Col. The Honourable Sir Charles Phipps, c1859. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2910608

Sir Charles Phipps

Sir Charles Beaumont Phipps held several positions in the Royal Household of Queen Victoria from 1846 until 1866. He aided Sir Charles Grey in his duties as Private Secretary to Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert in 1861 until his death in 1866. Charles was born on December 27, 1801 at Mulgrave Castle in Yorkshire, the second son of Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave and Martha Maling. His siblings included:

  • Constantine Phipps, 1st Marquess of Normanby (1797) – married The Hon. Maria Liddell, had issue. Maria Liddell served as a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria from 1837-1841, and her sister, Georgiana Liddell, was a Maid of Honour from 1841-1845.
  • The Hon. Edmund Phipps (1808) – married Maria Campbell, had issue
  • The Hon. Augustus Phipps (1809) – married Lady Mary FitzRoy, had issue
  • Lady Lepell Charlotte Phipps – married Sir John Wallis Alexander, 4th Baronet, no issue

After his education at Harrow, Charles joined the British Army in August 1820, serving in the Scots Fusilier Guards. Over the next 34 years, he advanced in rank, retiring in 1854 with the rank of Colonel, although he had been unattached from the military for several years.

In 1832, Charles’ elder brother, Constantine was appointed Governor of Jamaica. Charles accompanied him and served as his private secretary. Three years later, he accompanied Constantine to his new appointment as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, this time serving as Steward of his household.

That same year, on June 25, 1835, Charles married Margaret Anne Bathurst, the daughter of the Right Reverend Henry Bathurst and Grace Coote. Charles and Margaret had four children:

  • Maria Phipps (1836) – married (1) Captain Frederick Sayer, had issue; (2) Lt. Col. WIlliam Chaine, had issue
  • Harriet Lepel Phipps (1841) – unmarried
  • Charles Phipps (1844) – married Susan Geddes, had issue
  • Albert Phipps (1847) – unmarried

The Phipps Family at Balmoral, August 1860. Sir Charles with (l-r) his younger son Albert, daughter Maria, wife Margaret, and daughter Harriet. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2906852

Three of Charles’ children also served in the Royal Household. His eldest daughter Maria served as Keeper of the State Apartments at Kensington Palace, and her husband served as Marshal of the Ceremonies and then Assistant Master of the Ceremonies to Queen Victoria from 1881 until 1901. His second daughter, Harriet, served as a Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria from 1862 until 1869, and then as a Woman of the Bedchamber from 1889 until 1901. And his son, Charles, served as a Page of Honour and Groom-in-Waiting to The Queen.

The Prince Consort and The Prince of Wales with guests at Buckingham Palace, April 1857. (l-r) Sir Charles Phipps, Mr. Frederick Gibbs, The Prince of Wales, The Prince Consort, Baron Christian Stockmar, Dr. Ernst Becker, Baron Ernst Stockmar. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2932751

On August 1, 1846, Charles was appointed Equerry in Ordinary to Queen Victoria, beginning his nearly 20 years of royal service. Just five months later, on January 1, 1847, he became Private Secretary to Prince Albert, serving for nearly three years. He resigned on October 10, 1849 to become Keeper of the Privy Purse, a position he held until his death in 1866. He was also appointed Treasurer and Cofferer to The Prince of Wales, and Treasurer to Prince Albert.

In December 1861, Prince Albert died at Windsor Castle. Sir Charles Grey – who had replaced Charles as private secretary to the Prince in 1849 – was named Private Secretary to The Queen. Charles assisted him in this role, although he was never officially titled as Private Secretary himself. In May 1862 he was appointed Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall, and in January 1863 was appointed to the Council of the Prince of Wales. In February 1864 he was also appointed Secretary, Chamberlain, and Receiver-General and Keeper of the Signet to The Prince of Wales, in his role as Prince and Steward of Scotland.

After developing bronchitis, Sir Charles Phipps died at St. James’s Palace in London, England on February 24, 1866. He is buried in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

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.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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.

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

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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:

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:

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

William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

photographed by John Mayall, 1861; Credit – Wikipedia

William Ewart Gladstone served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom four times during the reign of Queen Victoria: 1868 – 1874, 1880 – 1885, February 1886 – July 1886 and 1892 – 1894. He was born December 29, 1809, at 62 Rodney Street in Liverpool, England, the fourth son and the fifth of the six children of merchant John Gladstone, and his second wife, Anne MacKenzie Robertson, who were both born in Scotland. In 1846, Gladstone’s father was made 1st Baronet of Fasque and Balfour. Gladstone had five siblings. All his brothers were also politicians. Thomas and John were Members of Parliament and Robertson was Mayor of Liverpool.

Gladstone was educated from 1816–1821 at a preparatory school at the vicarage of St. Thomas’ Church in Sefton, Merseyside, England, close to his family’s home, Seaforth House.  He then attended Eton College and finally Christ Church, Oxford, where he read Classics and Mathematics. Gladstone served as President of the Oxford Union, where he developed a reputation as an orator. Later in life, he used those oratorical skills in the House of Commons.

Gladstone in the 1830s’ Credit – Wikipedia

In 1832, Gladstone started his more than 60-year career in Parliament when, at the age of 23, he was elected as a Tory Member of Parliament. Over the years, he changed his political party membership three times: Tory (1828–34), Conservative (1834–46), Peelite (1846–59) and Liberal (1859–98). He served four times in the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer: 1852 – 1855, 1859 – 1866, 1873 – 1874 and 1880 – 1882.

Catherine Gladstone, 1883; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 25, 1839, Gladstone married Catherine Glynne, daughter of Sir Stephen Glynne, 8th Baronet.  On the death of Catherine’s unmarried brother Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet, Gladstone inherited the Glynne ancestral home Hawarden Castle in Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales. Gladstone and Catherine had eight children:

Two of Gladstone’s sons, William and Herbert, were Members of Parliament, as was a grandson William Glynne Charles Gladstone, who was killed in action in 1915 during World War I. Along with Gladstone’s father, Sir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet, making four successive generations of Members of Parliament.

Gladstone Family Group by Herbert Rose Barraud albumen cabinet card, 1870s-1900s NPG x5979 © National Portrait Gallery, London (Gladstone, Catherine with their children and their spouses)

In 1867, Gladstone was elected Leader of the Liberal Party. Then, in 1868, the Conservative Prime Minister Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby died in office and Benjamin Disraeli succeeded him as Prime Minister and became Gladstone’s main opponent. In the 1869 elections, the Liberal Party won a majority and Gladstone became Prime Minister for the first time. From 1868 through 1885, Gladstone and Disraeli switched back and forth as Prime Minister, with Gladstone serving three times and Disraeli serving two times. At the time of Disraeli’s death in 1881, Gladstone was currently Prime Minister and would continue in that term until 1885. He served two more times as Prime Minister: February 1886 – July 1886, and 1892 – 1894.

Gladstone in 1877 photographed by William Currey; Credit – Wikipedia

While Disraeli got along famously with Queen Victoria, Gladstone did not. Disraeli’s strategy with Queen Victoria was flattery. One of his famous quotes was, “Everybody likes flattery and, when you come to royalty, you should lay it on with a trowel.” Queen Victoria wanted to have an imperial title and Disraeli worked to pass a bill that made her Empress of India. The Queen found Gladstone too loud, too excitable, and uncompromising. She was incensed that Gladstone believed the monarch served with the permission of Parliament. Gladstone even lectured Queen Victoria on her duties – one of which, in his opinion, was that she should appear more often in public. He did not understand that the Queen became extremely stubborn when coerced, and as a result, they were often at odds.

In early 1894, the 84-year-old Gladstone retired from active politics, almost blind and hard of hearing. Gladstone had his last audience with Queen Victoria on February 28, 1894, he chaired his 556th Cabinet meeting on March 1, 1894, and then gave his last speech in the House of Commons. He resigned as Prime Minister on March 2, 1894. Today, the monarch would heed the Prime Minister’s advice as to who should succeed him or her. However, Queen Victoria did not ask Gladstone who should succeed him but sent for Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, who was serving in Gladstone’s Cabinet as the Foreign Secretary. Gladstone would have advised Queen Victoria to send for John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer.

Gladstone in old age, photographed by GG Bain; Credit – Wikipedia

Gladstone remained in the House of Commons until 1895. He was not offered a peerage, having earlier declined an earldom. Gladstone holds the distinction of being the oldest person to form a government – aged 82 at his appointment in 1892 – and the oldest person to be Prime Minister – 84 years old at his resignation in 1894.

William Ewart Gladstone died on May 19, 1898, at his country home Hawarden Castle at the age of 88. He had been cared for by his daughter Helen who had resigned from her position as vice-principal at Newnham College, a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, to care for her elderly father and mother. Queen Victoria gave permission for a state funeral and a burial at Westminster Abbey. The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) and the Duke of York (the future King George V) served as pallbearers and the Princess of Wales (the future Queen Alexandra) and the Duchess of York (the future Queen Mary) attended the funeral. Gladstone’s wife, Catherine Gladstone died two years later on June 14, 1900, at the age of 88, and was buried next to her husband.

Gladstone and his wife’s grave in Westminster Abbey; 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). William Ewart Gladstone. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ewart_Gladstone [Accessed 1 Aug. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Catherine Gladstone. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Gladstone [Accessed 1 Aug. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). William Ewart Gladstone. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ewart_Gladstone [Accessed 1 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

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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:

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.

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). Henry Temple, 3. Viscount Palmerston. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Temple,_3._Viscount_Palmerston [Accessed 29 Jul. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Emily Temple, Viscountess Palmerston. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Lamb,_Countess_Cowper [Accessed 29 Jul. 2018].
  • 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].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Viscount Palmerston. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscount_Palmerston [Accessed 29 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

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

by Chester Harding, 1847; Credit – Wikipedia

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom once during the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1852 – 1855. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on January 28, 1784, the eldest of the seven children of George Gordon, Lord Haddo, son and heir of George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen, and Charlotte Baird, daughter of William Baird of Newbyth.

Lord Aberdeen had six younger siblings:

Lord Aberdeen’s father died on October 2, 1791, at age 27 from injuries sustained when he fell from his horse. At the age of 3 ½, Lord Aberdeen became the heir of his grandfather the 3rd Earl of Aberdeen, and was styled Lord Haddo, one of his grandfather’s subsidiary titles. Four years later, his mother died and he was brought up by Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville and William Pitt the Younger. In 1801, upon the death of his grandfather, he succeeded to his grandfather’s title as the 4th Earl of Aberdeen.

Lord Aberdeen was educated at Harrow School where two future Prime Ministers, Lord Palmerston and Robert Peel, and his cousin, the poet George, Gordon Byron, Lord Byron (6th Baron Byron) were his fellow students. He then attended St. John’s College, Cambridge. Lord Aberdeen was a student of classical studies and published research on the topography of Troy and the principles of beauty in Greek architecture. He was President of The Society of Antiquaries of London from 1812 – 1846.

Portrait of Lord Aberdeen showing his interest in classic studies by John Partridge, circa 1847; Credit – Wikipedia

On 28 July 1805, Lord Aberdeen married Lady Catherine Hamilton (1784 – 1812) daughter of John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn They had four children but they all died before the age of 20. Their mother also died young, at the age of 28, from tuberculosis.

  • Lady Jane Hamilton-Gordon (1807 – 1824), died at the age of seventeen
  • Lady Charlotte Hamilton-Gordon (1808 – 1818) died at the age of ten
  • Lady Alice Hamilton-Gordon (1809 – 1829) died at the age of nineteen years old.
  • Unnamed son, Lord Haddo (born and died November 23, 1810)

In December 1805, Lord Aberdeen took his seat in the House of Lords as a Conservative Scottish representative peer. After the death of his first wife in 1812, he joined the Foreign Service and served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Austria. In 1814, Lord Aberdeen returned to England and received another peerage when he was created a peer of the United Kingdom, Viscount Gordon of Aberdeen, and was made a member of the Privy Council.

On July 8, 1815, Lord Aberdeen married a second time to Harriet Hamilton, Dowager Viscountess Hamilton. His second wife was born Harriet Douglas (1792 – 1833), the daughter of The Honorable John Douglas and Lady Frances Lascelles. Harriet was the paternal granddaughter of James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton and maternal granddaughter of Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood. She was also the widow of James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton, the heir of John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn, and was also the brother of Lord Aberdeen’s first wife. They had five children:

Lord Aberdeen by Thomas Lawrence, 1829; Credit – Wikipedia

It was during his second marriage, that Lord Aberdeen’s career in Parliament really took off. He served in Cabinets as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1828), Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1834 – 1835), and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1828 – 1830 and 1841 – 1846). During this time period, Lord Aberdeen moved away from the Tory Party and joined Prime Minister Robert Peel’s Peelites. After Peel’s death in 1850, he became the recognized leader of the Peelites.

Following the downfall of the Conservative minority government under Lord Derby in December 1852, Lord Aberdeen formed a new government and became Prime Minister. During Lord Aberdeen’s term as Prime Minister, the British Empire was involved in the Crimean War which was originally fought to preserve the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land, which was a part of the Ottoman Empire. The British Empire’s uneasy alliance with France and the Ottoman Empire in the mismanagement of the Crimean War caused Lord Aberdeen to rapidly lose popularity and in February 1855, he was forced to resign as Prime Minister. He retired from active politics and spoke for the last time in the House of Lords in 1858.

Lord Aberdeen shortly before his death in 1860; Credit – Wikipedia

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen died on December 14, 1860, aged 76, at Argyll House, St. James’s, London was buried in the family vault at St. John the Evangelist Church in Great Stanmore, Harrow, Middlesex, England.

St. John the Evangelist Church; Credit – By Jon Hansen – Stanmore. St John the Evangelist, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62269361

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.
  • https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hamilton-Gordon,_4._Earl_of_Aberdeen
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen. [online] Available at:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Smith-Stanley,_14th_Earl_of_Derby[Accessed 27 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