Augustine Birrell
KC (19 January 185020 November 1933) was a British
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
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politician, who was
Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916. In this post, he was praised for enabling tenant farmers to own their property, and for extending university education for Catholics. But he was criticised for failing to take action against the rebels before the
Easter Rising, and resigned. A barrister by training, he was also an author, noted for humorous essays.
Early life
Birrell was born in
Wavertree
Wavertree is a district of Liverpool, England. It is a ward of Liverpool City Council, and its population at the 2011 census was 14,772. Located to the south and east of the city centre, it is bordered by various districts and suburbs such as ...
, near
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, the son of The Rev. Charles Mitchell Birrell (1811-1880), a Scottish
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
minister and Harriet Jane Grey (1811-1863) daughter of
Rev Henry Grey of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
.
He was educated at
Amersham Hall
Amersham Hall was a "school for the sons of dignified gentlemen" in England. From 1829 to 1861 it was in Elmodesham House in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, relocating in 1861 to Caversham in Oxfordshire. The Caversham site, a suburb in the north o ...
school and at
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...
where he was made an Honorary
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
in 1879. He joined the
Sylvan Debating Club
The Sylvan Debating Club is a free speech society in which topical issues are discussed. Founded in London in 1868, it meets monthly and employs a traditional motion-based debating format."The Sylvan Debating Club. Mr. Maxse and the Sanctity of C ...
in 1872. He started work in a solicitor's office in Liverpool but was
called to the Bar in 1875, becoming a
KC in 1893 and a
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...
of the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...
in 1903.
[''Who was Who'', OUP 2007] From 1896 to 1899 he was Professor of Comparative Law at
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = � ...
.
In 1911 Birrell served as
Lord Rector of Glasgow University
The (Lord) Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within the institution, elected every three years by students. The theoretical role of the rector is to represent students to the senior management of the university ...
.
His first wife, Margaret Mirrielees, died in 1879, only a year after their marriage, and in 1888 he married Eleanor Tennyson, daughter of the poet
Frederick Locker-Lampson
Frederick Locker-Lampson (1821–1895) was an English man of letters, bibliophile and poet.
Overview
He was born at Greenwich Hospital. His father, who was Civil Commissioner of the Hospital, was Edward Hawke Locker, youngest son of the Captai ...
and widow of Lionel Tennyson, son of the poet
Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
They had two sons, one of whom,
Frankie
Frankie may refer to:
People
*Frankie (musician), indie pop musician from Los Angeles, California
* Frankie Abernathy (1981–2007), American MTV Real World cast member
*Frankie Adams (born 1994), Samoan New Zealand actress
*Frankie Avalon (born ...
(1889–1935) was later a journalist and critic and associated with the
Bloomsbury Group. Birrell found success as a writer with the publication of a volume of essays entitled ''Obiter Dicta'' in 1884. This was followed by a second series of ''Obiter Dicta'' in 1887 and ''Res Judicatae'' in 1892. These, despite their titles, were not concerned with law, but he also wrote books on
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
and on
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
s. Birrell wrote, and spoke, with a characteristic humour which became known as ''birrelling''.
Entry into politics
After unsuccessfully contesting parliamentary seats in
Liverpool, Walton in
1885 and
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...
in
1886
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885.
* January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...
, Birrell was elected to parliament for
West Fife at a by-election in 1889, as a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
.
[Jackson, ''Augustine Birrell'', p.43] He retained his seat in the general elections of 1892 and 1895, but in the
general election of 1900 he stood in
Manchester North East and was defeated. In 1903 he edited ''Eight Years of Tory Government'', a "handbook for the use of Liberals", which attacked the incumbent Conservative administration's record on issues such as housing and worker's compensation.
President of the Board of Education
In December 1905 Birrell was included in the cabinet of
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman ( né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 19 ...
as
President of the Board of Education
The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Ca ...
,
[Ó Broin, ''The Chief Secretary'', pp. 4–5] and that month he was sworn of the
Privy Council. He was returned for
Bristol North at the
general election of January 1906, in which the Liberals won a large majority.
Like Campbell-Bannerman, Birrell belonged to the
Radical tradition of the party. Birrell also belonged to a group called the "New Radicals" or "New Liberals", which also included
H. H. Asquith,
R. B. Haldane and
Sir Edward Grey
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War.
An adhe ...
.
Birrell introduced the Education Bill 1906, intended to address
nonconformist grievances arising from the
Education Act 1902. The bill passed the Liberal-dominated
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
comfortably, but the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
, with a Conservative majority, passed wrecking amendments which undermined its meaning, and the government dropped it. This use of dilatory parliamentary procedures and wrecking amendments over the education bill began a period of political tension between the Commons and Lords which ultimately concluded with the Lords' rejection of the People's Budget of 1909, sparking the Constitutional Crises of 1909–11.
Birrell had been seen as a poor advocate for the bill, although he complained privately that it was mainly Lloyd George's work, and that he himself had had little say over its contents. The defeat of the bill made it impossible for Birrell to continue in his post, and in January 1907 he was appointed
Chief Secretary for Ireland, to replace
James Bryce who had been made Ambassador to the United States. While serving in government, Birrell supported a number of progressive measures and proposals such as expanded housing provisions, land reform, and substantial increases in education spending at both primary and secondary level.
Birrell and Women's Suffrage
Like many of his political colleagues and members of the general public, Birrell strongly disapproved of the
militancy
The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...
and violence of the
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership an ...
(WSPU; suffragettes). In November 1910, when walking alone from the House of Commons, he was set upon by a group of about twenty suffragettes who had recognised him. While he did not believe there was any serious attempt to injure him, in trying to escape he twisted his knee and "slipped the knee-cap".
C. P. Scott
Charles Prestwich Scott (26 October 1846 – 1 January 1932), usually cited as C. P. Scott, was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the ''Manchester Guardian'' (now ''the Guardian'') ...
wrote in his diary that Birrell feared he might require an operation to remove his kneecap and joked that, if he did, he would remain 'a weak-kneed politician' to the end of his life. Birrell was, however, described by the paper ''
Votes for Women
A vote is a formal method of choosing in an election.
Vote(s) or The Vote may also refer to:
Music
*''V.O.T.E.'', an album by Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo, 2004
*"Vote", a song by the Submarines from ''Declare a New State!'', 2006
Television
* " ...
'' as one of a number of "Suffragist members of the Cabinet" who met with a deputation from the
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...
(NUWSS), led by
Millicent Fawcett
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897– ...
, on 8 August 1913, following a similar meeting by the NUWSS with Prime Minister Asquith on the same day. According to ''Votes for Women'', ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' reported that the ministers asked the deputation what kind of bill the NUWSS was looking for. Other ministers present included
Lloyd George,
John Simon,
Francis Dyke Acland and
Thomas McKinnon Wood
Thomas McKinnon Wood PC (26 January 1855 – 26 March 1927) was a British Liberal politician. Regarded as a liberal with "sound Progressive credentials," he served as a member of H. H. Asquith's cabinet as Secretary for Scotland between 1912 a ...
.
Chief Secretary for Ireland
Council Bill, Universities Bill and Land Bill
Birrell's first
Under-Secretary and head of Irish Civil Service at
Dublin Castle administration
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
was Sir
Antony MacDonnell, who had worked successfully with a previous Chief Secretary,
George Wyndham
George Wyndham, PC (29 August 1863 – 8 June 1913) was a British Conservative politician, statesman, man of letters, and one of The Souls.
Background and education
Wyndham was the elder son of the Honourable Percy Wyndham, third son of Ge ...
, on the
Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903
The Land Acts (officially Land Law (Ireland) Acts) were a series of measures to deal with the question of tenancy contracts and peasant proprietorship of land in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Five such acts were introduced by ...
. MacDonnell was a well-known advocate for Home Rule. MacDonnell's proposals for what was called "
devolution" – the transfer of local powers to Ireland under a central authority – adopted by the
Irish Reform Association's - had encountered strong opposition from
Unionists, leading eventually to Wyndham's resignation. This proposal ultimately passed from Sir James Bryce with Birrell inheriting the bill. Birrell modified MacDonnell's proposal and on 7 May 1907 introduced the
Irish Council Bill. The bill was initially welcomed by
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
leaders
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader of the moderate Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) from ...
and
John Dillon
John Dillon (4 September 1851 – 4 August 1927) was an Irish politician from Dublin, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for over 35 years and was the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. By political disposition Dillon was an a ...
, and opposed, for different reasons, by unionists and by more radical nationalists who wanted nothing less than
Home Rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
for Ireland. At a convention of the
United Irish League
The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...
, opposition was so strong that Redmond changed his position; the convention rejected the bill and the government was unable to proceed with it. Birrell suffered further embarrassment when he sought to discontinue the use of the
Irish Crimes Act 1887, a coercive measure introduced by
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the ...
to deal with agrarian crime, only to be faced with an increase in cattle-driving. Another affair, in which Birrell was not directly involved but for which he had to take part of the blame, was the theft of the
Irish Crown Jewels from
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin.
Until 1922 it was the s ...
(where the Chief Secretary had his offices) in July 1907.
Birrell had more success in areas such as Education and the Irish land question. His excellent relations with both Roman Catholic and Protestant church leaders such as Archbishop of Dublin
William Walsh ensured the successful passage of the Irish Universities Bill 1908, which established the
National University of Ireland and
Queen's University Belfast and dissolved the
Royal University of Ireland
The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...
. It solved the sectarian problem in higher education by dividing the Protestant and Catholic traditions into their own separate spheres and ensured Catholic, Nationalist scholars had access to university education.
Contemporaries also praised his achievement in carrying the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act (1909), which though falling far short in its financial provisions allowed for
compulsory purchase
Compulsion may refer to:
* Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so.
* Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by ...
by the
Land Commission of large areas of land for the relief of congestion, through a hostile House of Lords.
Home Rule Bill
After the passing, with the support of the
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...
, of the
Parliament Act 1911
The Parliament Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5 c. 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is constitutionally important and partly governs the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two Houses of Parlia ...
, which restricted the power of the Lords to veto bills, Prime Minister
H. H. Asquith introduced the
Third Home Rule Bill
The Government of Ireland Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 90), also known as the Home Rule Act, and before enactment as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide home rule (self-governm ...
on 16 April 1912. The Unionists, led in Ireland by
Edward Carson
Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Unionism in Ireland, Irish u ...
and in Britain by Tory leader
Bonar Law, formed a private army, the
Ulster Volunteers
The Ulster Volunteers was an Irish unionist, loyalist paramilitary organisation founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government ("Home Rule") for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the ...
, to resist enforcement of the act, and Carson proposed an amendment excluding
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
from the scope of the bill. Birrell was opposed to the exclusion of any part of the country and when
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
proposed a compromise involving the exclusion of six of the nine counties of Ulster for a period of five to six years Birrell responded by offering his resignation. Historian
Ronan Fanning
Ronan Fanning (6 May 1941 18 January 2017) was an Irish historian.
Biography
The son of an Irish doctor and English Montessori teacher, Fanning was educated at St Michael's College, Dublin and C.B.C. Monkstown. He received his undergraduate d ...
, in a newspaper article, has described him as "the arch hypocrite" because of his public criticisms of such exclusion proposals, but private acceptance of same. The proposal was rejected by both Unionists and Nationalists and Birrell stayed on. In fact, by that stage Lloyd George had effectively replaced Birrell as the Liberal government's negotiator in the Home Rule discussions. The crisis continued through 1913 and into 1914. The bill was introduced for the third time in July 1914, this time along with an amending bill allowing for the exclusion of some of the Ulster counties, but with the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the bill was passed without further debate, with its implementation suspended until after the war. However, on the collapse of Asquith's Liberal-dominated government in May 1915 and its replacement with a coalition involving Carson, the implementation of Home Rule at any stage became moot.
World War
In the latter part of 1915 Birrell was one of those Liberal ministers (others being
Reginald McKenna
Reginald McKenna (6 July 1863 – 6 September 1943) was a British banker and Liberal politician. His first Cabinet post under Henry Campbell-Bannerman was as President of the Board of Education, after which he served as First Lord of the Admir ...
(
Chancellor of the Exchequer),
Walter Runciman (
President of the Board of Trade) and
Sir Edward Grey
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War.
An adhe ...
(
Foreign Secretary)) who were unhappy at the realignment of Britain's war effort towards conscription, total war and a massive commitment of troops to the Western Front, as advocated by the
CIGS Archibald Murray
General Sir Archibald James Murray, (23 April 1860 – 21 January 1945) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. He was Chief of Staff to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in August 1914 but ...
. However, none of these joined
Sir John Simon (
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
) in resigning in protest at the conscription of bachelors, due to be
enacted in January 1916. However, Birrell wrote to the Prime Minister (29 December) criticizing Murray and arguing that he and Runciman agreed that finance and strategic policy were more important than conscription. Conscription was only applied in Britain, not Ireland.
Easter Rising
A further threat to Birrell's administration had arisen with the formation in November 1913 of the
Irish Volunteers
The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...
, ostensibly to safeguard Home rule but in fact, under the influence of the
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...
(IRB) aiming to break the union with Britain altogether. Feelings in nationalist Ireland were further aroused by the possibility of conscription. Sir
Matthew Nathan
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and colonial administrator, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Quee ...
, Birrell's Under-Secretary since October 1914, told him in September 1915 that the
Nationalist Party was losing ground in the country and that extreme nationalists, often referred to as ''Sinn Féiners'', were gaining support. Nathan took measures such as suppressing newspapers and forcing Irish Volunteer organisers to leave the country. The Irish Party leaders, Redmond and Dillon, cautioned against taking direct action against the 'Sinn Féiners' and the administration kept to that policy. Birrell himself felt that the danger of a bomb outrage was greater than that of an insurrection. His assessment was proved wrong when the
Easter Rising began on 24 April 1916.
Birrell had spent Easter in London, where Nathan had telegraphed him with news of the capture and scuttling of the arms ship the ''Aud'' and the arrest of Sir
Roger Casement. He had just sent approval for the arrest of the movement's leaders on Easter Monday morning when he was told by
Viscount French, Commander-in-Chief of the British Home Forces, that the Rising had begun. He maintained contact with Nathan by telegraph and answered questions in Parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday, then travelled by destroyer to Dublin, arriving in the early hours of Thursday morning. From there he wrote to the Prime Minister, giving him his assessment of the situation. In one of his letters he wrote that he 'couldn't go on'. On 1 May, the day after the Rising ended, Asquith accepted his resignation 'with infinite regret'. This regret was also felt by both Nationalist and Unionist politicians in Parliament. While some, such as
Laurence Ginnell
Laurence Ginnell (baptised 9 April 1852 – 17 April 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as member of the Irish Parliamentary ...
celebrated his departure, both
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader of the moderate Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) from ...
and
Sir Edward Carson praised the work Birrell completed during his time as chief secretary. Others, such as the Irish civil servant, Sir Henry Robinson, also praised the work Birrell completed and highlighted in his memoirs the number of Acts of Parliament Birrell was responsible for. However, The
Royal Commission on the 1916 Rebellion (the
Hardinge commission) was critical of Birrell and Nathan, in particular their failure to take action against the rebels in the weeks and months before the Rising. Birrell acknowledged in his memoirs that he did not stoutly defend himself in front of the commission. However, the commission did understand that Birrell was confined to London due to his cabinet and parliamentary duties between 1914 and 1916.
Personal life
While Birrell's first phase as Chief Secretary was a clear success, the period from about 1912 onwards saw something of a decline in Birrell's career which was also mirrored in his domestic life. Birrell's second wife Eleanor had been suffering from an inoperable brain tumour and this eventually caused her to lose her sanity. This affected Birrell deeply, privately and publicly, but he did not tell his political colleagues, who were simply given to understand that she did not care for social life. There were two sons of the marriage, Francis and Anthony.
The quality of his public work deteriorated and as one historian has noted the severe personal strain must have been a contributory factor in "...the uncharacteristic combination of excessive zeal and indecision which marked
irrell'sresponse to the Dublin industrial agitation of 1913". Only after Eleanor died in 1915 did Birrell begin to regain some of his old energy and effectiveness as a minister.
Later life
Birrell did not defend his seat in the
1918 general election, nor did he ever return to Ireland. In 1929, he accepted an honorary doctorate from the
National University of Ireland, but storms in the Irish Sea prevented him from making the crossing and he had to receive his degree ''
in absentia
is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent".
may also refer to:
* Award in absentia
* Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body
* Election in ab ...
''. He returned to literature with a further volume of essays and book reviews, ''More Obiter Dicta'' (1920) and a book on his father-in-law,
Frederick Locker-Lampson
Frederick Locker-Lampson (1821–1895) was an English man of letters, bibliophile and poet.
Overview
He was born at Greenwich Hospital. His father, who was Civil Commissioner of the Hospital, was Edward Hawke Locker, youngest son of the Captai ...
.
He died in London on 20 November 1933, aged eighty-three. His autobiography, ''Things Past Redress'', was published posthumously.
Selected works
*''Obiter Dicta'',
Elliot Stock
Elliot Stock (1838 - 1 March 1911) was an English publisher and bibliophile who collected first editions. The publishing company that bore his name was in business from 1859 to 1939.
His father was wealthy but died when Elliot was in his infancy ...
, 1885
*''Res Judicatae: Papers and Essays'', Charles Scribner's Sons 1892
*''Essays about Men, Women, and Books'', Elliot Stock, 1895
''Collected Essays'' Elliot Stock, 1899 (comprising ''Obiter Dicta''; ''Res Judicatae''; ''Essays about Men, Women, and Books'')
''Miscellanies'' Elliot Stock, 1901
*''Essays and Addresses'', Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901 (same content as ''Miscellanies'')
*''William Hazlitt'', Macmillan, 1902
*''Eight Years of Tory Government, 1895-1903; home affairs; handbook for the use of liberals'' London, 1903
*''In the Name of the Bodleian, and Other Essays'', Elliot Stock, 1905
*''Andrew Marvell'', Macmillan, 1905
*''Selected Essays: 1884–1907'', Thomas Nelson, 1909
*''Self-Selected Essays : a Second Series'', Nelson, 1917
*''More Obiter Dicta'', W. Heinemann ltd., 1924
*''Et Cetera: A Collection'', Chatto and Windus, 1930
*''Things Past Redress'' London, 1937
Papers
The main collection of Birrell's papers, those dealing with his period as Chief Secretary, are deposited in the
Bodleian Library. The Bodleian also contains collections of Birrell's public correspondence with political figures of his day, Asquith, Lewis Harcourt and others. Birrell's correspondence with
Campbell-Bannerman and
Herbert Gladstone are in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
. His correspondence with
Lloyd George is in the
Parliamentary Archives
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
. Correspondence with
Herbert Samuel
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, (6 November 1870 – 5 February 1963) was a British Liberal politician who was the party leader from 1931 to 1935.
He was the first nominally-practising Jew to serve as a Cabinet minister and to be ...
is in
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
. Other collections can be found in the
National Library of Ireland
The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland i ...
,
Lambeth Palace,
National Library of Scotland and
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
. His family correspondence is deposited in the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
.
[Cameron Hazlehurst, Sally Whitehead & Christine Woodland, ''A Guide to the Papers of British Cabinet Ministers, 1900–1964''; Royal Historical Society, Cambridge, 1996]
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Birrell, Augustine
1850 births
1933 deaths
Scottish Liberal Party MPs
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