George John Shaw Lefevre, 1st Baron Eversley (12 June 1831 – 19 April 1928) 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. In a ministerial career that spanned thirty years, he was twice
First Commissioner of Works
The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ir ...
and also served as
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
and
President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the ...
.
Background and education
George Shaw Lefevre was the only son of
Sir John Shaw Lefevre and Rachel Emily, daughter of Ichabod Wright. He was born in
Battersea, and was the nephew of
Charles Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Viscount Eversley
Charles Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Viscount Eversley, GCB, PC (22 February 1794 – 28 December 1888), was a British Whig politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1839 to 1857. He is the second-longest serving Speaker of the Hous ...
,
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
* Speaker of ...
. He was educated at
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
and at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, and was
called to the Bar,
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 1855.
Political career
Shaw Lefevre stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate for
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
in 1859 but was successfully returned for
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
in 1863, a seat he held until 1885.
his maiden speech in the
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 ...
was made on the
''Alabama'' incident, and in 1868 he was instrumental in calling for arbitration of the
Alabama Claims
The ''Alabama'' Claims were a series of demands for damages sought by the federal government of the United States, government of the United States from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom in 1869, for the attacks upon ...
. He held cabinet rank under Whig
Lord Russell as
Civil Lord of the Admiralty
The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal N ...
in 1866, a post he held until the government fell the same year, and later served under
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
as
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade in the United Kingdom was a member of Parliament assigned to assist the Board of Trade and its President with administration and liaison with Parliament. It replaced the Vice-President of the Board ...
from 1868 to 1871, as
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
This article lists past and present Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State serving the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom at the Home Office.
Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782–present
*April 1782: Evan Nepean
*April 1 ...
from January to March 1871, as
Parliamentary Secretary of the Admiralty
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
from 1871 to 1874 and again in 1880, after Christmas was sworn of the
Privy Council. A successful barrister-at-law, he was appointed a Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1882.
In parliament, the Liberal government made Shaw Lefevre
First Commissioner of Works
The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ir ...
from 1881 to 1885, before he finally entered Gladstone's cabinet in November 1884 on his appointment to
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
. He relinquished the post of First Commissioner of Works in February 1885 but continued as Postmaster General until the Liberals lost power in June 1885 to Salisbury's 'Caretaker' ministry. A general election was called for 27 November 1885, and Shaw Lefevre lost his seat in parliament at the
1885 general election, meaning that he did not serve in Gladstone's brief
1886 administration. He was able to return to the House of Commons in April 1886 when he was elected for
Bradford Central in a by-election, which constituency he represented until 1895.
He once again became First Commissioner of Works and a member of Gladstone's cabinet in 1892. When
Lord Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...
became Prime Minister in 1894 he was appointed
President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the ...
, which he remained until the following year, when the Liberals were again defeated by Lord Salisbury's Conservatives. In 1897 he was elected a member of the
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
as a
Progressive for the Haggerston Division. In 1906 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Eversley, of Old Ford in the County of London, a revival of the Eversley title held by his uncle. He made his last speech in 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 ...
in 1913.
Other public positions
George was also a Commissioner to negotiate a Convention on Fisheries with French Government in 1858, a member of Sea Fisheries Commission in 1862, President of the
Statistical Society of London
The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good.
...
between 1878 and 1879 and Chairman of the
Royal Commissions on the Loss of Life at Sea in 1885 and on the
Agricultural Depression between 1893 and 1896. In 1865 he co-founded the
Commons Preservation Society The Open Spaces Society is a campaign group that works to protect public rights of way and open spaces in the United Kingdom, such as common land and village greens. It is Britain's oldest national conservation body and a registered charity.
Foun ...
, becoming its first chairman and, in 1905, its president.
He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
in 1899.
Family
George married Lady Constance Moreton, daughter of
Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie
Henry John Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie (25 June 1827 – 28 October 1921), styled Lord Moreton between 1840 and 1853, was a British courtier and Liberal Party politician. He notably served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1859 t ...
, in 1874. They had no children. He died in April 1928, aged 96, when the barony became extinct. He is buried in the graveyard at St Mary's Church, King's Worthy. Lady Eversley survived him by a year and died in February 1929.
A sister,
Madeleine, was the first Principal of
Somerville Hall
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Iri ...
; and another Rachel married
Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, son of the Prime Minister the
4th Earl of Aberdeen.
Select works
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Arms
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw Lefevre, George
1831 births
1928 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
People from the City of Winchester
Eversley, George Shaw Lefevre, 1st Baron
Eversley, George Shaw Lefevre, 1st Baron
Eversley, George Shaw Lefevre, 1st Baron
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Eversley, George Shaw Lefevre, 1st Baron
Eversley, George Shaw Lefevre, 1st Baron
Fellows of the Royal Society
UK MPs 1859–1865
UK MPs 1865–1868
UK MPs 1868–1874
UK MPs 1874–1880
UK MPs 1880–1885
UK MPs 1885–1886
UK MPs 1886–1892
UK MPs 1892–1895
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Members of London County Council
Politics of Bradford
Progressive Party (London) politicians
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Reading
People from Battersea
Parliamentary Secretaries to the Board of Trade
Peers created by Edward VII