John Neilson Gladstone
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Captain John Neilson Gladstone, (18 January 1807 – 7 February 1863) was a British Conservative Party politician and an officer in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. A brother of politician
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 ...
, later British Prime Minister, he served as a
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for most of the years 1841 to 1863.


Early life

He was the fourth child of Sir John Gladstone, a Scottish-born businessman who settled in
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 ...
and made a large fortune initially from trading in corn with the United States and cotton with Brazil, and later through sugar plantations in Jamaica. His mother was Anne MacKenzie née Robertson, from
Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...
. His younger brother was the politician
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 ...
, later British Prime Minister, and his elder brother
Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
was also an MP. He attended Eton and then Christ Church, Oxford.


Naval career

Gladstone attended the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth from 1820. He spent eight years at sea, but thereafter was still able to gain promotion to Captain RN. William decided to undertake a tour of European cities in 1832 with his naval brother, who was temporarily without a ship. They spent 179 days together criss-crossing Europe, travelling by post-chaise. Leaving London on 1 February 1832 they crossed the Channel into Brittany. By 1 March they had arrived at Turin, where they tarried a week, before moving on to Genoa. They were at Rome during April for a whole month, 25 days in Naples and 10 days in Rome before turning for home on 5 June. Via Ravenna and Bologna they visited Venice; and then onto the Lakes Garda and Como, pausing four days in Milan, before travelling across the Alps to Geneva. From Basle they took a boat down the Rhine, and overland to Brussels and Ostend. They arrived back in London on 28 July 1832. In 1839 he married Elizabeth Honoria, daughter of William Bateson. They purchased
Bowden Park Bowden Hill is a village in Wiltshire, England, in Lacock parish about south of Chippenham and to the east of Lacock village. Bowden Hill has about 50 houses, a pub, and a small industrial estate. Origins of the name Bowden Hill was historic ...
, near Chippenham in Wiltshire where he chose to settle.


Political career

No longer able to get a ship at sea with the Royal Navy, he stood as a Conservative and won the seat of
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...
in a by-election on 4 February 1841; the general election in June of that year obscured the raising of a petition against him for corrupt electoral practices. His
Anti-Corn Law League The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a tim ...
opponent accused him of using money from slavery to pay for election expenses. The accusation from J B Smith was flatly denied, both that his family had had anything to do with a West India slavery plantation, until after its abolition, and that the rumours of compensation were much exaggerated. He won another by-election, this time at
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
in 1842 and sat there until
1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Frémont ...
. During that parliament 'Captain Gladstone' spoke against
corn law The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...
repeal, arguing that agriculture would suffer if protective tariffs were removed. Small farmers would be bankrupted, with no commensurate gain to burgeoning manufacturers. He expressed great regret at being forced to oppose the Prime Minister,
Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...
. "I suppose the agriculturists are not supposed to have any mind, as the late county elections prove that they are strongly opposed to it", he declared; "but being convinced that the main feature of the whole is the total repeal of the Corn Laws, ...the community interested in agriculture should, at the earliest possible period, know its fate, I feel compelled to endeavour to stop the measure on the threshold, and to vote for the Amendment". On 13 April 1847 he supported the recommendation of the Admiralty for the salvage of the wreck of the ''Thetis''. He was MP for
Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...
from
1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come tog ...
, lost his seat in 1857, but was re-elected in 1859.


Death

His brothers were all in attendance at Bowden Park for the over-wrought emotional scene at John Neilson's deathbed. William arrived early in February 1863, three days before his brother died, and took great care over a period of ten days, which he later related in some detail in his diaries. John Neilson left seven daughters and a son without parents, orphans, making William wholly responsible for the funeral arrangements. Money William acquired in his brother's will went to supplement the budget of his
Midlothian campaign The Midlothian campaign of 1878–80 was a series of foreign policy speeches given by William Gladstone, leader of Britain's Liberal Party. It is often cited as the first modern political campaign. It also set the stage for Gladstone's comeback ...
. A writ was moved only five days later in the Commons for a new member.HC Deb, 12 Feb 1863, vol 169 col 258


Notes


See also

*


References

;Bibliography *


External links


COMMERCIAL POLICY—CUSTOMS—CORN LAWS—ADJOURNED) DEBATE (TWELFTH NIGHT). HC Deb 27 February 1846 vol 84 cc271-
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gladstone, John Neilson 1807 births 1863 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Royal Navy officers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1859–1865 Younger sons of baronets John Neilson Gladstone Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ipswich