Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) 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.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
politician who served as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...
from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the
4th Earl of Rosebery, in 1868, he was known by the
courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.
Rosebery first came to national attention in 1879 by sponsoring the successful
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 ...
of
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 ...
. He briefly was in charge of Scottish affairs. His most successful performance in office came as chairman 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 ...
in 1889. He entered the cabinet in 1885 and served twice as foreign minister, paying special attention to French and German affairs. He succeeded Gladstone as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party in 1894; the Liberals lost the
1895 election. He resigned the party leadership in 1896 and never again held political office.
Rosebery was widely known as a brilliant
orator
An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled.
Etymology
Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14th ...
, an outstanding sportsman and marksman, a writer and historian, connoisseur and collector. All of these activities attracted him more than politics, which grew boring and unattractive. Furthermore, he drifted to the right of the Liberal party and became a bitter critic of its policies.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
, observing that he never adapted to democratic electoral competition, quipped: "He would not stoop; he did not conquer."
Rosebery was a
Liberal Imperialist The Liberal Imperialists were a faction within the British Liberal Party around 1900 regarding the policy toward the British Empire. They supported the Boer War which most Liberals opposed, and wanted the Empire ruled on a more benevolent basis. Th ...
who favoured strong national defence and imperialism abroad and social reform at home, while being solidly anti-socialist. Historians judge him a failure as foreign minister and as prime minister.
Origins and early life
Archibald Philip Primrose was born on 7 May 1847 in his parents' house in
Charles Street, Mayfair
Charles Street is a street in the Mayfair district of the City of Westminster, London.
Location
Charles Street runs roughly north-east from Waverton Street in the west to Berkeley Square in the east, bending slightly northward halfway along. Th ...
, London. His father was
Archibald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny (1809–1851), son and
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
to
Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery (1783–1868), whom he predeceased. Lord Dalmeny was a courtesy title used by the Earl's eldest son and heir apparent, during the Earl's lifetime, and was one of the Earl's lesser
Scottish titles. Lord Dalmeny (died 1851) was MP for
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
from 1832 to 1847 and served as
First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
under
Lord Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...
.
Rosebery's mother was Lady
(Catherine Lucy) Wilhelmina Stanhope (1819–1901), a historian who later wrote under her second married name "the Duchess of Cleveland", a daughter of
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope
Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope FRS (7 December 1781 – 2 March 1855), was an English aristocrat, chiefly remembered for his role in the Kaspar Hauser case during the 1830s.
Origins
He was the eldest son and heir of Charles Stanhope, 3 ...
. Lord Dalmeny died on 23 January 1851, having predeceased his father, when the
courtesy title passed to his son, the future Rosebery, as the new heir to the earldom. In 1854 his mother remarried to Lord Harry Vane (later after 1864 known as
Harry Powlett, 4th Duke of Cleveland
Harry George Powlett, 4th Duke of Cleveland (19 April 1803 – 21 August 1891), styled The Honourable Harry Vane until 1827 and Lord Harry Vane from 1827 to 1864, who in 1864 adopted by Royal Licence the surname and arms of Powlett in lieu of Va ...
). The relationship between mother and son was very poor. His elder and favourite sister Lady Leconfield was the wife of
Henry Wyndham, 2nd Baron Leconfield
Henry Wyndham, 2nd Baron Leconfield, (31 July 1830 – 6 January 1901) was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament.
A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, Leconfield was the eldest son of George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield, ...
.
Education and youth
Dalmeny attended preparatory schools in
Hertfordshire and
Brighton, and then
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
(1860–65). At Eton, he formed a close attachment to his tutor
William Johnson Cory
William Johnson Cory (9 January 1823 – 11 June 1892), born William Johnson, was an English educator and poet. He was dismissed from his post at Eton College, Eton for encouraging a culture of intimacy, possibly non-sexual, between teachers and ...
: they visited
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
together in 1864, and maintained correspondence for years afterwards. Dalmeny proceeded to
Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating in January 1866. He left Oxford in 1868: Dalmeny bought a horse named Ladas, although a rule banned
undergraduates
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
from owning horses. When he was found out, he was offered a choice: to sell the horse or to give up his studies. He chose the latter, and subsequently was a prominent figure in British horseracing for 40 years.
The three Prime Ministers from 1880 to 1902, namely
Gladstone,
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
and Rosebery, all attended both Eton and Christ Church.
Rosebery toured the United States in 1873, 1874 and 1876. He was pressed to marry
Marie Fox
Princess Marie "Mary" Henriette Adélaïde of Liechtenstein (21 December 1850 – 26 December 1878) was a French-born English writer. A foundling of unknown paternity, she was adopted by the childless English nobleman Henry Fox, 4th Baron Holl ...
, the sixteen-year-old adopted daughter of
Henry Fox, 4th Baron Holland
Henry Edward Fox, 4th Baron Holland of Holland, 4th Baron Holland of Foxley (7 May 1802 – 18 December 1859) was briefly a British Whig politician and later an ambassador.
Early life
Fox was born at Holland House, London, the eldest legitim ...
. She declined him.
Succession to earldom
When his grandfather died in 1868, Dalmeny became 5th
Earl of Rosebery
Earl of Rosebery is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1703 for Archibald Primrose, 1st Viscount of Rosebery, with remainder to his issue male and female successively. Its name comes from Roseberry Topping, a hill near Archibald's wif ...
. The earldom did not of itself entitle Archibald Primrose to sit 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 ...
, nor disqualify him from sitting 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 ...
, as the title is part of the old
Peerage of Scotland, from which 16 members (
representative peers) were elected to sit in the Lords for each session of Parliament. However, in 1828, Rosebery's grandfather had been created 1st
Baron Rosebery in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom, which did entitle Rosebery to sit in the Lords like all peers of the United Kingdom, and barred him from a career in the House of Commons.
Career
Rosebery is reputed to have said that he had three aims in life: to win
the Derby, to marry an heiress, and to become
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
. He managed all three.
Early political career
At Eton, Rosebery notably attacked
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...
for his despotism, and went on to praise his Whig forebears – his ancestor,
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (c. 16735 February 1721) was a British soldier, diplomat and statesman who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is also the last Chancellor of the Exchequer to sit in the House of L ...
, was a minister to
George I of Great Britain
George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...
.
Benjamin Disraeli often met with Rosebery in the 1870s to try to recruit him for his party, but this proved futile. Disraeli's major rival,
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 ...
, also pursued Rosebery, with considerable success.
As part of the Liberal plan to get Gladstone to be MP for
Midlothian, Rosebery sponsored and largely ran the
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 ...
of 1879. He based this on what he had observed in elections in the United States. Gladstone spoke from open-deck trains, and gathered mass support. In 1880, he was duly elected Member for Midlothian and returned to the premiership.
Rosebery served as Foreign Secretary in Gladstone's brief third ministry in 1886. He served as the first chairman of the London County Council, set up by the Conservatives in 1889. Rosebery Avenue in Clerkenwell is named after him. He served as
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of the first day of the 1890
Co-operative Congress
The Co-operative Congress is the national conference of the UK Co-operative Movement. The first of the modern congresses took place in 1869 following a series of meetings called the "Owenite Congress" in the 1830s. Members of Co-operatives UK ...
.
Rosebery's second period as Foreign Secretary, 1892–1894, predominantly involved quarrels with France over
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
. To quote his hero Napoleon, Rosebery thought that "the Master of Egypt is the Master of India"; thus he pursued the policy of expansion in Africa. He helped Gladstone's Second Home Rule Bill in the House of Lords; nevertheless it was defeated overwhelmingly in the autumn of 1893. The first bill had been defeated in the House of Commons in 1886.
Prime Minister
Rosebery became a leader of the Liberal Imperialist faction of the Liberal Party and when Gladstone retired, in 1894, Rosebery succeeded him as Prime Minister, much to the disgust of Sir
William Harcourt, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the more left-wing Liberals. Rosebery's selection was largely because
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
disliked most of the other leading Liberals. Rosebery was in the
Lords, but Harcourt controlled the
Commons
The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...
, where he often undercut the prime minister.
Rosebery's government was largely unsuccessful, as in the
Armenian crisis of 1895–96. He spoke out for a strongly pro-Armenian and anti-Turkish policy. Gladstone, a prime minister in retirement, called on Britain to intervene alone. The added pressure weakened Rosebery.
His designs in foreign policy, such as expansion of the fleet, were defeated by disagreements within the Liberal Party. He angered all the European powers.
The Unionist-dominated House of Lords stopped the whole of the Liberals' domestic legislation. The strongest figure in the cabinet was Rosebery's rival, Harcourt. He and his son
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
were perennial critics of Rosebery's policies. There were two future prime ministers in the Cabinet,
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 ...
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
, and
Secretary of State for War 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 1 ...
. Rosebery rapidly lost interest in running the government. In the last year of his premiership, he was increasingly haggard: he suffered insomnia due to the continual dissension in his Cabinet.
On 21 June 1895, the government
lost a vote in committee on army supply by just seven votes. While this might have been treated merely as a vote of no confidence in Secretary for War Campbell-Bannerman, Rosebery chose to treat it as a vote of censure on his government. On 22 June, he and his ministers tendered their resignations to the Queen, who invited the Unionist leader,
Lord Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...
, to form a government. The following month, the Unionists won a crushing victory in the
1895 general election, and held power for ten years (1895–1905) under Salisbury and
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 ...
. Rosebery remained the Liberal leader for another year, then permanently retired from politics.
Lord Rosebery's government, March 1894 – June 1895
*Lord Rosebery –
First Lord of the Treasury
The first lord of the Treasury is the head of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, and is by convention also the prime minister. This office is not equivalent to the ...
,
Lord President of the Council, and
Leader of the House of Lords
The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...
*
Lord Herschell –
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
*
Lord Tweedmouth –
Lord Privy Seal
*
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
–
Secretary of State for the Home Department
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 ...
*
Lord Kimberley –
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
*
Lord Ripon
George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, (24 October 1827 – 9 July 1909), styled Viscount Goderich from 1833 to 1859 and known as the Earl of Ripon in 1859 and as the Earl de Grey and Ripon from 1859 to 1871, was a British p ...
–
Secretary of State for the Colonies
*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 1 ...
–
Secretary of State for War
*
Sir Henry Hartley Fowler –
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
*Sir
William Harcourt –
Chancellor of the Exchequer and
Leader of the House of Commons
The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...
*
Lord Spencer –
First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
*
Anthony John Mundella
Anthony John Mundella PC (28 March 1825The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Nu ...
–
President of the Board of Trade
*
Arnold Morley
Arnold Morley (18 February 1849 – 16 January 1916) was a British barrister and Liberal politician.
Background
Morley was a younger son of Samuel Morley and Rebekah Maria, daughter of Samuel Hope of Liverpool. Lord Hollenden was his elder b ...
–
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 responsible ...
*
George John Shaw-Lefevre –
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 ...
*
James Bryce –
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...
*
John Morley
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor.
Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...
–
Chief Secretary for Ireland
*Sir
George Otto Trevelyan
Sir George Otto Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, (20 July 1838 – 17 August 1928) was a British statesman and author. In a ministerial career stretching almost 30 years, he was most notably twice Secretary for Scotland under William Ewart Gladstone and ...
–
Secretary for Scotland
*Sir
Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland –
Vice-President of the Council
Changes
*May 1894: James Bryce succeeds A. J. Mundella at the Board of Trade. Lord Tweedmouth succeeds Bryce at the Duchy of Lancaster, remaining also Lord Privy Seal.
Later life
Liberal Imperialists
Rosebery resigned as leader of the Liberal Party on 6 October 1896, to be succeeded by William Harcourt and gradually moved further and further from the mainstream of the party. With the Liberals in opposition divided over the
Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
which started in 1899, Rosebery, although officially politically inactive, emerged as the head of the “
Liberal Imperialists The Liberal Imperialists were a faction within the British Liberal Party around 1900 regarding the policy toward the British Empire. They supported the Boer War which most Liberals opposed, and wanted the Empire ruled on a more benevolent basis. Th ...
” faction of the party, opposed to Irish
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 ...
. He supported the war, and brought along many nonconformists likewise. However the war was opposed by a younger faction of Liberals, including
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 ...
and the party leader
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 ...
. Rosebery's acolytes, including
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
and
Edward Grey, regularly implored him to return as party leader and even Campbell-Bannerman said he would serve under Rosebery, if he accepted fundamental Liberal party doctrine. In a much trailed speech to the Chesterfield Liberal Association in December 1901, Rosebery was widely expected to announce his return but instead delivered what Harcourt's son and private secretary
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
described as "an insult to the whole past of the Liberal party", by telling the party to "clean its slate". In 1902 Rosebery was installed as president of the newly formed “
Liberal League” which superseded the Liberal Imperialist League and counted amongst its vice presidents Asquith and Grey.
1905 onwards
Rosebery's positions made it impossible to join the Liberal government that returned to power in 1905. Rosebery turned to writing, including biographies of
Lord Chatham,
Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
,
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, and
Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British statesman. Churchill was a Tory radical and coined the term 'Tory democracy'. He inspired a generation of party managers, created the National Union of ...
. Another one of his passionate interests was the collecting of rare books.
The last years of his political life saw Rosebery become a purely negative critic of the Liberal governments of
Campbell-Bannerman and
Asquith. His crusade "for freedom as against bureaucracy, for freedom as against democratic tyranny, for freedom as against class legislation, and ... for freedom as against Socialism" was a lonely one, conducted from the crossbenches in the Lords. He joined the die-hard unionist peers in attacking
Lloyd George's redistributive
People's Budget
The 1909/1910 People's Budget was a proposal of the Liberal government that introduced unprecedented taxes on the lands and incomes of Britain's wealthy to fund new social welfare programmes. It passed the House of Commons in 1909 but was blo ...
in 1909 but stopped short of voting against the measure for fear of bringing retribution upon the Lords. The crisis provoked by the Lords' rejection of the budget encouraged him to reintroduce his resolutions for Lords reform, but they were lost with the dissolution of parliament in December 1910.
After assaulting the "ill-judged, revolutionary and partisan" terms of the
1911 Parliament Bill, which proposed to curb the Lords' veto, he voted with the government in what proved to be his last appearance in the House of Lords. This was effectively the end of his public life, though he made several public appearances to support the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
effort after 1914 and sponsored a "
bantam battalion" in 1915. Though Lloyd George offered him "a high post not involving departmental labour" to augment his 1916 coalition, Rosebery declined to serve.
Personal life
Marriage
On 20 March 1878, 31-year-old Rosebery married 27-year-old
Hannah de Rothschild
Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery (''née'' de Rothschild; 27 July 1851 – 19 November 1890) was the daughter of Mayer Amschel de Rothschild, Baron Mayer de Rothschild and his wife Juliana (''née'' Cohen (surname), Cohen). After inh ...
(1851–1890), only child and sole heiress of the Jewish banker
Mayer Amschel de Rothschild Mayer may refer to:
*Mayer (name)
Places
* C. Mayer (crater), named after Christian Mayer
* Mayer, Syria
* Mayer, Arizona, United States
* Mayer, Minnesota, United States
* Mayersville, Mississippi, United States
* Mayerthorpe, Alberta, Canada
...
, and the wealthiest British heiress of her day. Her father had died four years previously in 1874, and bequeathed to her the bulk of his estate. The wedding was held (registered) at the office of the
Board of Guardians
Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930.
England and Wales
Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...
in
Mount Street, London
Mount Street is an east–west, quite narrow, archetypal street in the Mayfair district of the City of Westminster, London fronted by many mid-rise buildings, mostly of a narrow frontage. The sides of two very grand hotels flank part of either e ...
. Later the same day, the marriage was blessed at a Christian ceremony in Christ Church, Down Street,
Piccadilly.
The Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...
and the Queen's cousin, the army commander
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, were among the guests who attended the ceremony.
The marriage was a happy one. In January 1878, Rosebery had told a friend that he found Hannah "very simple, very unspoilt, very clever, very warm-hearted and very shy ... I never knew such a beautiful character." Hannah's death in 1890 from
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...
, compounded by
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied ...
, left him distraught.
More than a decade after his wife's death, in July 1901, it was speculated that Rosebery intended to marry the widowed
Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany
Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont (later Duchess of Albany; 17 February 1861 – 1 September 1922) was a member of the British royal family by marriage. She was the fifth daughter and child of George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, a ...
, widow of
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, youngest son of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
. Princess Helena was also the sister of
Queen Emma of the Netherlands. However, Rosebery never remarried.
Progeny
By his wife Hannah de Rothschild, Rosebery had two sons and two daughters, with whom, according to
Margot Asquith, he loved to play:
*
Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery known as ''Harry'' (8 January 1882 – 30 May 1974) he married Lady Dorothy Grosvenor (granddaughter of
Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster
Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...
through his third son Lord Henry Grosvenor) on 15 April 1909 and was divorced from her in 1919. They had two children. He married Hon. Eva Isabel Bruce (daughter of
Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare) on 24 June 1924. They had two children.
*
Neil James Archibald Primrose (14 December 1882 – 18 November 1917) he married Lady Victoria Stanley (daughter
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948), styled Mr Edward Stanley until 1886, then The Hon Edward Stanley and then Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, ...
) on 7 April 1915. They had one daughter:
Ruth Wood, Countess of Halifax.
*
Lady Sybil Primrose (1879–25 February 1955) she married General Sir
Charles Grant on 28 March 1903. They had one son.
*Lady Margaret "Peggy" Etrenne Hannah Primrose (1 January 1881 – 13 March 1967) she married
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe
Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, (12 January 185820 June 1945), known as The Honourable Robert Milnes from 1863 to 1885, The Lord Houghton from 1885 to 1895 and as The Earl of Crewe from 1895 to 1911, was a British L ...
on 20 April 1899. They had two children. As Lady Crewe, she became one of the first seven women appointed as magistrates in 1919 following the passing of the
Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919
The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It became law when it received Royal Assent on 23 December 1919.''Oliver & Boyd's new Edinburgh almanac and national repository for the year 1921''. p. 213 ...
.
Sexuality
Throughout his life, it was rumoured that Rosebery was
homosexual or
bisexual. He was a notorious misogynist, and liked to surround himself with younger men.
As a student at Eton, beyond his close relationship with his tutor,
William Johnson Cory
William Johnson Cory (9 January 1823 – 11 June 1892), born William Johnson, was an English educator and poet. He was dismissed from his post at Eton College, Eton for encouraging a culture of intimacy, possibly non-sexual, between teachers and ...
, he likely had feelings for at least one fellow student, Frederick Vyner. He was devastated by his
murder at the hands of Greek brigands in 1870, keeping the anniversary sacred for the rest of his life.
Like
Oscar Wilde, he was hounded by
John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry
John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (20 July 184431 January 1900), was a British nobleman, remembered for his atheism, his outspoken views, his brutish manner, for lending his name to the " Queensberry Rules" that form the basis of ...
for his association with
Francis Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig
Francis Archibald Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig (3 February 1867 – 18 October 1894), also 1st Baron Kelhead in his own right, was a British nobleman and Liberal politician.
Background and education
Born at 8 Chesterfield Street, Mayfair, Londo ...
, Queensberry's first born son – who had become his private secretary in 1892 when Rosebery became Foreign Secretary. A few months later he arranged for Drumlanrig, who was 26 at the time, to be made a junior member of the government with a seat in the House of Lords.
During the preliminary hearing of the case against Wilde, a letter from Queensberry was produced referring to him as 'a damned cur and coward of the Rosebery type'.
On 18 October 1894, sixteen months after his ennoblement, Drumlanrig died from injuries received during a shooting party. The inquest returned a verdict of "accidental death", but his death was rumoured potentially to be suicide or murder. It was speculated at the time that Drumlanrig may have had a romantic, if not sexual, relationship with Rosebery.
The suggestion was that Queensberry had threatened to expose the Prime Minister if his government did not vigorously prosecute Wilde for Wilde's relationship with Drumlanrig's younger brother,
Lord Alfred Douglas. Queensberry believed, as he put it in a letter, that "Snob Queers like Rosebery" had corrupted his sons, and he held Rosebery indirectly responsible for Drumlanrig's death. He claimed to have evidence of Rosebery's transgressions but that was never confirmed.
Using a minor defeat in Parliament that didn't warrant such action, Rosebery resigned from the Premiership on 22 June 1895. This was a few months after the death of Drumlanrig and not quite a month after Wilde was convicted on 25 May, his life and reputation destroyed by a man who was also pursuing Rosebery for the same reason he was after Wilde. In August 1893, Queensberry had followed Rosebery to the spa town of
Bad Homburg with the declared intention of giving him a horse-whipping, and had to be dissuaded by the Prince of Wales who was also staying there.
In his recollections, Rosebery wrote: "I cannot forget 1895. To lie awake night after night, wide awake, hopeless of sleep, tormented of nerves, and to realise all that was going on, at which I was present, so to speak, like a disembodied spirit, to watch one's own corpse, as it were day after day, is an experience which no sane man would repeat."
Sir Edmund Backhouse
Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse, 2nd Baronet (20 October 1873 – 8 January 1944) was a British oriental scholar, Sinologist, and linguist whose books exerted a powerful influence on the Western view of the last decades of the Qing Dynasty (1644 ...
wrote in his unpublished memoirs that he had been one of Rosebery's lovers - although it has been suggested that many of Backhouse's claims were dubiously made.
Robert Rhodes James, who wrote a biography of Rosebery in 1963 (when homosexuality was still illegal in Britain), makes no mention of homosexual relationships at all, while for
Leo McKinstry
Leo McKinstry (born 1962) is a British journalist, historian and author.
Life and career
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, McKinstry was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated wit ...
, who was writing in 2005, the evidence that Rosebery was homosexual is circumstantial.
Michael Bloch, in 2015, has, however, no doubt that Rosebery was at least romantically interested in men, making him one of the four figures presented in the first chapter of his book on homosexual and bisexual British politicians of the 20th century. In his view, any remaining evidence (of which he gives a long list) can only be circumstantial in any case, considering Rosebery's paranoid taste for secrecy.
Death and burial
The last year of the war was clouded by two personal tragedies: his son
Neil
Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...
's death in Palestine in November 1917 and Rosebery's own
stroke a few days before the
armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
. He regained his mental powers, but his movement, hearing, and sight remained impaired for the rest of his life. His sister Constance described his last years as a "life of weariness, of total inactivity, and at the last of almost blindness".
John Buchan remembered him in his last month of life, "crushed by bodily weakness" and "sunk in sad and silent meditations".
Rosebery died at his
Epsom
Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...
, Surrey home of The Durdans on 21 May 1929, to the accompaniment, as he had requested, of a gramophone recording of the "
Eton Boating Song
The "Eton Boating Song" is the best known of the school songs associated with Eton College that are sung at the end of year concert and on other important occasions. It is also played during the procession of boats. The words of the song were writt ...
". Survived by three of his four children, he was buried in the small church at
Dalmeny
Dalmeny ( gd, Dùn Mheinidh, IPA: t̪uːnˈvenɪʝ is a village and civil parish in Scotland. It is located on the south side of the Firth of Forth, southeast of South Queensferry and west of Edinburgh city centre. It lies within the tradit ...
. By the time of his death, he was the last
Victorian-era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...
British Prime Minister alive.
His estate of £1.5million () made him the richest prime minister ever.
Sporting interests
Horse racing
As a result of his marriage to Hannah de Rothschild, Rosebery acquired the
Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...
estate and Mentmore
stud
Stud may refer to the following terms:
Animals
* Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding
** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred
Arts and entertainment
* Stud (band), a British progressive rock group
* The Stud (bar), a gay ba ...
near
Leighton Buzzard which had been built by
Mayer Amschel de Rothschild Mayer may refer to:
*Mayer (name)
Places
* C. Mayer (crater), named after Christian Mayer
* Mayer, Syria
* Mayer, Arizona, United States
* Mayer, Minnesota, United States
* Mayersville, Mississippi, United States
* Mayerthorpe, Alberta, Canada
...
. Rosebery built another stable and stud near Mentmore Towers at
Crafton, Buckinghamshire, called
Crafton Stud.
Rosebery won several of the five
English Classic Races
The British Classics are five long-standing Group 1 horse races run during the traditional flat racing season. They are restricted to three-year-old horses and traditionally represent the pinnacle of achievement for racehorses against their own ...
. His most famous horses were
Ladas who won the 1894
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
,
Sir Visto who did it again in 1895 (Rosebery was Prime Minister on both occasions), and
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
in 1905.
Football
Rosebery became the first president of the
London Scottish Rugby Football Club in 1878, also developed a keen interest in association football and was an early patron of the sport in Scotland. In 1882 he donated a trophy, the
Rosebery Charity Cup, to be competed for by clubs under the jurisdiction of the East of Scotland Football Association. The competition lasted over 60 years and raised thousands of pounds for charities in the
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 ...
area.
Rosebery also became Honorary President of the national
Scottish Football Association, with the representative
Scotland national team and Honorary President of
Heart of Midlothian FC. The national team occasionally forsook their traditional dark blue shirts for his traditional racing colours of primrose and pink. This occurred 9 times during Rosebery's lifetime, most notably for the 1900
British Home Championship match against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, which the Scots won 4–1. These colours were used for the away kit of the Scotland national team in 2014 and were Heart of Midlothian's away colours for season 2016/17.
Literary interests
He was a keen collector of fine books and amassed an excellent library. It was sold on 29 October 2009 at Sothebys, New Bond Street. Rosebery unveiled the statue of
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
in
Dumfries on 6 April 1882.
Landholdings
![Napoli_-_Villa_Rosebery2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Napoli_-_Villa_Rosebery2.jpg)
Rosebery was the owner of twelve houses. By marriage, he acquired:
*
Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...
in Buckinghamshire, a huge neo-Renaissance stately home, sold in the 1970s
*Number 40,
Piccadilly, in London.
With his fortune, he bought:
*
Malleny House and Garden
The Malleny House and Garden is an historic house and garden owned by the National Trust for Scotland in Balerno, six miles southwest of Edinburgh. The gardens are notable for its large yew trees, as well as one of the largest rose collections in ...
in 1882
*a shooting lodge at
Carrington in
Midlothian
*a Georgian villa at
Postwick in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
*In 1897, he bought Villa Delahente in
Posillipo
Posillipo (; nap, Pusilleco ) is an affluent residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples.
From the 1st century BC the Bay of Naples witnessed the rise of villas constructed by elite Roma ...
, overlooking the
Bay of Naples, currently an official residence of the President of the Italian Republic, still known as
Villa Rosebery
*38 Berkeley Square, London
*The Durdans,
Epsom
Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...
, where he died in 1929.
As Earl of Rosebery, he was laird of:
*
Dalmeny House
Dalmeny House (pronounced ) is a Gothic revival mansion located in an estate close to Dalmeny on the Firth of Forth, to the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was designed by William Wilkins, and completed in 1817. Dalmeny House is the ...
on the banks of the
Firth of Forth (pictured)
*
Barnbougle Castle in the grounds of Dalmeny Estate, used by Rosebery (an insomniac) for privacy.
He rented:
*a home in Randolph Crescent,
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 ...
, during
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 ...
*
Lansdowne House
Lansdowne House now 9 Fitzmaurice Place is the remaining part of a building to the south of Berkeley Square in central London, England, not to be confused with 57 Berkeley Square – opposite – a much later quadrilateral building which take ...
, in London, from the Marquess of Lansdowne.
Place-name tributes
The ''
Oatlands'' area in the South Side of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
was laid out in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, contemporary with Rosebery's most prominent period. The area is much changed since it was originally laid out, but several of the original street names had an association with him or areas around his estate to the northwest 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 ...
: Rosebery Street, Dalmeny Street, Queensferry Street, Granton Street and Cramond Street.
In
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Rosebery Avenue, running between
Holborn
Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London.
The area has its root ...
and
Clerkenwell, was named after him, in recognition of his service as 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 ...
's first chairman.
Rosebery, New South Wales
Rosebery is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Bayside Council.
History
Roseb ...
, a suburb of Sydney, is named after him. A major street, Dalmeny Avenue, runs through the area.
Rosebery, Tasmania is also named after him, via the name of a mining company.
Dalmeny, New South Wales, a suburb on the New South Wales
South Coast, is named after him. Roseberry Avenue in the suburb of South Perth,
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, is also named after him. The former township of Rosebery in South Australia (now part of Collinswood) was named for him, as was modern-day Rosebery Lane in Collinswood.
Rodney Cockburn
Rodney Cockburn (21 October 1877 – 28 September 1932) was a South Australian journalist, author of a popular reference book on South Australian place names.
History
Cockburn was born in Kent Town, South Australia, a son of George (c. 1835 ...
, What's in Name? Nomenclature of South Australia,Ferguson, 1984. Rosebery in the north west of Victoria, some 15 km south of Hopetoun is also named after him.
Rosebery House,
Epsom College
Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orph ...
, in Epsom, is named after him.
Rosebery School
Rosebery School is an all-girls school located in Epsom, Surrey. It consists of a lower school for those aged between 11 and 16, and a sixth form for those aged between 16 and 18. The school has academy status. It is situated close to the A24 ...
sits on an area of land given to the borough by Lord Rosebery.
In October 1895 Lord Rosebery opened the new ''Liberal Club'' on Westborough, in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, only months after being
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
. The building now houses a
Wetherspoons
J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It o ...
, which is named in his honour.
Ancestry
See also
*
Lady Stair's House
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Hamer, D. A. ''Liberal politics in the age of Gladstone and Rosebery: a study in leadership and policy'' (Clarendon Press, 1972).
* Jacobson, Peter D. “Rosebery and Liberal Imperialism, 1899 - 1903.” ''Journal of British Studies'' 13.1 1973, pp. 83–107
online* Leonard, Dick. ''Nineteenth-Century British Premiers: Pitt to Rosebery'' (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
*
McKinstry, Leo
Leo McKinstry (born 1962) is a British journalist, historian and author.
Life and career
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, McKinstry was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated wit ...
. ''Rosebery: Statesman in Turmoil'' (2005) .
* Martel, Gordon. ''Imperial Diplomacy: Rosebery and the failure of foreign policy'' ( McGill-Queen's University Press, 1986).
*
Raymond, E. T. ''The Life of Lord Rosebery'' (1923
online* Raymond, John. "The First Phase" ''History Today'' (Feb 1959) 9#2 pp 75–82; covers 1847 to 1880.
** Raymond, John. "Office and Eclipse" ''History Today'' (Mar 1959) 9#3 pp 176–184. on Rosebery 1880 to 1895.
*
Bloch, Michael. ''Closet Queens: Some 20th Century British Politicians'' (Little, Brown, 2015) ''Chapter 1: Archie, Regie, Loulou and Bill''
External links
*
Earl Of Rosebery 1847–1929biography from the Liberal Democrat History Group
More about The Earl of Roseberryon the Downing street website.
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosebery, Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl Of
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Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold".
Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon .
Erkanbald, bishop of ...
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