James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce
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James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, (10 May 1838 – 22 January 1922), was a British academic, jurist, historian, and
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 ...
politician. According to Keoth Robbins, he was a widely-traveled authority on law, government, and history whose expertise led to high political offices culminating with his successful role as ambassador to the United States, 1907–13. His intellectual influence was greatest in ''The American Commonwealth'' (1888), an in-depth study of American politics that shaped the understanding of America in Britain and in the United States as well.


Background and education

Bryce was born in Arthur Street in
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
,
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
, in
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 King ...
, the son of Margaret, daughter of James Young of
Whiteabbey , translit_lang1 = , translit_lang1_type = Derivation: , translit_lang1_info = , translit_lang1_type1 = Meaning: , translit_lang1_info1 = , translit_lang2 = , translit_lang2_type = Derivation: , tra ...
, and James Bryce, LLD, from near
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...
,
County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...
. The first eight years of his life were spent residing at his grandfather's Whiteabbey residence, often playing for hours on the tranquil picturesque shoreline. Annan Bryce was his younger brother. He was educated under his uncle Reuben John Bryce at the
Belfast Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...
, Glasgow High School, the
University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...
, the
University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
and
Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...
. He was elected a fellow of
Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...
, in 1862 and was
called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
,
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
, in 1867. His days as a student at the University of Heidelberg gave him a long-life admiration of German historical and legal scholarship. He became a believer in "Teutonic freedom", an ill-defined concept that was held to bind Germany, Britain and the United States together. For him, the United States, the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
and Germany were "natural friends".


Academic career

Bryce was admitted to the Bar and practised law in London for a few years but was soon called back to Oxford to become Regius Professor of Civil Law, a position he held from 1870 to 1893. From 1870 to 1875 he was also Professor of Jurisprudence at
Owens College, Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...
. His reputation as a historian had been made as early as 1864 by his work on the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. In 1872 Bryce travelled to Iceland to see the land of the
Icelandic sagas The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early el ...
, as he was a great admirer of ''
Njáls saga ''Njáls saga'' ( ), also ''Njála'' ( ), ''Brennu-Njáls saga'' ( ) or ''"The Story of Burnt Njáll"'', is a thirteenth-century sagas of Icelanders, Icelandic saga that describes events between 960 and 1020. The saga deals with a process of ...
''. In 1876 he ventured through Russia to
Mount Ararat Mount Ararat or , ''Ararat''; or is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and th ...
, climbed above the tree line and found a piece of hand-hewn timber, long and thick. He agreed that the evidence fit the
Armenian Church Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
's belief that it was from
Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...
and offered no other explanations.James Bryce
/ref> In 1872 Bryce, a proponent of higher education, particularly for women, joined the Central Committee of the National Union for Improving the Education of Women of All Classes (NUIEWC).


Member of Parliament

In 1880 Bryce, an ardent
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 ...
in politics, was elected to the House of Commons as member for the constituency of
Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...
in London. In 1885 he was returned for South Aberdeen and he was re-elected there on succeeding occasions. He remained a Member of Parliament until 1907. Bryce's intellectual distinction and political industry made him a valuable member of the Liberal Party. As early as the late 1860s he served as Chairman of the Royal Commission on Secondary Education. In 1885 he was made
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affair ...
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 ...
but had to leave office after the Liberals were defeated in the general election later that year. In 1892 he joined Gladstone's last cabinet as
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 ...
and was sworn of the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
at the same time. In 1894 Bryce was appointed
President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...
in the new cabinet of
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 ...
, but had to leave this office, along with the whole Liberal cabinet, the following year. The Liberals remained out of office for the next ten years. In 1897, after a visit to South Africa, Bryce published a volume of ''Impressions'' of that country that had considerable influence in Liberal circles when the
Second 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 Sout ...
was being discussed. He devoted significant sections of the book to the recent history of South Africa, various social and economic details about the country, and his experiences while travelling with his party. The "still radical" Bryce was made
Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century un ...
in Prime Minister 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 190 ...
's cabinet in 1905 and remained in office throughout 1906. Bryce was critical of many of the social reforms proposed by this Liberal Government, including old-age pensions, the Trade Disputes Act and the redistributive "People's Budget," which he regarded as making unwarranted concessions to socialism.


''The American Commonwealth'' (1888)

Bryce had become well known in America for his book ''The American Commonwealth'' (1888), a thorough examination of the institutions of the United States from the point of view of a historian and constitutional lawyer. Bryce painstakingly reproduced the travels of
Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his works ...
, who wrote ''
Democracy in America (; published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. Its title literally translates to ''On Democracy in America'', but official English translations are usually simply entitl ...
'' (1835–1840). Tocqueville had emphasised the egalitarianism of early-19th-century America, but Bryce was dismayed to find vast inequality: "Sixty years ago, there were no great fortunes in America, few large fortunes, no poverty. Now there is some poverty ... and a greater number of gigantic fortunes than in any other country of the world" and "As respects education ... the profusion of…elementary schools tends to raise the mass to a higher point than in Europe ... utthere is an increasing class that has studied at the best universities. It appears that equality has diminished n this regardand will diminish further." The work was heavily used in academia, partly as a result of Bryce's close friendships with men such as James B. Angell, President of the University of Michigan and successively
Charles W. Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfo ...
and
Abbott Lawrence Lowell Abbott Lawrence Lowell (December 13, 1856 – January 6, 1943) was an American educator and legal scholar. He was President of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933. With an "aristocratic sense of mission and self-certainty," Lowell cut a large f ...
at Harvard. The work also became a key text for American writers seeking to popularise a view of American history as distinctively Anglo-Saxon.


Ambassador to the United States

In February 1907 Bryce was appointed
Ambassador to the United States The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, sorted by the representative country or organization. See also *Ambassadors of the United States Notes {{reflist, 30em External linksCurrent and former Ambassadors to the United Sta ...
. He held this office until 1913, and was very efficient in strengthening Anglo-American ties and friendship. He made many personal friends among American politicians, such as President Theodore Roosevelt. The German ambassador in Washington, Graf Heinrich von Bernstorff, later stated how relieved he felt that Bryce was not his competitor for American sympathies during the First World War, even though Bernstorff helped to keep the United States from declaring war until 1917.


Peerage

In 1914, after his retirement as Ambassador and his return to Britain, Bryce was raised to the peerage as Viscount Bryce, of Dechmount in the County of Lanark. Thus he became a member of the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, the powers of which had been curtailed by 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 ...
.


First World War

Following the outbreak of the First World War Bryce was commissioned by Prime Minister
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 ...
to write what became known as ''
The Bryce Report The Committee on Alleged German Outrages, often called the Bryce Report after its chair, Viscount James Bryce (1838–1922), is best known for producing the "Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages," published on 12 May 1915. The repor ...
'' in which he described German atrocities in Belgium. The report was published in 1915 and was damning of German behaviour against civilians. Bryce's account was confirmed by
Vernon Lyman Kellogg Vernon Lyman Kellogg (December 1, 1867 – August 8, 1937) was an American entomologist, evolutionary biologist, and science administrator. His father was Lyman Beecher Kellogg, first president of the Kansas State Normal School (now known as Em ...
, the Director of the American Commission for Relief in Belgium, who told the ''New York Times'' that the German military had enslaved hundreds of thousands of Belgian workers, and abused and maimed many of them in the process. Bryce strongly condemned the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
mainly in 1915. Bryce was the first person to speak on the subject in the House of Lords, in July 1915. Later, with the assistance of the historian
Arnold J. Toynbee Arnold Joseph Toynbee (; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's Colleg ...
, he produced a documentary record of the massacres that was published as a
Blue Book A blue book or bluebook is an almanac, buyer's guide or other compilation of statistics and information. The term dates back to the 15th century, when large blue velvet-covered books were used for record-keeping by the Parliament of England. The ...
by the British government in 1916. In 1921 Bryce wrote that the Armenian genocide had also claimed half of the population of the Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire and that similar cruelties had been perpetrated upon them.Travis, Hannibal.
Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman Empire, Iraq, and Sudan
" Durham, NC: ''Carolina Academic Press'', 2010, 2007, pp. 237–77, 293–294.
Travis, Hannibal.
'Native Christians Massacred': The Ottoman Genocide of the Assyrians During World War I
." ''Genocide Studies and Prevention'', Vol. 1, No. 3, December 2006, pp. 327–371. Retrieved 2 February 2010.


Beliefs

According to Moton Keller:
Bryce believed in Liberalism, the classic 19th century Liberalism of John Bright and William Gladstone, of free trade, free speech and press, personal liberty, and responsible leadership. This notably genial gregarious man had his hates, chief among them illiberal regimes: the Turkish oppressors of Bulgars and Armenians, and, later the Kaiser's Reich in World War I.
Bryce had a distrust of current democratic practices seen as late as his ''Modern Democracy'' (1921). On the other hand he was a leader in promoting international organizations. During the last years of his life Bryce served as a judge at the International Court in The Hague, and promoted the establishment of the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
.


Honours and other public appointments

Bryce received numerous academic honours from home and foreign universities. In September 1901, he received the degree of
Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
from
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
, and in October 1902 he received an honorary degree ( LLD) from the
University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...
. He became a fellow of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1894. In earlier life, he was a notable mountain climber, ascending
Mount Ararat Mount Ararat or , ''Ararat''; or is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and th ...
in 1876, and published a volume on
Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...
and Ararat in 1877; in 1899 to 1901, he was the president of the
Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of which ...
. From his Caucasian journey, he brought back a deep distrust of Ottoman rule in
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and a distinct sympathy for the
Armenian people Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
. In 1882, Bryce established the
National Liberal Club The National Liberal Club (NLC) is a London private members' club, open to both men and women. It was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 to provide club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly enlarged electorate f ...
, whose members, in its first three decades, included fellow founder Prime Minister Gladstone,
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
,
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 t ...
,
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 many other prominent Liberal candidates and MP's such as
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 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
. In April 1882 Bryce was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...
. In 1907 he was made a Member of the
Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
by
King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
. At the King's death, Bryce arranged his Washington Memorial Service. At the time of Bryce's memorial service at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
, his wife, Elizabeth, received condolences from
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
, who "regarded Lord Bryce as an old friend and trusted counsellor to whom I could always turn."
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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
had said that Bryce was "one of the best informed men on all subjects I have ever met". Bryce was president of the
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...
from 1907 to 1908. He was the fourth person to hold this office. He was president of the
British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
from 1913 to 1917. In 1919 he delivered the British Academy's inaugural Raleigh Lecture on History, on "World History". Bryce chaired the Conference on the Reform of the Second Chamber in 1917–1918.


Personal life

Bryce married Elizabeth Marion, daughter of Thomas Ashton and sister of
Thomas Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde Thomas Gair Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde (5 February 1855 – 1 May 1933), was a British industrialist, philanthropist, Liberal politician, and peer. Early life and career Ashton was born at Fallowfield, Manchester, Lancashire, the son of T ...
, in 1889. Lord and Lady Bryce had no children. Bryce died on 22 January 1922, aged 83, in
Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...
,
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, on the last of his lifelong travels. The viscountcy died with him. He was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...
. Lady Bryce is recalled in the memoirs of Captain Peter Middleton, grandfather of
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...
who wrote, "Nor will I forget my terror of Lady Bryce", who was the aunt of his mother's first cousins, sisters Elinor and Elizabeth Lupton. Lady Bryce died in 1939. Her papers are held at the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
.


Memorials

There is a large monument to Viscount Bryce in the southwest section of the
Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hil ...
in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, facing north at the west end of the central east–west avenue. It is presumed that his ashes are buried there. There is a bust of Viscount Bryce in Trinity Church on Broadway, near Wall Street in New York. A similar bust is in the U.S. Capitol Building and there is a commemorative Bryce Park in Washington DC. In 1965 the James Bryce Chair of Government was endowed at the University of Glasgow. "Government" was changed to "Politics" in 1970. In 2013 the
Ulster History Circle The Ulster History Circle is a heritage organisation that administers Blue Plaques for the area that encompasses the province of Ulster on the island of Ireland. It is a voluntary, not-for-profit organisation, placing commemorative plaques in pub ...
unveiled a blue plaque dedicated to him, near his birthplace in Belfast. On the occasion of the 160th anniversary of Bryce's birth, a small street off of
Baghramyan Avenue Marshal Baghramyan Avenue ( hy, Մարշալ Բաղրամյան Պողոտա) is an avenue in the central Kentron and the northwestern Arabkir districts of Yerevan, Armenia. The avenue is named after the Soviet Armenian commander and Marshal of ...
in
Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...
,
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
was named "James Bryce Street" in 1998.


Publications

*''The Flora of the Island of Aran'', 1859 * ''The Holy Roman Empire'', First edition 1864 revised edition 1904, many reprints. *''Report on the Condition of Education in Lancashire'', 1867 *''The Trade Marks Registration Act, with Introduction and Notes on Trade Mark Law'', 1877 *''Transcaucasia and Ararat'', 1877 *''The American Commonwealth'', 1888
Volume IVolume IIVolume III
*''Impressions of South Africa'', 1897 *''Studies in History and Jurisprudence'', 1901
Volume IVolume II
* ''Studies in Contemporary Biography'', 1903
''The Hindrances to Good Citizenship'', 1909
Reissued by Transaction Publishers, 1993, edited and with a new Introduction by Howard G. Schneiderman
''South America: Observations and Impressions'' 1912
* *''The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915–16'', 1916
''Essays and Addresses in War Time'', 1918
*''Modern Democracies'', 192
Volume IVolume II
His ''Studies in History and Jurisprudence'' (1901) and ''Studies in Contemporary Biography'' (1903) were republications of essays.


Selected articles


"The Future of English Universities,"
''The Fortnightly Review,'' Vol. XXXIX, 1883.
"An Ideal University,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XLV, June 1884.
"The Relations of History and Geography,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XLIX, January/June 1886.
"An Age of Discontent,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LIX, January 1891.
"The Migrations of the Races of Men Considered Historically,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LXII, July 1892.
"The Teaching of Civic Duty,"
''Educational Review'', Vol. VI, 1893.
"Equality,"
''The Century; A Popular Quarterly,'' Vol. LVI, No. 3, July 1898.
"What is Progress?,"
''The Atlantic Monthly,'' Vol. C, 1907.


Famous quotations

*"Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong." *"No government demands so much from the citizen as Democracy and none gives back so much." *"Life is too short for reading inferior books."


References

*


Further reading

* “Lord Bryce’s Report on Turkish Atrocities in Armenia.” ''Current History'' 5#2 (1916), pp. 321–34
online
* Auchincloss, Louis. "Lord Bryce" ''American Heritage'' (Apr/May1981) 32#3 pp 98–104. * Barker, Ernest. "Lord Bryce" ''English Historical Review'' 37#146, (1922), pp. 219–24
online
* Becker, Carl. "Lord Bryce on modern democracies." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 36.4 (1921): 663–67
online
* Bradshaw, Katherine A. "The Misunderstood Public Opinion of James Bryce." ''Journalism History'' 28.1 (2002): 16-25. * Brock, William Ranulf. "James Bryce and the Future." ''Proceedings of the British Academy'' (2002), Vol. 88, p3-27. * DeFleur, Margaret H. "James Bryce's 19th-Century Theory of Public Opinion in the Contemporary Age of New Communications Technologies." ''Mass Communication and Society'' 1.1-2 (1998): 63-84. * Fisher, H.A.L. ''James Bryce'' (2 vol 1927); scholarly biography
vol 1 online
* Hammack, David C. "Elite Perceptions of Power in the Cities of the United States, 1880-1900: The Evidence of James Bryce, Moisei Ostrogorski, and Their American Informants." ''Journal of Urban History'' 4.4 (1978): 363-396. * Hanson, Russell L. “Tyranny of the majority or fatalism of the multitude? Bryce on Democracy in America,” in ''America Through European Eyes. British and French Reflections on the New World from the Eighteenth Century to the Present,'' ed by Aurelian Craiutu and Jeffrey C. Isaac (Penn State UP, 2009) pp. 213–36. * Harvie, Christopher. “Ideology and Home Rule: James Bryce, A. V. Dicey and Ireland, 1880-1887.” ''English Historical Review'' 91#359, (1976), pp. 298–314
online
* Ions, Edmund. ''James Bryce and American Democracy, 1870–1922'' (Macmillan, 1968)
online
* Keller, Morton. “James Bryce and America,” ''The Wilson Quarterly'' 124 (1988), pp. 86–95
online
* Lambert, Robert A., and Magnus Magnusson. “James Bryce: His Access Campaign in Scotland, His Legacy and His Critics.” in ''Contested Mountains: Nature, Development and Environment in the Cairngorms Region of Scotland, 1880–1980'' (White Horse Press, 2001), pp. 60–73
online
* Lefcowitz, Allan B., et al. “James Bryce’s First Visit to America: The New England Sections of His 1870 Journal and Related Correspondence.” ''New England Quarterly'' 50#2, (1977), pp. 314–31
online
* Lessoff, Alan. "Progress before modernization: Foreign interpretations of American development in James Bryce's generation." ''American Nineteenth Century History'' 1.2 (2000): 69-96. * McCulloch, Gary. "Sensing the realities of English middle-class education: James Bryce and the Schools Inquiry Commission, 1865–1868." ''History of Education'' 40.5 (2011): 599-613. * Maddox, Graham. "James Bryce: Englishness and Federalism in America and Australia." ''Publius: The Journal of Federalism'' 34.1 (2004): 53-69
online
* Monger, David. "Networking against Genocide during the First World War: the international network behind the British Parliamentary report on the Armenian Genocide." ''Journal of Transatlantic Studies'' (2018) 16#3, p295-316. * Pollard, A. F. "Lord Bryce and Modern Democracies." ''History'' 7.28 (1923): 256–26
online
* Pombeni, Paolo. "Starting in reason, ending in passion. Bryce, Lowell, Ostrogorski and the problem of democracy." ''Historical Journal'' 37.2 (1994): 319-341. * Posner, Russell M. “The Lord and the Drayman: James Bryce vs. Denis Kearney.” ''California Historical Quarterly'' 50#3 (1971), pp. 277–84
online
* Prochaska, Frank. ''Eminent Victorians on American Democracy: The View from Albion'' (Oxford University Press, 2012). * Robbins Keith. "History and politics: the career of James Bryce." ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 7.3 (1972): 37–52. * Robbins, Keith G. "Lord Bryce and the First World War." ''Historical Journal'' 10.2 (1967): 255–278
online
* * * Steinberg, Oded Y. “Teutonism and Romanism: James Bryce’s Holy Roman Empire.” in ''Race, Nation, History: Anglo-German Thought in the Victorian Era'' (U of Pennsylvania Press, 2019), pp. 134–56
online
* Tulloch, Hugh. ''James Bryce's 'American Commonwealth: The Anglo-American Background'' (1988). * Wilson, Francis G. “James Bryce on Public Opinion: Fifty Years Later.” ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' 3#3 (1939), pp. 420–35
online
* Wilson, Trevor. “Lord Bryce’s Investigation into Alleged German Atrocities in Belgium, 1914-15.” ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 14#3, (1979), pp. 369–83
online
* Wright, John SF. "Anglicizing the United States Constitution: James Bryce's Contribution to Australian Federalism." ''Publius: The Journal of Federalism'' 31.4 (2001): 107-130
online


External links

* * * * *
James Bryce, ''Two Historical Studies: The Ancient Roman Empire and the British Empire in India; Diffusion of Roman and English Law Throughout the World'' (1914)



Viscount James Bryce
at ''The Online Library of Liberty'' * James Bryce, preface to ''Shall This Nation Die?'', by Joseph Naayem, New York: 1921, quoted i
Native Christians Massacred, The Ottoman Genocide of the Assyrians during World War I
1.3 Genocide Studies and Prevention 326 (2006)
''Atrocities Cured Pacifist''
The New York Times, 20 April 1918, at 11 * ''The American Commonwealth,'' with an Introduction by Gary L. McDowell (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1995). 2 Vols. See original text i
The Online Library of Liberty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce, James 1st Viscount Bryce Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Deputy Lieutenants of Aberdeen Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Aberdeen constituencies Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Members of the Order of Merit Fellows of the Royal Society Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK) Bryce, James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, James Bryce, 1st Viscount Politicians from Belfast UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs who were granted peerages People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States Presidents of the British Academy Regius Professors of Civil Law (University of Oxford) Chief Secretaries for Ireland Fellows of the British Academy Members of the American Antiquarian Society Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Presidents of the Board of Trade Presidents of the Oxford Union Politicians awarded knighthoods Mount Ararat Viscounts created by George V Presidents of the Classical Association