Edward Pleydell-Bouverie
Encyclopedia
Edward Pleydell-Bouverie PC, FRS
(26 April 1818 – 16 December 1889), styled The Honourable from 1828, was a British Liberal
politician. He was a member of Lord Palmerston
's first administration as Paymaster-General
and Vice-President of the Board of Trade
in 1855 and as President of the Poor Law Board between 1855 and 1858.
, by his second wife, Anne Judith, third daughter of Sir Henry St John-Mildmay, 3rd Baronet. The family homes were at Longford Castle
in Wiltshire
and Coleshill House in Berkshire
(now Oxfordshire
). Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 4th Earl of Radnor
, was his elder brother. He was educated at Harrow School
and Trinity College, Cambridge
, graduating as a Master of Arts
in 1838. He was a précis writer to Lord Palmerston
from January to June 1840 before he was called to the Bar
, Inner Temple
, on 27 January 1843.
, a constituency he represented until 1874. He served as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
in Lord John Russell's
first administration from July 1850 to March 1852, and from April 1853 to March 1855 he was Chairman of Committees of the House of Commons
, while Lord Aberdeen
was prime minister. In March 1855, when Lord Palmerston became premier, Pleydell-Bouverie was made Paymaster-General
and Vice-President of the Board of Trade
, and sworn of the Privy Council. In August of the same year he was transferred to the Presidency of the Poor Law Board, a position he held until 1858. However, he was never a member of the cabinet. In 1857 he was appointed one of the committee of the Council on Education. He was Second Church Estate Commissioner
from August 1859 to November 1865, and from 1869 he was one of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
for England.
Though a staunch liberal, Pleydell-Bouverie belonged to the old whig school, and during his last years in parliament often found himself in disagreement with the policies of Liberal prime minister, William Ewart Gladstone
. In 1872, when a charge of evasion of the law was made against Gladstone in connection with the appointment he made to the rectory of Ewelme
, Pleydell-Bouverie expressed regret "We all have our amusements at various times, but that of the right hon. Gentleman, when he has nothing else to do, is to drive coaches and six through Acts of Parliament".
When the Irish university bill was introduced in March, Pleydell-Bouverie finally broke with Gladstone. He denounced the measure as miserably bad and scandalously inadequate to its professed object. He voted against the second reading on 10 March, when the government was defeated. Subsequently, in letters addressed to The Times
he continued his attacks on the measure and on its framers.
After his retirement from parliament in 1874, Pleydell-Bouverie became in 1877 associated with the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders
, and was soon made its chairman. Under his guidance the debts of many countries were readjusted, and the corporation's scheme for dealing with the Turkish debt was confirmed by the sultan's iradé of January 1882. Bouverie was also director of the Great Western Railway Company
and of Peninsular and Oriental
. He addressed numerous letters to The Times newspaper under the signature of "E. P. B."
, Fife
, on 1 November 1842. They lived at East Lavington
Manor in Wiltshire had two sons, Walter (5 July 1848-20 May 1893), a captain in the 2nd Wiltshire Rifle Volunteers, and Edward Oliver (12 December 1856-13 May 1938), and three daughters. One, Eglantine, married Augustus Keppel Stephenson
, Director of Public Prosecutions
from 1884 to 1894. Elizabeth Anne died in August 1889. Pleydell-Bouverie only survived her by four months and died at 44 Wilton Crescent
, London
, on 16 December 1889, aged 71.
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(26 April 1818 – 16 December 1889), styled The Honourable from 1828, was a British Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician. He was a member of Lord Palmerston
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
's first administration as Paymaster-General
Paymaster-General
HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom. The Paymaster General is in charge of the Office of HM Paymaster General , which held accounts at the Bank of England on behalf of Government departments and selected other public bodies...
and Vice-President of the Board of Trade
Vice-President of the Board of Trade
The office of Vice-President of the Board of Trade was a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created in 1786 and abolished in 1867. From 1848 onwards the office was held concurrently with that of Paymaster-General...
in 1855 and as President of the Poor Law Board between 1855 and 1858.
Background and education
Pleydell-Bouverie was the second son of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of RadnorWilliam Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor
William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor , styled Viscount Folkestone until 1828, was the son of Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor and Hon. Anne Duncombe....
, by his second wife, Anne Judith, third daughter of Sir Henry St John-Mildmay, 3rd Baronet. The family homes were at Longford Castle
Longford Castle
Longford Castle is located on the banks of the River Avon south of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.In 1573 Thomas Gorges, of Langford acquired the manor , which was originally owned by the Cervingtons. Prior to this the existing mansion house had been damaged by fire...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
and Coleshill House in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
(now Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
). Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 4th Earl of Radnor
Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 4th Earl of Radnor
Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 4th Earl of Radnor , was the son of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor and Judith Anne St John-Mildmay. He was styled Viscount Folkestone from 1828 until 1869....
, was his elder brother. He was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, graduating as a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (Oxbridge)
In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts of these universities are admitted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university .There is no examination or study required for the degree...
in 1838. He was a précis writer to Lord Palmerston
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
from January to June 1840 before he was called to the Bar
Call 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 a "call to the bar"...
, Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, on 27 January 1843.
Political career
In 1844 Pleydell-Bouverie was returned to Parliament for Kilmarnock BurghsKilmarnock Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)
Kilmarnock Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
, a constituency he represented until 1874. He served as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
-Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782-present:*April 1782: Evan Nepean*April 1782: Thomas Orde*July 1782: Henry Strachey*April 1783: George North*February 1784: Hon. John Townshend*June 1789: Scrope Bernard*July 1794: The Hon...
in Lord John Russell's
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....
first administration from July 1850 to March 1852, and from April 1853 to March 1855 he was Chairman of Committees of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, while Lord Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen KG, KT, FRS, PC , styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a Scottish politician, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.-Early life:Born in Edinburgh on 28 January 1784, he...
was prime minister. In March 1855, when Lord Palmerston became premier, Pleydell-Bouverie was made Paymaster-General
Paymaster-General
HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom. The Paymaster General is in charge of the Office of HM Paymaster General , which held accounts at the Bank of England on behalf of Government departments and selected other public bodies...
and Vice-President of the Board of Trade
Vice-President of the Board of Trade
The office of Vice-President of the Board of Trade was a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created in 1786 and abolished in 1867. From 1848 onwards the office was held concurrently with that of Paymaster-General...
, and sworn of the Privy Council. In August of the same year he was transferred to the Presidency of the Poor Law Board, a position he held until 1858. However, he was never a member of the cabinet. In 1857 he was appointed one of the committee of the Council on Education. He was Second Church Estate Commissioner
Church Commissioners
The Church Commissioners is a body managing the historic property assets of the Church of England. It was set up in 1948 combining the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners formed in 1836...
from August 1859 to November 1865, and from 1869 he was one of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
Ecclesiastical Commissioners
Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title is Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Church of England, and they made extensive changes in how...
for England.
Though a staunch liberal, Pleydell-Bouverie belonged to the old whig school, and during his last years in parliament often found himself in disagreement with the policies of Liberal prime minister, William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
. In 1872, when a charge of evasion of the law was made against Gladstone in connection with the appointment he made to the rectory of Ewelme
Ewelme
Ewelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, northeast of the market town of Wallingford.To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.The solid geology is chalk...
, Pleydell-Bouverie expressed regret "We all have our amusements at various times, but that of the right hon. Gentleman, when he has nothing else to do, is to drive coaches and six through Acts of Parliament".
When the Irish university bill was introduced in March, Pleydell-Bouverie finally broke with Gladstone. He denounced the measure as miserably bad and scandalously inadequate to its professed object. He voted against the second reading on 10 March, when the government was defeated. Subsequently, in letters addressed to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
he continued his attacks on the measure and on its framers.
After his retirement from parliament in 1874, Pleydell-Bouverie became in 1877 associated with the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders
Corporation of Foreign Bondholders
The Corporation of Foreign Bondholders was a British association established in London in 1868 by private holders of debt securities issued by foreign governments, states and municipalities...
, and was soon made its chairman. Under his guidance the debts of many countries were readjusted, and the corporation's scheme for dealing with the Turkish debt was confirmed by the sultan's iradé of January 1882. Bouverie was also director of the Great Western Railway Company
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and of Peninsular and Oriental
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
. He addressed numerous letters to The Times newspaper under the signature of "E. P. B."
Family
Pleydell-Bouverie married Elizabeth Anne, youngest daughter of General Robert Balfour of BalbirnieRobert Balfour, 6th of Balbirnie
Lieutenant-General Robert Balfour, 6th of Balbirnie Was an Officer in the 2nd Dragoons and the Fife Light Horse.He was the son of John Balfour, 5th of Balbirnie and Ellen Gordon ....
, Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, on 1 November 1842. They lived at East Lavington
East Lavington
East Lavington is a village and civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located six kilometres south of Petworth, west of the A285 road....
Manor in Wiltshire had two sons, Walter (5 July 1848-20 May 1893), a captain in the 2nd Wiltshire Rifle Volunteers, and Edward Oliver (12 December 1856-13 May 1938), and three daughters. One, Eglantine, married Augustus Keppel Stephenson
Augustus Keppel Stephenson
Sir Augustus Frederick William Keppel Stephenson KCB, QC was a Treasury Solicitor and the second person to hold the office of Director of Public Prosecutions in England and Wales.-Cases:...
, Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
from 1884 to 1894. Elizabeth Anne died in August 1889. Pleydell-Bouverie only survived her by four months and died at 44 Wilton Crescent
Wilton Crescent
Wilton Crescent is a wealthy community in Belgravia, London.Wilton Crescent was created by Thomas Cundy II, the Grosvenor family Estate surveyor and was drawn up with the original 1821 Wyatt plan for Belgravia...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, on 16 December 1889, aged 71.