William Henry Waddington
Encyclopedia
William Henry Waddington (11 December 1826 – 13 January 1894) was a French statesman
who was Prime Minister of France
in 1879.
(Eure-et-Loir
), the son of a wealthy Englishman, who had established a large spinning factory in France and had been naturalised as a French subject, and his French wife. After receiving his early education in Paris, he was sent to Rugby School
, and then to Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he was second classic and won the chancellor's medal. He rowed in the victorious Cambridge
eight in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the River Thames
in March 1849. He did not take part in the re-row in December that year which Oxford won.
, an American author born in New York City to Charles King
an American academic, politician, newspaper editor and the ninth president of Columbia College (now Columbia University
) and his second wife, Henrietta Liston Low.
The Waddingtons raised one son, Francis Richard, who on 18 January 1903 in Paris married Charlotte Sallandrouze de Lamornaix, the daughter of Admiral Sallandrouze de Lamornaix.
research. He travelled in Asia Minor
, Greece and Syria
, and his experiences and discoveries were recorded in two Mémoires, recognised by the French Institute
, and in his Mélanges de numismatique et de philologie ("Numismatic and Philological Miscellanies", 1861).
Except for his essay on "The Protestant Church in France", published in 1856 in Cambridge Essays, his remaining works all concerned archaeology. They include his Fastes de l'empire romain ("The Splendours of the Roman Empire"), and editions of Diocletian
's Edict on Maximum Prices
and of Philippe Lebas' Voyage archéologique (1868–1877). He was elected, in 1865, a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
.
constituency in 1865 and 1860, Waddington was returned by that constituency in the election of 1871. He was Minister of Public Instruction
in the short-lived cabinet of 19 May 1873.
with the Ministry of Public Instruction. Because he was a Protestant, he was not permitted to combine the Ministry of Public Worship with the Public Instruction portfolio, as had been the custom in ministerial assignments. His most important project, a bill transferring the granting of degrees to the state, was passed by the Chamber, but thrown out by the Senate
.
He continued to hold office under Jules Simon
, with whom he was overthrown on the famous seize mai
(16 May 1877). The triumph of the republicans at the general election brought him back to power the following December as Minister of Foreign Affairs
, again under Dufaure. He was one of the French plenipotentiaries at the Berlin Congress. The cession of Cyprus
to the United Kingdom was, at first, denounced by the French newspapers as a great blow to his diplomatic reputation, but he obtained, in a conversation with Lord Salisbury
, a promise that the United Kingdom would, in return, allow France a free hand in Tunis
.
. Holding office by sufferance of Léon Gambetta
, he kept peace between the radicals and the reactionaries till the delay of urgent reforms lost him the support of all parties. He was forced on 27 December to retire from office.
He refused an offer to become ambassador in London, and in 1880 was reporter of the committee on the adoption of the
scrutin de liste at elections, on which he delivered an adverse judgment.
Changes
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
who was Prime Minister of France
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
in 1879.
Early life and education
He was born at Saint-Rémy-sur-AvreSaint-Rémy-sur-Avre
Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
(Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers.-History:Eure-et-Loir is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790 pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1789...
), the son of a wealthy Englishman, who had established a large spinning factory in France and had been naturalised as a French subject, and his French wife. After receiving his early education in Paris, he was sent to Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
, and then to 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...
, where he was second classic and won the chancellor's medal. He rowed in the victorious Cambridge
Cambridge University Boat Club
The Cambridge University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Cambridge, England, located on the River Cam at Cambridge, although training primarily takes place on the River Great Ouse at Ely. The club was founded in 1828...
eight in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
in March 1849. He did not take part in the re-row in December that year which Oxford won.
Marriage and family
In Paris he married Mary Alsop KingMary Alsop King Waddington
Mary Alsop King Waddington was an American author, who wrote about her life as the wife of a French diplomat.-Early life and ancestors:...
, an American author born in New York City to Charles King
Charles King (academic)
Charles King was an American academic, politician and newspaper editor. He succeeded Nathaniel Fish Moore to become the ninth president of Columbia College , holding the role from 7 November 1849 to 1864...
an American academic, politician, newspaper editor and the ninth president of Columbia College (now Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
) and his second wife, Henrietta Liston Low.
The Waddingtons raised one son, Francis Richard, who on 18 January 1903 in Paris married Charlotte Sallandrouze de Lamornaix, the daughter of Admiral Sallandrouze de Lamornaix.
Archaeological research
Returning to France, he devoted himself for some years to archaeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
research. He travelled in Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, Greece and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and his experiences and discoveries were recorded in two Mémoires, recognised by the French Institute
Institut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
, and in his Mélanges de numismatique et de philologie ("Numismatic and Philological Miscellanies", 1861).
Except for his essay on "The Protestant Church in France", published in 1856 in Cambridge Essays, his remaining works all concerned archaeology. They include his Fastes de l'empire romain ("The Splendours of the Roman Empire"), and editions of Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
's Edict on Maximum Prices
Edict on Maximum Prices
The Edict on Maximum Prices was issued in 301 by Roman Emperor Diocletian....
and of Philippe Lebas' Voyage archéologique (1868–1877). He was elected, in 1865, a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres is a French learned society devoted to the humanities, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France.-History:...
.
Chamber of Deputies
After standing unsuccessfully for a Chamber of Deputies seat for the département of the AisneAisne
Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
constituency in 1865 and 1860, Waddington was returned by that constituency in the election of 1871. He was Minister of Public Instruction
Minister of National Education (France)
The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...
in the short-lived cabinet of 19 May 1873.
Senator for the Aisne
In 1876, having been elected senator for the Aisne, he was again entrusted by Prime Minister DufaureJules Armand Dufaure
Jules Armand Stanislas Dufaure was a French statesman.-Biography:Dufaure was born at Saujon, Charente-Maritime, and began his career as an advocate at Bordeaux, where he won a great reputation by his oratorical gifts. He abandoned law for politics, and in 1834 was elected deputy...
with the Ministry of Public Instruction. Because he was a Protestant, he was not permitted to combine the Ministry of Public Worship with the Public Instruction portfolio, as had been the custom in ministerial assignments. His most important project, a bill transferring the granting of degrees to the state, was passed by the Chamber, but thrown out by the Senate
French Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...
.
He continued to hold office under Jules Simon
Jules Simon
Jules François Simon was a French statesman and philosopher, and one of the leader of the Opportunist Republicans faction.-Biography:Simon was born at Lorient. His father was a linen-draper from Lorraine, who renounced Protestantism before his second marriage with a Catholic Breton. Jules Simon...
, with whom he was overthrown on the famous seize mai
16 May 1877 crisis
The 16 May 1877 crisis was a constitutional crisis in the French Third Republic concerning the distribution of power between the President and the legislature. When the Royalist President Patrice MacMahon dismissed the Opportunist Republican Prime Minister Jules Simon, parliament on 16 May 1877...
(16 May 1877). The triumph of the republicans at the general election brought him back to power the following December as Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
, again under Dufaure. He was one of the French plenipotentiaries at the Berlin Congress. The cession of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
to the United Kingdom was, at first, denounced by the French newspapers as a great blow to his diplomatic reputation, but he obtained, in a conversation with Lord Salisbury
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
, a promise that the United Kingdom would, in return, allow France a free hand in Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
.
Prime Minister of France
Early in 1879 Waddington succeeded Dufaure as Prime MinisterPrime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
. Holding office by sufferance of Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta was a French statesman prominent after the Franco-Prussian War.-Youth and education:He is said to have inherited his vigour and eloquence from his father, a Genovese grocer who had married a Frenchwoman named Massabie. At the age of fifteen, Gambetta lost the sight of his right eye...
, he kept peace between the radicals and the reactionaries till the delay of urgent reforms lost him the support of all parties. He was forced on 27 December to retire from office.
He refused an offer to become ambassador in London, and in 1880 was reporter of the committee on the adoption of the
scrutin de liste at elections, on which he delivered an adverse judgment.
London ambassador
In 1883 he accepted the London embassy, which he continued to hold till 1893, showing an exceptional tenacity in defence of his country's interests. His wife, the American Mary Alsop King, wrote her recollections of their diplomatic experiences – Letters of a Diplomat's Wife, 1883–1900 (New York, 1903), and Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife (1904).Waddington's Government, 5 February-28 December 1879
- William Henry Waddington – President of the CouncilPrime Minister of FranceThe Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
and Minister of Foreign Affairs - Henri François Xavier GresleyHenri François Xavier GresleyHenri François Xavier Gresley was a French Minister of War.-Life:He was the son of Henry Francis Xavier and Nathalie Gresley Lariviere....
– Minister of Defence - Émile de Marcère – Minister of the Interior and Worship
- Léon SayLéon SayJean-Baptiste Léon Say , French statesman and economist, was born in Paris.-Biography:The family was a most remarkable one. His grandfather Jean-Baptiste Say was a well-known economist. His brother Louis Auguste Say , director of a sugar refinery at Nantes, wrote several books against his theories...
– Minister of Finance - Philippe Le Royer – Minister of Justice
- Jean Bernard Jauréguiberry – Minister of Marine and Colonies
- Jules FerryJules FerryJules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...
– Minister of Public Instruction - Charles de FreycinetCharles de FreycinetCharles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet was a French statesman and Prime Minister during the Third Republic; he belonged to the Opportunist Republicans faction. He was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences, and in 1890, the fourteen member to occupy seat the Académie française.-Early years:He...
– Minister of Public Works - Adolphe Cochery – Minister of Posts and Telegraphs
- Charles Lepère – Minister of Agriculture and Commerce
Changes
- 4 March 1879 – Charles Lepère succeeds Marcère as Minister of the Interior and of Worship. Pierre TirardPierre TirardPierre Emmanuel Tirard was a French politician.He was born to French parents in Geneva, Switzerland. After studying in his native town, Tirard became a civil engineer. After five years of government service he resigned to become a jewel merchant...
succeeds Lepère as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.
See also
- List of Cambridge University Boat Race crews
- Charles Waddington
- Richard WaddingtonRichard WaddingtonRichard Waddington was a French legislator and historian, brother of William Henry and cousin of Charles Waddington. He was born at Rouen. In 1870–71 he served as a captain of artillery. Elected a deputy in 1876, he sat with the Left Centre until 1891, when he was elected senator for...