Joseph Chamberlain

The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836–2 July 1914) was a British statesman. In his early years he was a successful businessman, a radically minded Liberal, a campaigner for educational reform and became President of the Board of Trade. Later he re-emerged in alliance with the Conservatives, as an imperialist and protectionist, serving as Colonial Secretary. Despite never becoming Prime Minister, he is regarded as one of the most important British politicians of the late 19th century and early 20th century, a colourful character and a renowned orator. He was the father of Sir Austen Chamberlain (1863–1937) and Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940). 1940

Early life, business career and marriage

Chamberlain was born in Camberwell in London to a successful shoemaker and manufacturer also named Joseph (1796–1874). He was educated at University College School, Euston between 1850 and 1852, in which Chamberlain excelled academically, achieving prizes in French and mathematics. The elder Chamberlain was unable to send all his children into higher education, and at the age of 16, Joseph was apprenticed to the Cordwainers' Company and worked for the family business in the making of quality leather shoes. At 18 he was sent to Birmingham to join his uncle's screwmaking business, Nettlefolds (later part of Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds), in which his father had invested. In partnership with Joseph Nettlefold, Chamberlain was to help the screwmaking firm, soon known as Nettlefold and Chamberlain, to become a commercial success, and by 1874 when Chamberlain retired from the firm, the company was exporting its products to the United States, Europe, India, Japan, Canada and Australia. Furthermore, Nettlefold and Chamberlain produced approximately two-thirds of all the metal screws made in England. In 1860, Chamberlain met and fell in love with Harriet Kenrick, the daughter of a Unitarian family from Birmingham. In July 1861, the couple married and produced a daughter, Beatrice, in May 1862. In October 1863, having had a presentiment that she would die in childbirth, Harriet gave birth to a son, Joseph Austen, the future Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary. Two days after Austen's birth, Harriet became ill and died three days later. Gripped with grief, Chamberlain devoted himself to the growing fortunes of Nettlefold and Chamberlain, whilst raising Beatrice and Austen with the Kenrick parents-in-law. In 1868, Chamberlain married for the second time, wedding Harriet's cousin, Florence Kenrick. The marriage was as successful and joyous for Chamberlain as the first had been, producing four children: Arthur Neville, Prime Minister between 1937 and 1940, was born in 1869, Ida, born in 1870, Hilda, born in 1871 and Ethel, born in 1873. On 13th February 1875, Florence gave birth to their fifth child, yet by the next day, she and her child had died.

Early political career

Calls for reform

There were strong Radical and liberal traditions among shoemakers, in his adopted home city of Birmingham, while the Unitarian church of which he was a member had a tradition of social action. It was not surprising that Chamberlain became involved in Liberal politics, joining those in the Liberal Association calling for reform. The growth of Britain's urban population led to an urgent need to redistribute parliamentary seats and to enfranchise a sizeable proportion of urban males. In 1866, Lord John Russell's Liberal administration put a Reform Bill before the House of Commons, aiming to create 400,000 new voters. Whilst conservative supporters of the government, known as 'Adullamites', opposed the Bill for its disruption of the social order, Radicals criticised it on the basis that it failed to concede the secret ballot or household suffrage. The Bill was defeated and Lord Derby formed a minority Conservative administration. On 27 August 1866, a vast demonstration for reform was held in Birmingham, in which the Mayor marched alongside 250,000 people, one of whom was Chamberlain. John Bright addressed the huge middle and working-class crowd, Chamberlain recalling that 'men poured into the hall, black as they were from the factories…the people were packed together like herrings.' The Conservative government passed a Reform Bill in 1867, nearly doubling the electorate from 1,430,000 to 2,470,000 and in the 1868 General Election, the Liberal Party took power. Chamberlain was active in the election campaign, praising Bright and George Dixon, a Birmingham M.P. In 1867 he helped found the Birmingham Education League with Jesse Collings. The Education League noted that of around four and a quarter million children of school age, two million children, mostly in urban areas, did not attend school with a further million in uninspected schools. More contentious was the government’s aid to Church of England schools, embodying a connection between church and state that was bound to offend Nonconformist opinion. Chamberlain was enthusiastic about the requirement for the provision of free, secular, compulsory education, stating that 'it is as much the duty of the State to see that the children are educated as to see that they are fed.' He also pointed to the success owed by the United States and Prussia to public education. The Birmingham Education League evolved into the National Education League, which held its first Conference in Birmingham in 1869. The League called for a school system supported by local rates and government grants, under local authorities subject to government inspection. By 1870, the League had more than one hundred branches, mostly in cities and drawing from trades unions and working men's organisations. Chamberlain was also prominent in the local campaign in support of Gladstone's Irish Church Disestablishment Bill against the House of Lords' obstructionism. Chamberlain seconded the motion in support of disestablishment at a debate held at Birmingham town hall, and he addressed the large, restless crowd attacking the hereditary powers of the House of Lords. The meeting broke up amidst fighting, but Chamberlain had become a figure of prominence among Birmingham Liberals, and he was elected to Birmingham Council for St. Paul's ward in November 1869. The Liberal government put forward proposals for an Elementary Education Bill in January 1870. W.E. Forster, Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education was responsible for the Bill and came under attack from Nonconformists because of the legislation's proposal to maintain church schools within the structure of national education and to put them on the rates. The absence of school boards or the provision of free, compulsory education caused consternation in the National Education League, and Chamberlain arranged for a large delegation to visit 10 Downing Street to persuade Gladstone to remove the role of the church in national education. On 9 March 1870, the Education League's delegation arrived to meet the Prime Minister, consisting of 400 branch members and 46 M.P.'s. In this first meeting between Gladstone and Chamberlain, the latter impressed the Prime Minister with his lucid speech, and Gladstone agreed during the Elementary Education Bill's second reading to make amendments that took church schools from rate-payer control and granted them support from government funds. Liberal M.P.'s, exasperated at the compromises in the legislation, voted against the government, and the Bill passed the House of Commons with support from the Conservatives. Chamberlain campaigned against the Act, and in particular clause 25, which gave school boards the power to pay the fees of poor children at voluntary schools, which theoretically allowed them to fund church schools. The Education League even stood in several by-elections against Liberal candidates who refused to support the repeal of clause 25. In 1873 a Liberal majority was elected to the Birmingham School Board, with Chamberlain as chairman. Eventually, a compromise was reached with the church component of the School Board agreeing to make payments from rate-payer's money only to schools linked with industrial education. Chamberlain broadened his campaigning to take up the cause of rural workers, promoting their enfranchisement and cheaper land prices. This was reflected in his subsequent slogan coined in an article written for the Fortnightly Review, the four 'F's' – 'Free Church, Free Schools, Free Land and Free Labour'. In another article entitled 'The Liberal Party and its Leaders', Chamberlain made a blistering attack on Gladstone's leadership and advocated a concerted Radical challenge to the direction of the party. By 1873, Chamberlain had made his reputation, especially in Birmingham, as a charismatic Radical politician, and sought to further his cause in the municipal arena.

Mayor of Birmingham

In November 1873 Chamberlain stood as a Liberal candidate for the mayoralty of Birmingham, with the Conservatives denouncing his political Radicalism and disparaging him as a 'monopoliser and a dictator.' The Liberal Party swept the municipal elections having campaigned under the slogan 'The People above the Priests', a clear swipe at the High Toryism of Chamberlain’s opponents. As mayor, Chamberlain promoted many civic improvements, leaving the town (in words to Collings) 'parked, paved, assized, marketed, gas & watered and improved. Prior to his tenure in office, the city's municipal administration was notably lax with regards to public works, and many urban dwellers lived in conditions of great poverty. The city's water supply was considered a danger to public health – approximately half of the city’s population was dependent on well water, much of which was polluted by sewage. Furthermore, piped water was only supplied three days per week, compelling the use of unhealthy well water and water carts for the rest of the week. Two rival gas companies, the Birmingham Gas Company and the Birmingham and Staffordshire Gas Company were locked in constant competition, in which the city's streets were continually dug up to allow for the laying of mains. Chamberlain established a municipal gas supply by forcibly purchasing the two companies on behalf of the borough for £1,953,050, even offering to purchase the companies himself if the ratepayers refused. The move was a success, and in its first year of operations, the municipal gas scheme made a profit of £34,000. Deploring the rising death rate from contagious diseases in the poorest sections of the city, in January 1876, Chamberlain forcibly purchased Birmingham's waterworks for a combined sum of £1,350,000, having declared to a House of Commons Committee that 'We have not the slightest intention of making profit...We shall get our profit indirectly in the comfort of the town and in the health of the inhabitants'. Despite this noticeable executive action, Chamberlain was mistrustful of central authority and burdensome bureaucracy, preferring to give local communities the responsibility to act on their own initiative. With the city's gas and water supply under municipal control, Chamberlain undertook other schemes with the intention of improving the quality of life in Birmingham. In July 1875 Chamberlain tabled an improvement plan that involved a programme of slum clearance in Birmingham’s city centre. Chamberlain had been consulted by the Home Secretary, R.A. Cross during the preparation of the Artisans' Dwellings Act, a prominent feature of the Disraeli ministry's programme of social improvement. Chamberlain proposed to build a new road through Birmingham's overcrowded slums, and brought 50 acres (200,000 m²) of property for such a purpose. Overriding the protests of local landlords and the Commissioner of the Local Government Board's inquiry into the scheme, Chamberlain appealed directly to the President of the Local Government Board, George Sclater-Booth. Having gained the support of central government and raised the funds for the programme, Chamberlain was able to implement the scheme, contributing £10,000 to the cost himself. However, the Improvement Committee concluded that it would be too expensive to transfer slum-dwellers to municipally built accommodation and so the land was let out as a business proposition on a 75 year lease. Those who had occupied the slums were eventually rehoused in the suburbs, not in the area of their previous residence, and the scheme as a whole lost local government £300,000. The death-rate in the newly christened Corporation Street dropped dramatically – from approximately 53% per 1,000 between 1873 and 1875 to 21% per 1,000 between 1879 and 1881. Chamberlain's tenure in office was also notable for his promotion of cultural improvement. Public and private money was used for the construction of libraries, municipal swimming pools and schools. The Museum & Art Gallery was enlarged and a number of new parks were opened. Construction of the Council House was begun whilst the Victoria Law Courts were built in Corporation Street. The mayoralty helped give Chamberlain stature as a figure of both local and national renown, with contemporaries commenting upon his youthfulness and prominent dress, in which he sported 'a black velvet coat, jaunty eyeglass in eye, red neck-tie drawn through a ring'. His contribution to the city's improvement secured political allegiance of the so-called 'Birmingham caucus' for Chamberlain in return, a loyalty that would remain even with the shifts in his public career.
National politics

Member of Parliament and the National Liberal Federation
In the 1874 General Election, Chamberlain made his first attempt to enter the House of Commons. The Sheffield Reform Association, an offshoot of the Liberal Party in the city, invited Chamberlain to stand for election shortly into his tenure as Mayor of Birmingham. The campaign was a fierce one, and Chamberlain was accused of republicanism and atheism by opponents, with dead cats even being thrown at him on the speaking platform by angry spectators. Much to his displeasure, Chamberlain came in third place, a failure for someone considered as a leading spokesman for urban Radicalism. During his term as Mayor of Birmingham, Chamberlain continued to entertain the prospect of standing for Parliament, although he eventually rejected the possibility of standing in Sheffield. Predictably, Chamberlain maintained his focus on Birmingham and when George Dixon decided to retire from his seat in May 1876, an opportunity was presented for Chamberlain to enter the House of Commons. On 17 June 1876, Chamberlain was returned unopposed for Birmingham, after a period of anxiety following his nomination in which he delivered a blistering attack on the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, accusing him of being 'a man who never told the truth except by accident.' Chamberlain subsequently apologised publicly. When elected, Chamberlain resigned the mayorship of Birmingham, and was introduced to the House of Commons by John Bright and Joseph Cowen, an M.P. for Newcastle. Almost immediately, Chamberlain began to organise the Radical component in the House of Commons in an attempt to prompt the Liberal leadership, with the intention of displacing Whig dominance and providing a Radical opposition to the Conservatives. On 4 August 1876, Chamberlain delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons during a debate on elementary schools. The maintenance of clause 25 prompted Chamberlain to intervene before the busy House, in which Disraeli was in attendance. Speaking for twenty minutes, Chamberlain utilised his experience on the Birmingham School Board to make an impressive speech. Hereafter, Chamberlain spoke on many subjects, but concentrated on the subject of free public education and female teachers. The issues of alcohol licensing and army discipline also occupied much of Chamberlain's time. Early difficulties in creating a coherent group committed to Radicalism within the Liberal Party convinced Chamberlain of the need to establish a more effective organisation for the party as a whole, especially in the localities. The controversy surrounding Disraeli's policy during the Russo-Turkish War proved to be a catalyst for activity, for Chamberlain viewed the agitation surrounding the Bulgarian atrocities as a means of utilising public indignation for a Radical agenda. Chamberlain estimated that Radicalism could profit from Gladstone's increasing popularity, and he subsequently sought to close ranks with the returned Liberal leader. With the Liberal Party active in opposition to the Conservative government's foreign policy, it was a propitious moment to federate the country's Liberal Associations, and on 31 May 1877, Gladstone addressed approximately 30,000 people at Bingley Hall to found the National Liberal Federation. The body was undeniably a creation of Chamberlain's brand of Birmingham Radicalism, reflected in the dominance of Birmingham's politicians in the Federation's administration – Chamberlain himself served as President. The Federation was designed to tighten party discipline and provide the Liberal Party with the apparatus for fighting the Conservatives in elections, whose party organisation was undergoing effective reform. Furthermore, the Federation subsequently engaged in numerous campaigning activities, including the enlisting of new members, the organisation of political meetings and the publishing of posters and pamphlets. Contemporary commentators made (often disparaging) comparisons between the techniques of the Federation and those employed in American politics. For Chamberlain, the Federation gave him much enhanced influence within the Liberal Party as well as a nationwide platform to promote Radicalism. Chamberlain was largely critical of Disraeli's handling of foreign affairs, arguing that the Conservative government's forward policy diverted attention from the requirements of domestic reform. Unlike many Liberals, Chamberlain's attitude was not fuelled by anti-imperialism, for although he berated the government for its Eastern policy, the 1878 invasion of Afghanistan and the 1879 Zulu War, he had previously supported Disraeli's purchase of Suez Canal Company shares in November 1875. At this stage of his career, Chamberlain was eager to see the protection of British overseas interests, but placed greater emphasis on a conception of justice in the pursuit of such interests. In the 1880 general election, Chamberlain joined the Liberal denunciations of the Conservative Party’s foreign policy, and the National Liberal Federation played an important part in seeing the Liberal Party take power. With Gladstone having returned as Prime Minister with notable assistance from the National Liberal Federation, Chamberlain was hopeful of being rewarded with a cabinet position.
President of the Board of Trade
Despite the fact that Chamberlain had only sat in Parliament for four years, his claims to a position in the cabinet were strong – he spoke nationally for Radicals and Nonconformists, and had a credible power base in the form of the National Liberal Federation. Although Gladstone did not regard the Federation highly, he recognised the part it had played in taking the Liberal Party to power, and appreciated the wisdom of not antagonising Chamberlain, who told Sir William Harcourt that he was prepared to lead a revolt and field Radical candidates in borough elections. Eager to reconcile Radicals to the Whig-heavy cabinet and having taken the counsel of Bright, Gladstone invited Chamberlain on 27 April 1880 to fulfil the post of President of the Board of Trade Chamberlain's scope for manoeuvre was restricted between 1880 and 1883 by the Cabinet’s occupancy with difficulties concerning Ireland, Transvaal and Egypt. However, he was able to introduce the Grain Cargoes Bill, for the safer transportation of grain, an Electric Lighting Bill which enabled municipal bodies to establish electricity supplies and a Seaman's Wages Bill, which ensured a fairer system of payment. After 1883, Chamberlain’s period at the Board of Trade was more productive. A Bankruptcy Bill established a Bankruptcy Department at the Board of Trade responsible for enquiring into failed business deals. Meanwhile, a Patents Bill brought patenting under the supervision of the Board of Trade. More importantly, Chamberlain sought to end the practice of ship owners overinsuring their vessels – 'coffin ships' – whilst under manning them, thereby ensuring a healthy profit irrespective of whether the ship arrived safely or sank. Despite having the support of Tory Democrats Lord Randolph Churchill and John Eldon Gorst, the Liberal government was unwilling to grant Chamberlain its full support and the Bill was withdrawn in July 1884. In Cabinet, Ireland was of special interest to Chamberlain. Representing Irish Catholic peasants, the Irish Land League pressed for fair rents, fixity of tenure and free sale in opposition to absentee Anglo-Irish landlords. Chamberlain supported proposals that a Land Bill would be effective in countering agitation in Ireland and Fenian outrages in the British Isles. Furthermore, he felt that a land settlement would quieten demands for Irish Home Rule, something that Chamberlain opposed with vigour, reasoning that Ireland's separation from the United Kingdom would lead to the eventual break up of the Empire. He was opposed to the policy of coercion advocated by the Chief Secretary, W.E. Forster, believing that strong arm tactics before the settlement of the land issue would provoke Irish malcontents. In April 1881, Gladstone's government introduced the Irish Land Act, but in response, Parnell, leading the Irish nationalists, encouraged tenants to withhold rents. As a result, Parnell and other leaders, including John Dillon, were imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol on 13 October 1881. Keen that there should be no more concessions, Chamberlain supported their imprisonment, and used their incarceration to bargain with them in 1882 in an attempt to reconcile them to the government. In the ensuing 'Kilmainham Treaty', the government agreed to release Parnell in return for his cooperation in making the Land Act work. Forster resigned and the new Chief Secretary, Lord Frederick Cavendish was murdered by Irish terrorists on 6 May 1882, leaving the 'Kilmainham Treaty' in tatters. Having brokered the agreement, many including Parnell believed that Chamberlain was to be offered the Chief Secretaryship, however Gladstone passed him over and appointed Sir George Trevelyan instead. With the prominence of Ireland in British politics, it is not inconceivable that Gladstone was reluctant to appoint Chamberlain to a position that would have markedly enhanced his prestige and political cause. Nevertheless, Chamberlain maintained an interest in Irish affairs, and proposed to the Cabinet an Irish Central Board that would have legislative powers in land, education and communications. This was rejected by the Whigs in Cabinet on 9 May 1885. Chamberlain's inability to introduce more creative legislation at the Board of Trade was the cause of frustration for someone who had proven to be so effective in municipal politics. However, Chamberlain viewed the Board of Trade as little more than a stepping stone for the attainment for higher things, seeing the post as a platform for the promotion of Radicalism. Early into the Gladstone ministry, Chamberlain suggested without success that the franchise should be extended, with the Prime Minister arguing that the matter should be deferred until the end of the Parliament's lifespan. In 1884, the parliament passed a major measure of franchise reform, the Reform Act, which gave hundreds of thousands of rural labourers the vote. This was followed by a Redistribution Act in 1885, negotiated by Gladstone and the Conservative leader, Lord Salisbury. Chamberlain sought to capture the newly enfranchised voters, and threw himself into a campaign of Radicalism. This took many forms, including public meetings, speeches and notably, articles written in the Fortnightly Review by Chamberlain’s close associates, including Jesse Collings and John Morley. Chamberlain earned a reputation for provocative speeches during the period, especially during debate surrounding the 1884 County Franchise Bill, which was opposed by the Whig Liberals, Lord Hartington (later the 8th Duke of Devonshire) and George Goschen as well as Lord Salisbury, who argued that the Bill gave the Liberals an unfair electoral advantage. The Conservative leader was prepared to use the powers of the House of Lords in order to block the Bill, much to Chamberlain’s dismay. At Denbigh on 20 October 1884, Chamberlain famously declared in a speech that Salisbury was "himself the spokesman of a class – a class to which he himself belongs, who toil not neither do they spin." In response, Salisbury branded Chamberlain a 'Sicilian bandit' whilst Lord Iddesleigh called him 'Jack Cade'. When Chamberlain suggested that he would march on London with thousands of Birmingham constituents to protest at the House of Lords' powers, Salisbury remarked that "Mr. Chamberlain will return from his adventure with a broken head if nothing worse." This verbal altercation was characteristic of the antagonism between Chamberlain and his Radical followers on the one hand, and the landed Conservatives and Whigs on the other. In July 1885, the Radical Programme, the first campaign handbook in British political history was published, with the preface written by Chamberlain himself. It called for land reform, more direct taxation, free public education, the disestablishment of the Church, universal male suffrage, and more protection for trade unions. The proposals in the Radical Programme earned the scorn of Whig Liberals and Conservatives alike, and it was on the former that Chamberlain had set his sights, writing to Morley that with Radical solidarity 'we will utterly destroy the Whigs, and have a Radical government before many years are out.' Seeking a contest with the Whigs, Chamberlain and Dilke presented their resignations to Gladstone on 20 May 1885, when the Cabinet rejected Chamberlain’s scheme for the creation of National Councils in England, Scotland and Wales and when a proposed Land Purchase Bill had no provision for the reform of Irish local government. The resignations were not made public, and the opportunity for Chamberlain to take his Radicalism to the country was only presented when the Irish Parliamentary Party supported a Conservative amendment to the budget on 9 June, which passed by 12 votes. Subsequently, the Gladstone ministry resigned, and Salisbury formed a minority administration.
Liberal split
In August 1885, the Salisbury ministry asked for a dissolution of Parliament. At Hull on 5 August, Chamberlain began his election campaign by addressing an enthusiastic crowd in front of large posters declaring Chamberlain to be 'Your coming Prime Minister'. Until the campaign's closure in October, Chamberlain launched vociferous attacks on those in opposition to the proposals of the Radical Programme. In particular, he took up the cause of rural labourers and offered to make smallholdings available to workers via funds from local authorities, coining the slogan 'Three Acres and a Cow'. Chamberlain's campaign proved to be immensely popular, with large crowds gathering to listen to his espousal of the Radical Programme. In particular, the young Ramsay MacDonald and David Lloyd George were enthralled by Chamberlain's espousal of Radical policies, and leading Liberals noted with some discomfort the threat posed by what Goschen called the 'Unauthorised Programme'. The Conservatives denounced Chamberlain as an anarchist, with some even comparing him to Dick Turpin. In October, Chamberlain and Gladstone sought to close ranks and eliminate a number of differences between their respective electoral programmes in a meeting at Hawarden. The meeting, although good natured, was largely unproductive, and Gladstone neglected to tell Chamberlain of his negotiations with Parnell over proposals to grant Home Rule to Ireland. Chamberlain discovered the existence of such negotiations from Henry Labouchere, but unsure of the precise nature of Gladstone's offer to Parnell, did not press the issue, although he had already stated his opposition to Home Rule, arguing that Ireland had no more right to autonomy than London, declaring that "I cannot admit that five millions of Irishmen have any greater right to govern themselves without regard to the rest of the United Kingdom than the five million inhabitants of the metropolis." The Liberals won the general election in November 1885, but fell just short of an overall majority against the Conservatives and the Irish Nationalists, the latter holding the balance between the two parties. On 17 December, Herbert Gladstone revealed that his father was prepared to take office in order to carry out a programme of Irish Home Rule, thereby flying what the press called the 'Hawarden Kite'. At first, Chamberlain was reluctant to act in accordance with the anti-Home Rule Whigs and Conservatives, for fear of losing his Radical followers, and preferred to await the development of events. Whilst maintaining a low profile publicly, Chamberlain privately damned Gladstone and the concept of Home Rule to colleagues, believing that maintaining the Conservatives in power for a further year would make the Irish question easier to settle. In January 1886, a Radical inspired amendment was moved by Collings in the House of Commons which was carried by 79 votes. The Liberals took power, although ominously, Hartington, Goschen and 18 Liberals had voted with the Conservatives. Gladstone assembled his third administration and offered Chamberlain the Admiralty, a suggestion that was declined. Gladstone rejected Chamberlain's preference for the Colonial Office and eventually appointed him President of the Local Government Board, a suitable post considering Chamberlain's connections with municipal government. A row over the amount to be paid to Collings, Chamberlain's Parliamentary Secretary embittered relations between Gladstone and Chamberlain, although the latter was still hopeful that his membership of the Cabinet could result in Gladstone's Home Rule proposal being altered or abandoned, so that his programme of Radicalism could be given more attention. Chamberlain's renewed scheme for National Councils was not discussed in Cabinet, and only on 13 March were Gladstone's proposals for Ireland revealed. A Land Purchase Bill would accompany a Home Rule Bill, and Chamberlain argued that the details of the latter should be made known in order for a fair judgment to be made on the former. When Gladstone stated his intention to give Ireland a separate Parliament with full powers to deal with Irish affairs, Chamberlain resolved to resign, writing to inform Gladstone of his decision two days later. In the meantime, Chamberlain consulted with Arthur Balfour, Salisbury's nephew, over the possibility of concerted action with the Conservatives, and contemplated similar cooperation with the Whigs. His resignation was made public on 27 March 1886. Despite Chamberlain's liking for political combat, the prospects that he faced in the aftermath of his resignation were far from promising. His chances of attaining the leadership of the Liberal Party in the short term had declined dramatically and in early May, the National Liberal Federation declared its loyalty to Gladstone. On 9 April, Chamberlain spoke against the Irish Home Rule Bill in its first reading before attending a meeting of Liberal Unionists, summoned by Hartington, hitherto the subject of Chamberlain's anti-Whig declarations on 14th May. From this meeting sprang the Liberal Unionist Association, originally an ad hoc alliance to demonstrate the unity of anti-Home Rulers. Meanwhile, to distinguish himself from the Whigs, Chamberlain founded the National Radical Union to rival the National Liberal Federation, which had since slipped from his grasp. During its second reading on 8 June, the Home Rule Bill was defeated by 30 votes, with 93 Liberals, including Chamberlain and Hartington, voting against the government.
Liberal Unionist
Parliament was dissolved, and in the ensuing general election, the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists agreed to a defensive alliance. Chamberlain's predicament was more awkward than Hartington's, for the former was intensely mistrusted by, and unable to influence the Conservatives, whilst he bore the brunt of Gladstonian ire for voting against Home Rule. Gladstone himself observed that ‘There is a difference between Hartington and Chamberlain, that the first behaves like and is a thorough gentleman. Of the other it is better not to speak.' With the general election dominated by Home Rule, Chamberlain's campaign was characterised by a combine of Radicalism and intense patriotism. This proved to be immensely popular, and both the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists were able to benefit, taking 393 seats in the House of Commons and a comfortable majority. Unlike Hartington and the Whigs, Chamberlain did not enter the Unionist government, aware that the hostility to him in the Conservative ranks meant that an agreement with them could extend merely to Ireland. Not wishing to alienate his Radical support base, Chamberlain refrained from reaching a broader settlement. The Liberal mainstream cast Chamberlain as a villain, shouting "Judas!" and "Traitor!" as he entered the House of Commons chamber. Unable to attach himself decisively to either party, Chamberlain sought concerted action with a kindred spirit from the Conservative Party, Lord Randolph Churchill. In November 1886, Churchill announced his own 'Unauthorised Programme' at Dartford, the content of which had much in common with Chamberlain's own recent manifesto, including smallholdings for rural labourers and greater local government. Next month, Churchill resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer over military spending, and when the Conservative mainstream rallied around Salisbury, Churchill's career was effectively put to an end, along with Chamberlain's hope of creating a powerful cross-party union of Radicals. The elevation of Goschen to the Treasury symbolised the increasingly close relationship between non-Radical Liberal Unionists and the Conservatives, thereby isolating Chamberlain further. After January 1887, a series of Round Table Conferences took place between Chamberlain, Trevelyan, Harcourt, Morley and Lord Herschell, in which the participants sought to reach an agreement over the Liberal Party’s Irish policy. Chamberlain hoped that an accord would enable him to place a claim to the future leadership of the party and recognised the potential of leverage over the Conservatives that could result from the negotiations merely taking place. Although a preliminary agreement was reached over land purchase, Gladstone was unwilling to compromise further, and negotiations withered by March. In August 1887, Lord Salisbury invited Chamberlain to lead the British delegation in a Joint Commission to resolve a fisheries dispute between the United States and Newfoundland. Having grown increasingly disillusioned with politics, the trip to the United States renewed Chamberlain's enthusiasm, and enhanced his standing vis-à-vis Gladstone. In November, Chamberlain met 23 year old Mary Endicott, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of State for War, William C. Endicott at a reception held at the British legation in Washington D.C.. Before he left the United States in March 1888, Chamberlain proposed to Mary, describing her as 'one of the brightest and most intelligent girls I have yet met'. In November 1888, Chamberlain married Mary in Washington D.C., whilst wearing white violets, as opposed to his trademark orchid. In Mary, Chamberlain found a suitable partner and a faithful supporter of his political ambitions. orchid Meanwhile, the Salisbury ministry was in the process of implementing a number of reforms that satisfied Chamberlain that Radicalism was making progress, surprisingly under a Conservative banner. Between 1888 and 1889, democratic County Councils were established in Great Britain. By 1891, measures for the provision of smallholdings had been made, and to Chamberlain's delight, the extension of free, compulsory education to the entire country. Chamberlain wrote that 'I have in the last five years seen more progress made with the practical application of my political programme than in all my previous life. I owe this result entirely to my former opponents, and all the opposition has come from my former friends.' Chamberlain also endeavoured to secure his Birmingham power base, for the Liberal Association in the city could no longer be relied upon to provide loyal support. He created the Liberal Unionist Association in 1888, associated with the National Radical Union, having extracted his supporters from the old Liberal organisation. Chamberlain's reformation of Birmingham's political structure was wholly successful, and in the 1892 general election, the Liberal Unionists swept the city, even making inroads into neighbouring towns in the Black Country. By now, Chamberlain's son, Austen had also entered the House of Commons having been returned unopposed for East Worcestershire in March 1892. With Gladstone returned to power and singularly unwilling to see Chamberlain back with the Liberal Party and the Liberal Unionists reduced to 47 seats nationwide, a closer relationship with the Conservatives was increasingly necessary. A step was made in this direction when Hartington took his seat in the House of Lords as the Duke of Devonshire, allowing Chamberlain to assume the leadership of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, leading to a productive relationship with Balfour, leader of the Conservatives in the lower house. Obliged to compromise with the Irish Nationalists, Gladstone introduced the Second Home Rule Bill in February 1893, legislation that Chamberlain opposed with predictable vigour. During the committee stage when he chastised the Gladstonian Liberals, a fist fight broke out in which Chamberlain remained unmoved. Although the Bill passed the House of Commons, the upper house rejected Home Rule by a huge margin. With his party split, Gladstone prepared to dissolve Parliament on the issue of the House of Lords' veto, but was compelled to resign in March 1894 by his colleagues, being replaced by Lord Rosebery. Whilst Rosebery put Home Rule on ice, Chamberlain continued to build bridges with the Conservatives, and spoke warily about socialism and the Independent Labour Party, which had one member in the House of Commons, Keir Hardie. Chamberlain warned of the dangers of socialism in his 1895 play The Game of Politics, characterising its proponents as the instigators of class conflict. In response to the socialist challenge, he sought to divert the energy of collectivism and use it for the good of Unionism, and continued to propose reforms to the Conservatives. In his 'Memorandum of a Programme for Social Reform' sent to Salisbury in 1894, Chamberlain made a number of suggestions, including old age pensions, the provision of loans to the working class for the purchase of houses, an amendment to the Artisans' Dwellings Act to encourage street improvements, compensation for industrial accidents, cheaper train fares for workers, tighter border controls and shorter working hours. Salisbury was generally sympathetic to the proposals, although somewhat guarded, yet his constructive response demonstrated how far Chamberlain and the Conservative leadership had come in settling the monumental differences that had separated them in the 1880s. On 21 June, the Liberal Government was defeated on a motion that criticised the Secretary of State for War, Henry Campbell-Bannerman, for shortages of cordite. Salisbury was invited to form a government, and prepared to include Chamberlain in his Cabinet.
Statesman

Colonial Secretary
Henry Campbell-Bannerman Having agreed to a set of policies, the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists formed a government on 24 June 1895. Salisbury offered four Cabinet posts to Liberal Unionists, two of whom were Chamberlain and Devonshire. The latter became Lord President of the Council, whilst to Chamberlain, Salisbury and Balfour offered any Cabinet position with the exception of the Foreign Office or Leadership of the House of Commons. To the surprise of Salisbury and Balfour, Chamberlain declined a post at the Treasury, unwilling to be constrained by conservative spending plans, and also refused the Home Office. Instead, Chamberlain asked to be given the Colonial Office, a department that traditionally held little attraction to politicians. Amidst European competition for territory and popular sentiment surrounding imperialism, Chamberlain saw the potential of using the Colonial Office as a platform for global prominence. Opportunities were present for the expansion of the British Empire and the reordering of imperial trade and resources. Furthermore, the Colonial Office would provide Chamberlain with the chance of pursuing the ambition of fostering closer relations between Britain and the settler colonies, aiming for the remoulding of the empire on federal lines into a family of Anglo-Saxon nations. Chamberlain had always been a keen imperialist and an advocate of a stronger empire – in 1887 whilst in Toronto, he declared that "I should think our patriotism was warped and stunted indeed if it did not embrace the Greater Britain beyond the seas". Much had been proposed with regards to an imperial federation, a more coherent system of imperial defence and preferential tariffs, yet by 1895 when Chamberlain arrived at the Colonial Office, little had been achieved. Chamberlain felt that there was "work to be done" as Colonial Secretary, and could be assured of support from Conservative backbenchers, traditionally keen proponents of Empire. Chamberlain took formal charge at the Colonial Office on 1 July 1895, shortly before his fifty-ninth birthday. With victory assured in the 1895 general election, Chamberlain began his work in earnest. His first move was to alter the character of the Colonial Office building itself, ordering the removal of old carpets, furniture and wallpaper, the purchasing of new maps and the installation of electric lighting to end the department's reliance on gaslight. Having transformed the building from a dingy backwater to a worthy hub of the colonial empire, Chamberlain left for the Pyrenees to holiday for seven weeks, before returning in October. With the empire at its zenith, Chamberlain's responsibilities at the department were vast, governing over ten million square miles of territory and 50 million people of exceptional diversity. Believing that positive government action could bind the empire's peoples closer to the crown, Chamberlain stated confidently that "I believe that the British race is the greatest of the governing races that the world has ever seen…It is not enough to occupy great spaces of the world's surface unless you can make the best of them. It is the duty of a landlord to develop his estate." Accordingly, Chamberlain advocated investment in the tropics of Africa, the West Indies and other underdeveloped possessions, a policy which earned him the nickname 'Joseph Africanus' among the press.
Jameson Raid
In November 1895, a piece of territory of strategic importance, the Pitsani Strip, part of the Bechuanaland Protectorate and bordering the Transvaal, was ceded to the British South Africa Company by the Colonial Office, overtly for the protection of a railway running through the territory. Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and managing director of the Company was eager to bring South Africa under British dominion, and encouraged the disenfranchised Uitlanders of the Boer republics to resist Afrikaner domination. Rhodes hoped that the intervention of the Company's private army could spark an Uitlander uprising, leading to the overthrow of the Transvaal government. Rhodes' forces were assembled in the Pitsani Strip for this purpose. Chamberlain informed Salisbury on Boxing Day that an uprising was expected, and was aware that an invasion would be launched, but was not sure when. The subsequent Jameson Raid was a debacle, leading to the invading force's surrender. Chamberlain, at Highbury, received a secret telegram from the Colonial Office on 31 December informing him of the beginning of the Raid. Sympathetic to the ultimate goals of the Raid, Chamberlain was uncomfortable with the timing of the invasion and remarked that "if this succeeds it will ruin me. I'm going up to London to crush it". He swiftly travelled by train to the Colonial Office, ordering Sir Hercules Robinson, Governor-General of the Cape Colony, to repudiate the actions of Jameson and warned Rhodes that the Company's Charter would be in danger if it was discovered that the Cape Prime Minister was involved in the Raid. The prisoners were returned to London for trial, and the Transvaal government received considerable compensation from the Company. During the trial of Jameson, Rhodes' solicitor, Bourchier Hawksley, refused to produce cablegrams that had passed between Rhodes and his agents in London during November and December 1895. According to Hawksley, these demonstrated that the Colonial Office 'influenced the actions of those in South Africa' who embarked on the Raid, and even that Chamberlain had transferred control of the Pitsani Strip to facilitate an invasion. Nine days before the Raid, Chamberlain had asked his Assistant Under-Secretary to encourage Rhodes to 'Hurry Up' because of the deteriorating Venezuelan situation. In June 1896, Chamberlain offered his resignation to Salisbury, having shown the Prime Minister one or more of the cablegrams implicating him in the Raid's planning. Salisbury refused to accept the offer, possibly reluctant to lose the government's most popular figure. Salisbury reacted aggressively in support of Chamberlain, supporting the Colonial Secretary's threat to withdraw the Company's charter if the cablegrams were revealed. Accordingly, Rhodes refused to reveal the cablegrams, and as no evidence was produced showing that Chamberlain was complicit in the Raid's planning, the Select Committee appointed to investigate the events surrounding the Raid had no choice but to absolve Chamberlain of all responsibility.
Venezuelan boundary dispute
In July 1895, the American Secretary of State Richard Olney demanded that Britain submit a boundary dispute with Venezuela to impartial arbitration, invoking the Monroe Doctrine. Chamberlain favoured a more belligerent stance, but Salisbury chose to tread tentatively, and even the Prime Minister's cautious reply to the American demand provoked President Cleveland to imply in December 1895 that war may be the result of British non-compliance. For Chamberlain, the United States' bellicosity was an embarrassment considering his marriage to an American and his professed admiration of the United States' system of government. Despite privately calling Cleveland a 'coarse-grained man' and a 'bully', Chamberlain gradually favoured the pragmatic approach undertaken by Salisbury. The Prime Minister calmed fears of war by agreeing to an arbitration treaty in February 1896, in which two American judges, two British judges and a Russian would decide the issue. Furthermore, Chamberlain endeavoured to visit the United States in the autumn of 1896 in order to negotiate with Olney. The discussions were conducted cordially, thereby improving Anglo-American relations, resulting in Britain's pro-U.S. neutrality during the Spanish-American War of 1898. In October 1899, the tribunal convened to settle the Venezuelan dispute agreed to an Award loosely based on the Schomburgk Line. 1899
West Africa
Chamberlain believed that West Africa had huge economic potential, and shared Salisbury's suspicions of the French, who were manifestly Britain's principle rival in the region. Demonstrating his expansionist credentials, Chamberlain sanctioned the conquest of the Ashanti in 1895, with Colonel Sir Francis Scott successfully occupying Kumasi and annexing the territory to the Gold Coast. Using the emergency funds of the colonies of Lagos, Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast, he ordered the construction of a railway for the newly conquered area. The Colonial Office's bold strategy brought it into conflict with the Royal Niger Company, chaired by Sir George Goldie, which possessed title rights to large stretches of the Niger. Interested in the area as an economic asset, Goldie had yet to assume governing responsibilities, leaving the territory open to incursion by the French, who sent small garrisons to the area with the intention of controlling it. Whilst Salisbury wished to subordinate the needs of West Africa to the requirement of establishing British supremacy on the Nile, Chamberlain believed that every territory was worth competing for. Chamberlain was dismayed to learn in 1897 that the French had expanded from Dahomey to Bussa, a town claimed by Goldie. Further French growth in the region would have cut Lagos off from territory in the hinterland, thereby limiting its economic growth. Chamberlain therefore argued that Britain should 'even at the cost of war – to keep an adequate Hinterland for the Gold Coast, Lagos & the Niger Territories.' Under pressure from Chamberlain, Salisbury sanctioned Sir Edward Monson, leading the British delegation in Paris, to be more assertive in negotiations. The subsequent concessions made by the French encouraged Chamberlain, who arranged for a military force, led by Frederick Lugard, to occupy areas claimed by Britain, thereby undermining French claims in the region. In the risky 'chequerboard' strategy, Lugard's forces occupied territories claimed by the French to counterbalance the establishment of French garrisons in British territory. At times, French and British troops were stationed merely a few yards from each other, heightening the risk of war. Nevertheless, Chamberlain correctly assumed that French officers in the region were under orders to act without fighting the British, and in March 1898, the French proposed to settle the issue – Bussa was returned to Britain, and the French were limited to the town of Bona. Chamberlain had successfully imposed British control over the Niger and the inland territories of Sokoto, later fusing them together as Nigeria. Furthermore, he had demonstrated his ability to influence and alter Salisbury's foreign policy, thereby enhancing his presence in international negotiations.
China
The seizure of Kiaochow by Germany in November 1897 and Russia's occupation of Port Arthur signalled deepening western involvement in China and portended a scramble perceivably threatened British interests in the country. Britain dominated China's foreign trade and was responsible for the supervision of its tariffs. In the event of China's partition, the country's value as a market for British goods would decrease – both Salisbury and Chamberlain therefore recognised the value of maintaining China's integrity. Whilst Salisbury sought a local agreement with Russia to reduce her concern for France in the Mediterranean, Chamberlain sought an understanding with another power, using the dramatic term 'alliance'. His first suggestion was for an understanding with Japan in order to counterbalance the growing influence of Russia. Viewing the issue in economic terms, Chamberlain saw the seizures by Germany and Russia not as part of military strategy, but as an attempt to encroach on Britain's Chinese market. When the issue was put before the cabinet early in 1898, Salisbury hoped to keep Port Arthur open to trade by cooperating with the Russians in granting a loan to the Chinese government. Arguing that British naval power could not stop Russia, Chamberlain favoured a coordinated policy with the United States and Japan, in which the three powers would demand that any concessions extracted from China by Russia should be shared among the other powers. The Cabinet agreed to the occupation of Weihaiwe

The Right Honourable
The Right Honourable (abbreviated "The Rt Hon." or "The Right Hon.") is an honorific prefix which is traditionally applied to certain classes of people in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other Commonwealth Realms.
Entitlement
People entitled to the prefix in a personal capacity are:
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the Privy Council of Northern Ireland
- This includes all current and former members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, which is a committee of the Privy Council;
- Barons, viscounts and earls (marquesses are "The Most Honourable" and dukes are "The Most Noble" or "His Grace", and, if Privy Councillors, retain these higher styles); and
- The holders of certain offices of state in some Commonwealth realms (e.g. in Canada, the Governor General, Prime Minister and Chief Justice). In order to differentiate peers who are Privy Counsellors from those who are not, sometimes the suffix PC is added to the title. In addition some people are entitled to the prefix in an official capacity, i.e. the prefix is added to the name of the office, but not the name of the person:
- The Lord Mayors of London, Dublin, Cardiff, Belfast, York and Bristol; and of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart; and
- The Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow. All other Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts are "The Right Worshipful".
Corporate entities
The prefix is also added to the name of various corporate entities, e.g.:
- The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal (of the United Kingdom &c.) in Parliament Assembled (the House of Lords);
- The Right Honourable the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses (now usually the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom &c.) in Parliament Assembled (the House of Commons); and
- The Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (the Board of Admiralty)
- The Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations (the Board of Trade) See also the corporate use of "Most Honourable," as in "The Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council" (the Privy Council).
Use of the honorific
The honorific is normally only used on the front of envelopes and other written documents: for example, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP is otherwise referred to simply as "Mr Blair". In the House of Commons, members refer to each other as "the honourable member for ..." or "the right honourable member for ..." depending upon whether or not they are Privy Counsellors. However the title "the honourable member" is only a parliamentary term and is not used outside the House. When a married woman holds this style, she uses her own given name in her style. So, when Mrs. Denis Thatcher was made a Privy Counsellor, she didn't become The Right Honourable Mrs. Denis Thatcher or The Right Honourable Mrs Thatcher, but became The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher.
Outside the United Kingdom
Generally within the Commonwealth, ministers and judges are The Honourable unless they are appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, in which case they are The Right Honourable. Such persons generally include Prime Ministers and judges of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, and several other Commonwealth prime ministers.
Australia
In Australia some Premiers of the Australian colonies in the 19th century were appointed members of the UK Privy Council and were thus entitled to be called The Right Honourable. After Federation in 1901, the Governor-General, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the Prime Minister and some other senior ministers held the title. There has never been an Australian Privy Council. In 1972 Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam declined appointment to the Privy Council, but the practice was resumed by Malcolm Fraser in 1975. In 1983 Bob Hawke declined the appointment, and the appointment of Australians to the Privy Council was abolished shortly thereafter. The last Governor-General to be entitled to the style was Ninian Stephen. The last politician to be entitled to the style was Ian Sinclair, who retired in 1998. The only living Australians holding the title The Right Honourable for life are:
- Doug Anthony, former Deputy Prime Minister
- Sir Zelman Cowen, former Governor-General
- Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister
- Ian Sinclair, former Leader of the National Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives
- Sir Ninian Stephen, former Governor-General
- Reginald Withers, former Senator, Minister, and Lord Mayor of Perth. The Lord Mayors of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart are styled The Right Honourable, but the style (which has no connection with the Privy Council) attaches to the title of Lord Mayor, and not to their names, and is relinquished upon leaving office.
Canada
In Canada, members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada receive the honorific The Honourable, with only the occupants of the most senior public offices being made The Right Honourable, as they used to be appointed to the British Privy Council. L'Honorable and le Très Honorable are used in French by the federal government, but the Office québécois de la langue française (the Quebec government body setting standards for the French language) considers them improper loan expressions and advises the use of Monsieur and Madame (Mr. and Ms.) instead. Although appointments of Canadians to the British Privy Council have ceased, the following public servants are domestically awarded the style The Right Honourable for life:
- the Governor General of Canada
- the Prime Minister of Canada
- the Chief Justice of Canada. (Governors General also use the style His/Her Excellency during their term of office.) Several prominent Canadians (mostly politicians) have become members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and have thus been entitled to use the title Right Honourable, either because of their services in Britain (e.g. serving as envoys to London) or as members of the Imperial War Cabinet, or due to their prominence in the Canadian Cabinet. These include:
- Sir John A. Macdonald (1879)1
- Sir John Rose (1886)
- Sir John Sparrow David Thompson (1894)1
- Sir Samuel Henry Strong (1897)4
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1897)1
- Sir Richard John Cartwright (1902)
- Sir Henri Elzéar Taschereau (1904)4
- Sir Charles Tupper (1907)1
- Sir Charles Fitzpatrick (1908)4
- Sir Robert Laird Borden (1912)1
- Sir George Eulas Foster (1916)
- Sir Louis Henry Davies (1919)4
- Lyman Poore Duff (1919)6
- Arthur Lewis Sifton (1920)
- Arthur Meighen (1920)1
- Charles Doherty (1920)
- Sir William Thomas White (1920)
- William Lyon Mackenzie King (1922)1
- William Stevens Fielding (1923)
- Francis Alexander Anglin (1925)4
- Sir William Mulock (1925)
- George Perry Graham (1925)
- R.B. Bennett (1930)1
- Sir George Halsey Perley (1931)
- Ernest Lapointe (1937)
- Vincent Massey (1941)3
- Raoul Dandurand (1941)
- Louis St. Laurent (1946)2
- James Lorimer Ilsley (1946)
- Clarence Decatur Howe (1946)
- Ian Alistair Mackenzie (1947)
- James Garfield Gardiner (1947)
- Thibaudeau Rinfret (1947)4
- John George Diefenbaker (1957)1
- Georges-Philéas Vanier (1963)5
- Lester Bowles Pearson (1963)1 1 - As Prime Minister. 2 - Tupper was appointed when he was no longer Prime Minister and St. Laurent was appointed when he was a cabinet minister under Mackenzie King. 3 - Massey became Governor General over a decade later. He was made "Right Honourable" while serving as Canada's High Commissioner to London. 4 - As Chief Justice of Canada 5 - As Governor General of Canada. 6 - Duff did not become Chief Justice until 1933. Canadian appointments to the British Privy Council were ended by the government of Lester Pearson. Since then, the style may only be granted for life by the Governor General to eminent Canadians who have not held any of the offices that would otherwise entitle them to the style. It has been granted to the following individuals:
- Paul Joseph James Martin (1992)
- Martial Asselin (1992)
- Ellen Fairclough (1992)
- Jean-Luc Pépin (1992)
- Alvin Hamilton (1992)
- Don Mazankowski (1992)
- Jack Pickersgill (1992)
- Robert Stanfield (1992)
- Herb Gray (2002)
Ireland
The Irish Privy Council was abolished with the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922; nevertheless the Lord Mayor of Dublin, like his counterparts in the United Kingdom, retains the usage of the honorific; the Lord Mayor of Cork has never been entitled to the title. The remaining members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland are entitled to be styled The Right Honourable.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, the Prime Minister is customarily appointed to the British Privy Council and is styled The Right Honourable. However, the current Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has not recommended any new Privy Counsellors. The Governor-General is also usually a Privy Counsellor, but the current Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, is not. In any case the Governor-General as a plenipotentiary representative is entitled to the style "Excellency". At present there are only two Privy Counsellors in the New Zealand Parliament, both appointed by previous Prime Ministers: Helen Clark (appointed by Jim Bolger upon becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1993) and Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First (appointed by Jim Bolger upon becoming Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer in 1996). Privy Counsellors recently retired include the former Speaker of the House, Jonathan Hunt (appointed by Geoffrey Palmer in recognition of long service in 1989), who retired from Parliament in 2005 to become New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley (appointed upon becoming Prime Minister in 1997), who stepped down from Parliament at the 2002 election.
See also

- The Honourable
- The Most Honourable
- Excellency
- Style (manner of address)
- UK topics
- Use of courtesy titles and honorifics in professional writing
External links

- [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/pe/titre_e.cfm Current list of Canadian notables possessing some form of honorific] (incl. Rt. Hon.) Category:Titles

8 July

July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining.

Events

- 1099 - First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders mock them.
- 1283 - Battle of Malta
- 1497 - Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India.
- 1663 - Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island.
- 1680 - The first confirmed tornado in America kills a servant at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1709 - Battle of Poltava: Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at Poltava thus effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.
- 1716 - Battle of Dynekilen
- 1758 - French and Indian War: French forces hold Fort Carillon against British at Ticonderoga, New York.
- 1760 - French and Indian War: Battle of the Ristigouche - British defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France.
- 1775 - The Olive Branch Petition is adopted by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies.
- 1776 - The Liberty Bell was rung to summon citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress.
- 1822 - Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
- 1859 - King Charles XV / Carl IV accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
- 1889 - The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published.
- 1889 - At the last championship bare-knuckle boxing match, John L. Sullivan defeats Jake Kilrain after 75 rounds.
- 1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland was devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
- 1896 - William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech in Chicago, Illinois.
- 1932 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22.
- 1933 - The Pittsburgh Steelers are found by Arthur Joseph Rooney. The team is the 5th oldest in the NFL.
- 1947 - Reports are broadcast that a UFO has crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
- 1966 - King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi was deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
- 1969 - IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer.
- 1980 - State of Origin, Rugby League is born.
- 1982 - Senegalese Trotskyist political party LCT is legally recognized.
- 1990 - At 12:34:56 (both AM and PM) the time and date by US reckoning was 12:34:56 7/8/90.
- 1992 - Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe Helsinki Summit creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM).
- 1997 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage.
- 1997 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.
- 1999 - Allen Lee Davis is executed by electrocution by the state of Florida. That is the last use of the Electric Chair for capital punishment in Florida.
- 2000 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth book in J.K. Rowling's hugely popular Harry Potter series, is published.

Births

- 1528 - Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580)
- 1545 - Prince Don Carlos of Spain (d. 1568)
- 1593 - Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653)
- 1621 - Jean de la Fontaine, French writer (d. 1695)
- 1760 - Christian Kramp, French mathematician (d. 1826)
- 1766 - Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (d. 1842)
- 1819 - Francis Leopold McClintock, British naval officer and explorer (d. 1907)
- 1836 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (d. 1914)
- 1838 - Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, German inventor (d. 1917)
- 1839 - John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1937)
- 1851 - Arthur Evans, English archaeologist (d. 1941)
- 1867 - Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1945)
- 1878 - Jimmy Quinn, Scottish footballer (d. 1945)
- 1882 - Percy Grainger, Australian composer (d. 1961)
- 1885 - Ernst Bloch, German philosopher (d. 1977)
- 1892 - Richard Aldington, English poet (d. 1962)
- 1895 - Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1904 - Henri Cartan, French mathematician
- 1906 - Philip Johnson, American architect (d. 2005)
- 1908 - Louis Jordan, American singer and saxophonist (d. 1975)
- 1908 - Nelson A. Rockefeller, Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
- 1914 - Jyoti Basu, Indian politician
- 1914 - Billy Eckstine, American jazz singer and bandleader (d. 1993)
- 1918 - Craig Stevens, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1919 - Walter Scheel, German politician
- 1923 - Harrison Dillard, American athlete
- 1926 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-born psychiatrist (d. 2004)
- 1932 - Jerry Vale, American singer
- 1933 - Marty Feldman, English comedian and actor (d. 1982)
- 1935 - Steve Lawrence, American entertainer and singer
- 1935 - Vitali Sevastyanov, cosmonaut
- 1941 - Dario Gradi, Italian-born football manager
- 1942 - Phil Gramm, American politician
- 1945 - Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss Federal Councilor
- 1947 - Kim Darby, American actress
- 1951 - Anjelica Huston, American actress
- 1958 - Kevin Bacon, American actor
- 1961 - Toby Keith, American singer
- 1968 - Billy Crudup, American actor
- 1970 - Beck, American singer
- 1972 - Saurav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
- 1975 - Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress
- 1976 - Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer
- 1977 - Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
- 1980 - Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
- 1981 - Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- 1982 - Hakim Warrick, American basketball player
- 1984 - Alexis Dziena, American actress

Deaths

- 810 - Pepin, King of Italy (b. 773)
- 975 - King Edgar of England
- 1153 - Pope Eugene III
- 1538 - Diego de Almagro, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1623 - Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554)
- 1689 - Edward Wooster, English Connecticut pioneer (b. 1622)
- 1695 - Christiaan Huygens, Dutch scientist (b. 1629)
- 1716 - Robert South, English churchman (b. 1634)
- 1721 - Elihu Yale, American benefactor of Yale University (b. 1649)
- 1726 - John Ker, Scottish spy (b. 1673)
- 1822 - Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (b. 1792)
- 1826 - Luther Martin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States (b. 1748)
- 1850 - Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
- 1855 - Sir William Edward Parry, British admiral and Arctic explorer (b. 1790)
- 1859 - King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (b. 1799)
- 1905 - Walter Kittredge, American musician and composer (b. 1834)
- 1917 - Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
- 1933 - Anthony Hope, British author (b. 1863)
- 1934 - Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (b. 1848)
- 1939 - Havelock Ellis, British physician and psychologist (b. 1859)
- 1943 - Jean Moulin, French Resistance leader (b. 1899)
- 1950 - Othmar Spann, Austrian philosopher and economist (b. 1878)
- 1957 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (b. 1879)
- 1973 - Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- 1979 - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1979 - Robert B. Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 1986 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (b. 1909)
- 1987 - Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet (b. 1896)
- 1988 - Ray Barbuti, American athlete (b. 1905)
- 1990 - Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1994 - Kim Il Sung, North Korean leader (b. 1912)
- 1999 - Pete Conrad, American astronaut (b. 1930)
- 2001 - John O'Shea, New Zealand film director (b. 1920)
- 2002 - Ward Kimball, American animator (b. 1914)
- 2004 - Paula Danziger, American author (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances

- Feast day of Saint Grimbald

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/8 BBC: On This Day] ---- July 7 - July 9 - June 8 - August 8 -- listing of all days ko:7월 8일 ms:8 Julai ja:7月8日 simple:July 8 th:8 กรกฎาคม

1836

1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar).

Events

- January - Book by Maria Monk claims that she was sexually exploited in a Canadian convent
- February 3 - United States Whig Party holds its first convention in Albany, New York.
- February 23 - The siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.
- February 24 - Samuel Colt receives a patent for the Colt revolver
- March 1 - Convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos to deliberate independence from Mexico
- March 1 - Antonio García Gutiérrez's play El Trovador played for the first time
- March 2 - Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico.
- March 5 - Samuel Colt makes the first pistol (.34-caliber).
- March 6 - After a 13-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 189 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort taken.
- March 27 - Texas Revolution: Goliad massacre - Antonio López de Santa Anna orders the Mexican army to kill about 400 Texans at Goliad, Texas
- March 31 - Marshall College, named for John Marshall, opens in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. It later merges with Franklin College to become Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
- April 20 - U.S. Congress passes act creating the Wisconsin Territory
- April 21 - Texas Revolution: Battle of San Jacinto - Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna. (Santa Anna and hundreds of his troops are taken prisoner along the San Jacinto River the next day.)
- May 15 - Francis Baily, during an eclipse of the sun, observes the phenomenon named after him as Baily's beads
- June 15 - Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
- July 11 - President Andrew Jackson issues the Specie Circular, beginning the failure of the land speculation economy that would lead to the Panic of 1837.
- September 1 - Narcissa Whitman, one of the first white woman to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington.
- September 5 - Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
- September 8 - Transcendental Club founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- October 2 - Naturalist Charles Darwin returns to Falmouth, England aboard the HMS Beagle after a 5-year journey collecting biological data he will later use to develop his theory of evolution.
- October 31 - Bristol riot - In Bristol, England, large crowd protests against the decision of the House of Lords to defeat the Reform Act. They burn down 100 houses, including the Bishop's Palace, the Custom House and the Mansion House and release prisoners. The dragoons attack the crowd and kill and wound hundreds
- November - Martin Van Buren defeats William Henry Harrison in the U.S. presidential election
- December 10 - Emory College, the forerunner of Emory University, is chartered in Oxford, Georgia.
- December 20 - Sudden freeze kills many travelers in Illinois.
- December 28 - Proclamation of the colony of South Australia, now celebrated in the state of South Australia as Proclamation Day.
- December 28 - Spain recognizes independence of Mexico.

Unknown dates

- Chartists in Britain demand universal male suffrage.
- Boers in South Africa begin the Great Trek across the Orange River.
- Henry R. Campbell builds the first 4-4-0, a steam locomotive type that will soon become the most common on all railroads of the United States.
- First printed literature in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is produced by Justin Perkins, an American Presbyterian missionary.
- Andrew Crosse's electrical experiment seems to produce strange insects; they are named acarus calvanicus
- American Temperance Union established.

Births

- January 2 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian Yiddish writer (d. 1917)
- January 14 - Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter (d. 1904)
- January 27 - Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer (d. 1895)
- February 16 - Robert Halpin, Irish mariner and cable layer (d. 1894)
- February 18 - Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Bengali religious leader (d. 1886)
- February 21 - Léo Delibes, French composer (d. 1891)
- February 24 - Winslow Homer, American artist (d. 1910)
- March 20 - Sir Edward Poynter, French-born artist (d. 1919)
- April 27 - Major Charles Bendire, U.S. Army captain and ornithologist (d. 1897)
- May 27 - Jay Gould, American financier (d. 1892)
- May 28 - Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist (d. 1918)
- May 31 - Jules Chéret, French printmaker (d. 1932)
- June 2 - Mily Balakirev, Russian composer (d. 1910)
- July 8 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (d. 1914)
- July 9 - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1908)
- August 13 - Bishop Nikolai of Japan, Russian Orthodox priest (d. 1912)
- August 24 - Susan Agnes Bernard, First Lady of Canada (d. 1920)
- August 25 - Bret Harte, American writer (d. 1902)
- September 11 - Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American author (d. 187