William Ewart Gladstone

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

29 December 1809 62 Rodney Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, England

19 May 1898(1898-05-19) (88) Hawarden Castle, Flintshire, Wales

3 December 1868 – 17 February 1874

"Gladstone" redirects here. For other uses, see Gladstone (disambiguation). British Liberal prime minister The Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS Gladstone in 1892Prime Minister of the United KingdomIn office 3 December 1868 – 17 February 1874MonarchVictoriaPreceded by Benjamin DisraeliSucceeded by Benjamin DisraeliIn office 23 April 1880 – 9 June 1885MonarchVictoriaPreceded by The Earl of BeaconsfieldSucceeded by The Marquess of SalisburyIn office 1 February 1886 – 20 July 1886MonarchVictoriaPreceded by The Marquess of SalisburySucceeded by The Marquess of SalisburyIn office 15 August 1892 – 2 March 1894MonarchVictoriaPreceded by The Marquess of SalisburySucceeded by The Earl of RoseberyChancellor of the ExchequerIn office 28 December 1852 – 28 February 1855MonarchVictoriaPrime Minister The Earl of AberdeenPreceded by Benjamin DisraeliSucceeded by George Cornewall LewisIn office 18 June 1859 – 26 June 1866MonarchVictoriaPrime Minister The Viscount Palmerston The Earl RussellPreceded by Benjamin DisraeliSucceeded by Benjamin DisraeliIn office 11 August 1873 – 17 February 1874MonarchVictoriaPrime Minister HimselfPreceded by Robert LoweSucceeded by Stafford NorthcoteIn office 28 April 1880 – 16 December 1882MonarchVictoriaPrime Minister HimselfPreceded by Stafford NorthcoteSucceeded by Hugh ChildersAdditional positions Personal detailsBorn(1809-12-29 ) 29 December 1809 62 Rodney Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, EnglandDied19 May 1898(1898-05-19) (aged 88) Hawarden Castle, Flintshire, WalesResting placeWestminster AbbeyNationalityBritishPolitical partyLiberal (1859–1898)Other political affiliationsTory (1828–1834)Conservative (1834–1846)Peelite (1846–1859)Spouse(s)Catherine Glynne ​(m. 1839 )​Children8; including William, Helen, Henry and HerbertParents Sir John Gladstone Anne MacKenzie Robertson Alma materChrist Church, OxfordSignature Part of a series onLiberalism History Age of Enlightenment List of liberal theorists (contributions to liberal theory) Ideas Liberal democracy Economic liberalism Equality Gender Legal Freedom Market Press Religion Speech Trade Harm principle Internationalism Invisible hand Laissez-faire Liberty Negative Positive Market economy Non-aggression principle Open society Permissive society Popular sovereignty Private property Rights Civil and political Natural and legal Rule of law Secularism Separation of church and state Social contract Veil of ignorance Schools of thought Classical Conservative Cultural Democratic Feminist Equity Green Internationalist Muscular National Neo Ordo Radical Radical centrism Religious Christian Catholic Islamic Jewish Secular Social Techno Philosophers Acton Arnold Aron Badawi Bastiat Bentham Berlin Burke Čapek Cassirer Collingwood Condorcet Constant Croce Emerson Friedman Guizot Hayek Hu Humboldt Kant Keynes Korais Kymlicka List Locke Martineau Mill Milton Mises Montesquieu Nozick Ortega Paine Popper Priestley Rawls Ricardo Say Sen Smith Spencer Spinoza Staël Tocqueville Turgot Voltaire Weber Wollstonecraft Politicians Artigas Bright Broglie Cavour Cobden Deák Deakin George Gladstone Gokhale Itagaki Jefferson Juárez Kemal King Kołłątaj Kossuth Lamartine Levski Lincoln Macaulay Madison Mazzini Milyukov Mommsen Naoroji Ohlin Pearson Rathenau Roosevelt Sarmiento Ståhlberg Venizelos Organizations Africa Liberal Network Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party Arab Liberal Federation Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats European Democratic Party European Liberal Youth European Party for Individual Liberty International Alliance of Libertarian Parties International Federation of Liberal Youth Liberal International Liberal Network for Latin America Liberal parties Liberal South East European Network Regional variants Europe Latin America Albania Armenia Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Chile Colombia Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech lands Denmark Ecuador Egypt Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Venizelism Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Iran Israel Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Mexico Moldova Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Norway Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia Senegal Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain South Africa South Korea Sweden Switzerland Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Cobdenism Gladstonian Manchester Whiggism United States Arizona School Classical Jeffersonian Modern Uruguay Venezuela Zimbabwe Related topics Anti-authoritarianism Anti-communism Bias in academia Bias in the media Capitalism Democratic Centrism Economic freedom Egalitarianism Empiricism Humanism Individualism Anarchist Libertarianism Left Right Pirate Party Progressivism Utilitarianism  Liberalism portal  Politics portalvte William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS (/ˈ ɡ l æ d s t ən / ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four terms beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times, serving over 12 years. Gladstone was born in Liverpool to Scottish parents. He first entered the House of Commons in 1832, beginning his political career as a High Tory, a grouping which became the Conservative Party under Robert Peel in 1834. Gladstone served as a minister in both of Peel's governments, and in 1846 joined the breakaway Peelite faction, which eventually merged into the new Liberal Party in 1859. He was chancellor under Lord Aberdeen (1852–1855), Lord Palmerston (1859–1865) and Lord Russell (1865–1866). Gladstone's own political doctrine—which emphasised equality of opportunity and opposition to trade protectionism—came to be known as Gladstonian liberalism. His popularity amongst the working-class earned him the sobriquet "The People's William". In 1868, Gladstone became prime minister for the first time. Many reforms were passed during his first ministry, including the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland and the introduction of secret voting. After electoral defeat in 1874, Gladstone resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. From 1876 he began a comeback based on opposition to the Ottoman Empire reaction to the Bulgarian April Uprising. His Midlothian Campaign of 1879–80 was an early example of many modern political campaigning techniques. After the 1880 general election, Gladstone formed his second ministry (1880–1885), which saw the passage of the Third Reform Act as well as crises in Egypt (culminating in the Fall of Khartoum) and Ireland, where his government passed repressive measures but also improved the legal rights of Irish tenant farmers. Back in office in early 1886, Gladstone proposed home rule for Ireland but was defeated in the House of Commons. The resulting split in the Liberal Party helped keep them out of office – with one short break – for 20 years. Gladstone formed his last government in 1892, at the age of 82. The Government of Ireland Bill 1893 passed through the Commons but was defeated in the House of Lords in 1893. Gladstone left office in March 1894, aged 84, as both the oldest person to serve as Prime Minister and the only prime minister to have served four terms. He left Parliament in 1895 and died three years later. Gladstone was known affectionately by his supporters as "The People's William" or the "G.O.M." ("Grand Old Man", or, to political rivals "God's Only Mistake"). Historians often call him one of Britain's greatest leaders. He was elected a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1881.