Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron AberdareGCB, PC, JP, DL, FRS, FRHistS (16 April 1815 – 25 February 1895), was aBritish Liberal Party politician, who served in government most notably asHome Secretary (1868–1873) and asLord President of the Council.[1]
Lord Aberdare was born at Duffryn,Aberdare, Glamorganshire,[2] the second son of John Bruce Bruce-Pryce (born John Bruce Knight), a Royal Navy agent and banker, and his first wife, Sarah, daughter of Rev. Hugh Williams Austin.[3]
Aberdare's father was the eldest son of John Knight (died 1799) and Margaret Bruce (died 1809), daughter and heiress of William Bruce ofLlanblethian,High Sheriff of Glamorganshire. His younger brother wasJames Knight-Bruce. Aberdare's paternal grandmother, Margaret Bruce, came from the WelshBruces, a branch ofBruce of Kennet ofClackmannan, that dates to the 14th century.[4]
In 1805, Aberdare's father changed his surname from Knight to Bruce when he reached the age of majority and inherited the Llanblethian estates. In 1837, he changed his name again to Bruce-Pryce when he inherited Duffryn and the Monknash estates from a distant cousin, Frances Anne Grey (née Pryce), the daughter and heiress of Thomas Pryce, who had married Hon. William Booth Grey (1773-1852), the second son of5th Earl of Stamford.[3]
Lord Aberdare's younger brother was Gen.Robert Bruce (1821–1891).[3]
Henry was educated from the age of twelve at theBishop Gore School,Swansea (Swansea Grammar School). In 1837 he was called to thebar from Lincoln's Inn.[2] Shortly after he had begun to practice, the discovery of coal beneath the Duffryn and other Aberdare Valleyestates brought his family great wealth.[5] From 1847 to 1854 Bruce was stipendiary magistrate forMerthyr Tydfil andAberdare, resigning the position in the latter year, after entering parliament as Liberal member forMerthyr Tydfil.
Bruce was returned unopposed as MP for Merthyr Tydfil in December 1852, following the death of Sir John Guest.[6] He did so with the enthusiastic support of the late member's political allies, notably the iron masters of Dowlais, and he was thereafter regarded by his political opponents, most notably in the Aberdare Valley, as their nominee.[7] Even so, Bruce's parliamentary record demonstrated support for liberal policies, with the exception of the ballot.[8] The electorate in the constituency at this time remained relatively small, excluding the vast majority of the working classes.
Significantly, however, Bruce's relationship with the miners of the Aberdare Valley, in particular, deteriorated as a result of theAberdare Strike of 1857–58.[9] In a speech to a large audience of miners at the Aberdare Market Hall, Bruce sought to strike a conciliatory tone in persuading the miners to return to work. In a second speech, however, he delivered a broadside against the trade union movement generally, referring to the violence engendered elsewhere as a result of strikes and to alleged examples of intimidation and violence in the immediate locality.[10] The strike damaged his reputation and may well have contributed to his eventual election defeat ten years later. In 1855, Bruce was appointed a trustee of theDowlais Iron Company and played a role in the further development of the iron industry.[2]
In November 1862, after nearly ten years in Parliament, he becameUnder-Secretary of State for the Home Department, and held that office until April 1864.[2] He became aPrivy Councillor and a Charity Commissioner for England and Wales in 1864, when he was moved to be vice-president of the Council of Education.[11]
At the 1868 general election, Merthyr Tydfil became a two-member constituency with a much-increased electorate as a result of theReform Act 1867. Since the formation of the constituency, Merthyr Tydfil had dominated representation as the vast majority of the electorate lived in the town and its vicinity, whereas there was a much lower number of electors in the neighbouring Aberdare Valley.[12] During the 1850s and 1860s, however, the population of Aberdare grew rapidly, and the franchise changes in 1867 gave the vote to large numbers of miners in that valley. Amongst these new electors, Bruce remained unpopular as a result of his actions during the 1857–58 dispute. Initially, it appeared that the Aberdare iron master,Richard Fothergill, would be elected to the second seat alongside Bruce. However, the appearance of a third Liberal candidate,Henry Richard, a nonconformist radical popular in both Merthyr and Aberdare, left Bruce on the defensive and he was ultimately defeated, finishing in third place behind both Richard and Fothergill.
After losing his seat, Bruce was elected forRenfrewshire on 25 January 1869, and was madeHome Secretary byWilliam Ewart Gladstone. His tenure of this office was conspicuous for a reform of thelicensing laws, and he was responsible for theLicensing Act 1872, which made themagistrates the licensing authority, increased the penalties for misconduct in public-houses and shortened the number of hours for the sale of drink. In 1873 Bruce relinquished the home secretaryship, at Gladstone's request, to becomeLord President of the Council, and was elevated to the peerage asBaron Aberdare,[2] of Duffryn in the County of Glamorgan, on 23 August that year.[11] Being a Gladstonian Liberal, Aberdare had hoped for a much more radical proposal to keep existing licensee holders for a further ten years, and to prevent any new applicants. Its unpopularity pricked his nonconformist's conscience, when like Gladstone himself he had a strong leaning towards Temperance. He had already pursued 'moral improvement' on miners in the regulations attempting to further ban boys from the pits. The Trades Union Act 1871 was another more liberal regime giving further rights to unions, and protection from malicious prosecutions.[13]
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The defeat of the Liberal government in the following year terminated Lord Aberdare's official political life, and he subsequently devoted himself to social, educational and economic questions. Education became one of Lord Aberdare's main interests in later life. His interest had been shown by the speech on Welsh education which he had made on 5 May 1862. In 1880, he was appointed to chair the Departmental Committee on Intermediate and Higher Education in Wales and Monmouthshire, whose report ultimately led to theWelsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889.[2] The report also stimulated the campaign for the provision of university education in Wales. In 1883, Lord Aberdare was elected the first president of theUniversity College of South Wales and Monmouthshire. In his inaugural address he declared that the framework of Welsh education would not be complete until there was aUniversity of Wales. The university was eventually founded in 1893 and Aberdare became its first chancellor.[2]
In 1876 he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society; from 1878 to 1891 he was president of theRoyal Historical Society. and in 1881 he became president of both theRoyal Geographical Society and theGirls' Day School Trust.[5] In 1888 he headed the commission that established theOfficial Table of Drops, listing how far a person of a particular weight should be dropped when hanged for acapital offence (the only method of 'judicial execution' in the United Kingdom at that time), to ensure an instant and painless death, by cleanly breaking the neck between the 2nd and 3rd vertebrae, an 'exacting science', eventually brought to perfection by Chief ExecutionerAlbert Pierrepoint. Prisoners health, clothing and discipline was a particular concern even at the end of his career. In the Lords he spoke at some length to the Home Affairs Committee chaired by Arthur Balfour about the prison rules system.[14] Aberdare had always expressed concern about intemperate working-classes; in 1878 urging greater vigilance against the vice of excessive drinking, he took evidence on miners and railway colliers drinking habits. The committee tried to establish special legislation based on a link between Sunday Opening and absenteeism established in 1868.[15] Aberdare had been interested in the plight of working class drinkers since Gladstone had appointed him Home Secretary. The defeat of the Licensing Bill by the Tory 'beerage' and publicans was drafted to limit hours and protect the public, but it persuaded a convinced Anglican forever more of the iniquities.
In 1882 he began a connection with West Africa which lasted the rest of his life, by accepting the chairmanship of theNational African Company, formed bySir George Goldie, which in 1886 received a charter under the title of theRoyal Niger Company and in 1899 was taken over by the British government, its territories being constituted the protectorate ofNigeria. West African affairs, however, by no means exhausted Lord Aberdare's energies, and it was principally through his efforts that a charter was in 1894 obtained for the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, a constituent institution of the University of Wales. This is nowCardiff University. Lord Aberdare, who in 1885 was made a Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Bath, presided over severalRoyal Commissions at different times.[5]
Bruce was President of theRoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals from 1878 to 1893.[16][17] In 1879, he voted against legislation proposing total abolition ofvivisection which resulted in criticism from anti-vivisectionists.[18] Bruce commented that the RSPCA had no position on vivisection and should be kept distinct from the Society. Anti-vivisectionistFrances Power Cobbe noted Bruce's contradictory behaviour, as he had publicly spoken against the abolition of vivisection and voted against it.[19]
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Henry Bruce married firstly Annabella, daughter of Richard Beadon, of Clifton by Annabella à Court, sister of the1st Baron Heytesbury, on 6 January 1846. They had one son and three daughters.
After her death on 28 July 1852 he married secondly on 17 August 1854 Norah Creina Blanche, youngest daughter of Lt-GenSir William Napier, KCB the historian of thePeninsular War, whose biography he edited,[20] by Caroline Amelia, second daughter of Gen. Henry Edward Fox, son of the Earl of Ilchester. They had seven daughters and two sons, of whom:
Lord Aberdare died at his London home, 39 Princes Gardens, South Kensington, on 25 February 1895, aged 79, and was succeeded in the barony by his only son by his first marriage,Henry. He was survived by his wife, Lady Aberdare, born 1827, who died on 27 April 1897.[22] She was a proponent of women's education and active in the establishment ofAberdare Hall inCardiff.
Henry Austin Bruce is buried at Aberffrwd Cemetery inMountain Ash, Wales. His large family plot is surrounded by a chain, and his gravestone is a simple Celtic cross with double plinth and kerb. In place is written "To God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men more perfect."
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aberdare, Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 44.
Cooper, Thompson (1884)."Aberdare (Lord), Henry Austin Bruce" .Men of the Time (eleventh ed.). London: George Routledge & Sons. pp. 4–5.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMerthyr Tydfil 1852–1868 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forRenfrewshire 1869–1873 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 1862–1864 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice-President of the Committee on Education 1864–1866 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Home Secretary 1868–1873 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord President of the Council 1873–1874 | Succeeded by |
| Church of England titles | ||
| Preceded by | Second Church Estates Commissioner 1865–1866 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| New title | President of the University College of Wales Aberystwyth 1874–1895 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Royal Historical Society 1878–1891 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Aberdare 1873–1895 | Succeeded by |
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