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The Earl Cairns | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lord Chancellor | |
| In office 29 February 1868 – 1 December 1868 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Benjamin Disraeli |
| Preceded by | The Lord Chelmsford |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Hatherley |
| In office 21 February 1874 – 21 April 1880 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Earl of Beaconsfield |
| Preceded by | The Lord Selborne |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Selborne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1819-12-27)27 December 1819 Cultra, County Down, Ireland |
| Died | 2 April 1885(1885-04-02) (aged 65) Bournemouth, Hampshire, England |
| Nationality | Anglo-Irish |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 7 |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
Hugh McCalmont Cairns, 1st Earl CairnsPC (27 December 1819 – 2 April 1885) was an Anglo-Irish statesman who served asLord High Chancellor of Great Britain during the first two ministries ofBenjamin Disraeli. He was one of the most prominentConservative statesmen in theHouse of Lords during this period ofVictorian politics. He served as the seventeenthChancellor of the University of Dublin between 1867 and 1885.
Cairns was born atCultra,County Down, Ireland. His father, William Cairns, formerly acaptain in the47th regiment, came from a family of Scottish origin which moved to Ireland around 1715. Hugh Cairns was the second son, and was educated atBelfast Academy and atTrinity College Dublin, graduating with a senior moderatorship inclassics in 1838.[1][2] In 1844, he was called to the Bar by theMiddle Temple, to which he had moved fromLincoln's Inn.[1]
During his first years at theChancery Bar, Cairns showed little eloquence. He was so slow and diffident that he feared for his legal career. However, in 1852, he enteredparliament as member forBelfast, and he became aQC in 1856. In 1858, Cairns was appointedSolicitor-General and wasknighted.[3]
In May of that year, he made two of his most brilliant and best-remembered speeches in theHouse of Commons. In the first, he defended the action ofLord Ellenborough, who, asPresident of the Board of Control, had not only censuredLord Canning for a proclamation issued by him asGovernor-General of India but had made public the despatch in which the censure was conveyed. On the other occasion referred to, Cairns spoke in opposition toLord John Russell's amendment to the motion for the second reading of the governmentReform Bill, winning the approval ofBenjamin Disraeli. Disraeli's appreciation found an opportunity for displaying itself some years later, when in 1868 he invited him to be Lord Chancellor in the briefConservative administration which followedLord Derby's resignation of the party leadership. Meanwhile, Cairns had maintained his reputation in debate, both when his party was in power and when it was in opposition.[1]
In 1866, Lord Derby, returning to office, appointed CairnsAttorney General, and in the same year he had availed himself of a vacancy to seek the comparative rest of theCourt of Appeal. While a Lord Justice he had been offered a peerage, and though at first unable to accept it, he had finally done so when a relative provided the means necessary for the endowment of a title. The appointment ofBaron Cairns as Lord Chancellor in 1868 meant supersedingLord Chelmsford, an act apparently carried out by Disraeli with little tact. Chelmsford declared that he had been sent away with less courtesy than if he had been a butler, but the testimony ofLord Malmesbury is that the affair was the result of an understanding arrived at when Lord Chelmsford took office. Disraeli held office on this occasion for only a few months. In 1869, Cairns succeeded Lord Malmesbury as the leader of the Conservative opposition in theHouse of Lords.[1]
He had distinguished himself in the Commons by his resistance to theRoman Catholics Oath Bill brought in 1865; in the Lords, his efforts on behalf of theChurch of Ireland were equally strenuous. His speech onGladstone's Suspensory Bill was afterwards published as a pamphlet, but the attitude which he and the peers who followed him had taken up, in insisting on their amendments to the preamble of the bill, was one difficult to maintain, and Lord Cairns made terms withLord Granville in circumstances which precluded his consulting his party first. He issued a circular to explain his action. The incident appears to have demonstrated his statesmanship, for he secured concessions which would have been irretrievably lost by continued opposition. Not long after this, Lord Cairns resigned the leadership of his party in the upper house, but resumed it in 1870 and opposed the Irish Land Bill in that year. Upon the Conservatives' return to power in 1874, he again became Lord Chancellor; in 1878 he was createdViscount Garmoyle andEarl Cairns; and, in 1880, his party went out of office.[1]
In opposition he did not take as prominent a part as previously, but when Disraeli (by then createdEarl of Beaconsfield) died in 1881, there were some Conservatives who considered that his claim to lead the party was better than that ofLord Salisbury. His health, never robust, had for many years shown intermittent signs of failing. He had periodically made enforced retirements to the Riviera, and for many years had had a house atBournemouth, where he died.[1]
Lord Cairns was a great supporter ofBarnardo's and was called upon by Dr.Thomas John Barnardo to open his first girl's home atBarkingside,Ilford, Essex, on 9 July 1876. Today Cairns house still stands on the one remaining green at Barkingside which was built by the children of England in memory of the First President of Dr Barnardo's Homes, The Right Honourable Earl Cairns. Cairns House was officially opened 6 August 1887.[citation needed]
His influence upon the legislation of the day was largely felt where questions affecting religion and theChurch were involved and in matters peculiarly affecting his own profession. His power was felt, as has been said, both when he was in office and when his party was in opposition. He had been chairman of the committee on judicature reform, and although he was not in office when theJudicature Acts were passed, all the reforms in the legal procedure of his day owed much to him. He took part, when out of office, in the passing of theMarried Women's Property Act 1882, and was directly responsible for theConveyancing Acts, and for theSettled Land Act. Many other statutes in which be was largely concerned might be quoted. His judgments are to be found in the Law Reports and those who wish to consider his oratory should read the speeches above referred to, or that delivered in theHouse of Lords on theCompensation for Disturbance Bill in 1880, and his memorable criticism of Mr Gladstone's policy in theTransvaal, afterMajuba Hill.[1]
Lord Cairns married, in 1856, Mary Harriet, eldest daughter of John MacNeile, ofCounty Antrim, by whom he had five sons and two daughters:[1]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cairns, Hugh McCalmont Cairns, 1st Earl".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 952–953.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBelfast 1852–1866 With:Richard Davison (until 1860) Samuel Gibson Getty (from 1860) | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Solicitor General 1858–1859 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Attorney General 1866 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1868 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1874–1880 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords 1869–1870 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the University of Dublin 1868–1885 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl Cairns 1878–1885 | Succeeded by |
| Baron Cairns 1867–1885 | ||
| Lord Chancellor |  | |
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| Lord Privy Seal Leader of the House of Lords | ||
| Home Secretary | ||
| Foreign Secretary | ||
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | ||
| Secretary of State for War | ||
| Secretary of State for India | ||
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | ||
| First Lord of the Admiralty | ||
| President of the Board of Trade | ||
| First Commissioner of Works | ||
| Chief Secretary for Ireland | ||
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