Edward Pleydell-Bouverie | |
|---|---|
 "He did not decline the Speakership" Pleydell-Bouverie as caricatured inVanity Fair, July 1872 | |
| Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
| In office 9 July 1850 – 21 February 1852 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Lord John Russell |
| Preceded by | George Cornewall Lewis |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Jolliffe, Bt |
| Paymaster General and Vice-President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 31 March 1855 – 13 August 1855 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | The Lord Stanley of Alderley |
| Succeeded by | Robert Lowe |
| President of the Poor Law Board | |
| In office 13 August 1855 – 21 February 1858 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | Matthew Talbot Baines |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Sotheron-Estcourt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1818-04-26)26 April 1818 |
| Died | 16 December 1889(1889-12-16) (aged 71) 44 Wilton Crescent, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Balfour (d. 1889) |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Edward Pleydell-BouveriePC,FRS (26 April 1818 – 16 December 1889), styledThe Honourable from 1828 to 1855, was a BritishLiberal politician. He was a member ofLord Palmerston's first administration asPaymaster General andVice-President of the Board of Trade in 1855 and asPresident of the Poor Law Board between 1855 and 1858.
Pleydell-Bouverie was the second son ofWilliam Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor, by his second wife, Anne Judith, third daughter of Sir Henry St John-Mildmay, 3rd Baronet.[1] The family homes were atLongford Castle in Wiltshire andColeshill House in Berkshire (nowOxfordshire).Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 4th Earl of Radnor, was his elder brother. He was educated atHarrow School andTrinity College, Cambridge, graduating as aMaster of Arts in 1838.[2] Like a number of his kinsmen, he became an officer in the part-timeRoyal Berkshire Militia, being commissioned as acaptain on 23 February 1838 and was still listed in 1852.[3]
He was a précis writer toLord Palmerston from January to June 1840 before he wascalled to the Bar,Inner Temple, on 27 January 1843.[3][4]
In 1844 Pleydell-Bouverie was returned to Parliament forKilmarnock Burghs, a constituency he represented until 1874.[4][5] He served asUnder-Secretary of State for the Home Department inLord John Russell'sfirst administration from July 1850 to March 1852,[3][4] and from April 1853 to March 1855 he was Chairman of Committees of theHouse of Commons, whileLord Aberdeen was prime minister. In March 1855, when Lord Palmerston became premier, Pleydell-Bouverie was madePaymaster General andVice-President of the Board of Trade,[3][4] and sworn of thePrivy Council.[6] In August of the same year he was transferred to thePresidency of the Poor Law Board, a position he held until 1858.[3][1] However, he was never a member of the cabinet. In 1857 he was appointed one of the committee of the Council on Education. He wasSecond Church Estate Commissioner from August 1859 to November 1865, and from 1869 he was one of theEcclesiastical Commissioners for England.[4]
Though a staunch liberal, Pleydell-Bouverie belonged to the oldwhig school, and during his last years in parliament often found himself in disagreement with the policies of Liberal prime minister,William Ewart Gladstone. In 1872, when a charge of evasion of the law was made against Gladstone in connection with the appointment he made to the rectory ofEwelme, Pleydell-Bouverie expressed regret "We all have our amusements at various times, but that of the right hon. Gentleman, when he has nothing else to do, is to drive coaches and six through Acts of Parliament".[4][7]
When theIrish University Bill was introduced in March, Pleydell-Bouverie finally broke with Gladstone. He denounced the measure as miserably bad and scandalously inadequate to its professed object. He voted against the second reading on 10 March, when the government was defeated.[4][8] Subsequently, in letters addressed toThe Times he continued his attacks on the measure and on its framers.[4]
After his retirement from parliament in 1874, Pleydell-Bouverie became in 1877 associated with theCorporation of Foreign Bondholders, and was soon made its chairman. Under his guidance the debts of many countries were readjusted, and the corporation's scheme for dealing with the Turkish debt was confirmed by the sultan's iradé of January 1882.[4] Bouverie was Deputy Chairman of theMersey Railway at its opening in 1886. He was also director of theGreat Western Railway Company and of thePeninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. He addressed numerous letters toThe Times newspaper under the signature of "E. P. B."[4]
He was appointedHigh Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1882–83.[9]
Pleydell-Bouverie married Elizabeth Anne, youngest daughter of GeneralRobert Balfour of Balbirnie, Fife, on 1 November 1842. They lived atMarket Lavington Manor in Wiltshire and had two sons, Walter (5 July 1848 – 20 May 1893), a captain in the 2nd Wiltshire Rifle Volunteers, and Edward Oliver (12 December 1856 – 13 May 1938), and three daughters.[3][4] One, Eglantine, marriedAugustus Keppel Stephenson,Director of Public Prosecutions from 1884 to 1894. Elizabeth Anne died in August 1889. Pleydell-Bouverie only survived her by four months and died at 44Wilton Crescent, London, on 16 December 1889, aged 71.[4]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forKilmarnock Burghs 1844 –1874 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 1850–1852 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Paymaster General March – August 1855 | Succeeded by |
| Vice-President of the Board of Trade March – August 1855 | ||
| Preceded by | President of the Poor Law Board August 1855 – 1858 | Succeeded by |
| Church of England titles | ||
| Preceded by | Second Church Estates Commissioner 1859–1865 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
