1874 United Kingdom general election
The 1874 United Kingdom general election saw the incumbent Liberals, led by William Ewart Gladstone, lose decisively though it won a majority of the votes cast. Benjamin Disraeli's Conservatives won the majority of seats in the House of Commons because they won a number of uncontested seats, it was the first Conservative victory in a general election since 1841. Gladstone's decision to call an election surprised his colleagues, for they were aware of large sectors of discontent in their coalition. For example, the nonconformists were upset with education policies; the Conservatives were making gains in the middle-class, Gladstone wanted to abolish the income tax, but failed to carry his own cabinet. The result was a disaster for the Liberals, who went from 387 MPs to only 242. Conservatives jumped from 271 to 350. For the first time the Irish Nationalists gained seats, returning 60. Gladstone himself noted: "We have been swept away in a torrent of gin and beer"; the election saw Irish nationalists in the Home Rule League become the first significant third party in Parliament.
This had been the first general election that used a secret ballot following the 1872 Secret Ballot Act. The Irish Nationalist gains could well be attributed to the effects of the Secret Ballot Act as tenants faced less of a threat of eviction if they voted against the wishes of their landlords; this is the only time since the introduction of the secret ballot that a party has been defeated despite receiving an absolute majority of the popular vote. This was because over 100 Conservative candidates were elected unopposed; this meant. The election saw 652 MPs elected: 6 fewer than at the prior election. Following allegations of corruption the Conservative held constituencies of Beverley and Sligo Borough, the Liberal held constituencies of Bridgwater and Cashel, had been abolished
Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley
Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley, PC, known as The Lord Eddisbury between 1848 and 1850, was a British politician. Stanley was the son of John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley, Lady Maria Josepha, daughter of John Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield. Stanley entered the House of Commons as Whig Member of Parliament for Hindon in 1831 and was member for North Cheshire between 1832 and 1841, between 1847 and 1848, he served under Lord Melbourne as Patronage Secretary to the Treasury from 1835 to 1841, as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department in 1841 and as Paymaster-General in 1841 and under Lord John Russell as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1846 and 1852. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1841 and in 1848, two years before he succeeded to the barony of Stanley, he was created Baron Eddisbury, of Winnington in the County Palatine of Chester. Stanley was President of the Board of Trade under Lord Palmerston from 1855 to 1858, Postmaster-General under Palmerston and Lord John Russell from 1860 to 1866.
In 1861 he established the Post Office Savings Bank. Lord Stanley of Alderley married Henrietta Maria, a daughter of Viscount Dillon, in 1826. Lord and Lady Stanley of Alderley had ten children: Henry Edward John, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley Hon. Alice Margaret, wife of Augustus Pitt Rivers Hon. Blanche Countess of Airlie, wife of David Ogilvy. Maude Alethea Hon. Cecilia Hon. John Constantine Edward Lyulph Stanley, 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley Hon. Algernon Charles, Roman Catholic Bishop of Emmaus Hon. Katherine Louisa Viscountess Amberley, wife of John Russell, Viscount Amberley. Lord Stanley of Alderley died in June 1869, aged 66, was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry. Lady Stanley of Alderley died in February 1895, aged 87. In the 1930s his family's letters were published by his descendant Nancy Mitford as: The Ladies of Alderley: Letters 1841–1850 The Stanleys of Alderley: Their letters 1851–1865 Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Edward Stanley
John Jervis (lawyer)
Sir John Jervis, PC was an English lawyer, law reformer and Attorney General in the administration of Lord John Russell. He subsequently became a judge and enjoyed a career as a robust but intelligent and innovative jurist, a career cut short by his early and sudden death; the son of Thomas Jervis, he was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, though he did not graduate preferring to take a commission as an officer in the British Army. However, after two years he returned to study law being called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1824. Jervis followed his father onto the Oxford circuit and the Chester and north Wales circuit and built a substantial practice, being appointed a postman of the Court of Exchequer, he was offered the distinction of Queen's Counsel in 1837 but, aspiring to a political career, he declined, managing to obtain a patent of precedence instead. Between 1826 and 1832, Jervis collaborated in law reporting with Charles John Crompton and was the co-reporter in Younge & Jervis.
Jervis's Office and Duties of Coroners remains the leading practitioners' text on coroners and inquests with a 13th edition due in late 2007. He undertook a major rewrite of Archbold Criminal Pleading and Practice to produce the 4th edition and went on to edit the 5th to 8th editions. Jervis went on to author four editions of All the Rules of the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas and Exchequer and established his reputation as a leading scholar of procedure so that in 1850 he was appointed chair of a commission to inquire into practice and procedure at the common law courts, alongside James Shaw Willes and George Wilshere, 1st Baron Bramwell; the commission's findings led to the Common Law Procedure Acts 1852-4 which started the process of rationalising the English courts, until still hampered by much medieval practice, creating the modern system. Jervis was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Chester in 1832 and held the seat until he became a judge in 1850. Jervis was never overly concerned with local politics and was distant as a constituency MP being censured in the Liberal Chester Chronicle for his inaction over the River Dee Bill and his overly-insistent attempts to ensure that his son was nominated as candidate in his stead when he stood down.
Jervis did however take an uncharacteristic interest in the Chester Criminals' Execution Bill, the Weaver Churches Act 1840. Jervis was appointed Solicitor-General in 1846, becoming Attorney-General three days when Sir Thomas Wilde was appointed a judge. Jervis was Attorney-General while the revolutions of 1848 were unfolding across Europe and affecting events in the UK; the collateral domestic civil unrest resulted in the speedy enactment of the Treason Felony Act 1848 and Jervis was involved in the drafting and promotion of the Bill. The Act in turn generated a heavy workload for Jervis in running prosecutions against Chartist activists. Jervis won all such prosecution and achieved some fame and honour, being considered for high judicial office. By 1848, the institution of Justice of the Peace in England and Wales had fallen into disrepute in some legal circles, its statutory basis dating back to the sixteenth century. Jervis was responsible for sponsoring and all-but single-handedly guiding through the House of Commons three bills to reform the criminal and civil roles of a Justice of the Peace in England and Wales: Indictable Offences Act 1848.
The Acts won considerable praise as soon as they came into force though they did attract criticism for their verbose style. In retrospect, Getzler expresses the opinion that the system of local justices would have fallen into further disrepute and ultimate decline and desuetude without these reforms; these Acts defined the modern system of summary and indictable offences within the Magistrates' Courts. The Indictable Offences Act 1848 is important in that it is the first codification of the police caution in England and Wales, in the words: The first two Acts defined the duties of Justices acting other than at quarter sessions. Jervis achieved consistency of practice by appending extensive forms and precedents to the Acts so as to provide a straightforward means by which Justices could comply though allowing them, at least the perception of, freedom to adapt to local circumstances; the prudent Justice follows precedent and this was a character trait a future Attorney-General, Alexander Cockburn, would use in the Common Law Procedure Act 1852 and the Common Law Procedure Act 1854.
A fourth Act, the Petty Sessions Act 1849, proscribed the holding of petty sessions in "unsuitable" premises such as public houses, though it was delayed because the Bill's provisions as to salaries for magistrates' clerks and statutory scales for court fees proved unacceptable. Jervis was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and appointed a Privy Councillor. In 1854, he heard the case of Talbot v. Laroche, a legal action pivotal to the history of photography, his greatest judicial achievement, was the creation of the "indoor management rule" or rule in Turquand's case, giving protection to third parties who deal with a company in good faith without knowledge that the company has not followed its own internal procedures. Jervis died possibly of lung cancer, on 1 November 1856 in London and was buried at Shipbourne. List of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1840–59 The Jurist, new ser. 2/2, p.458 Law Times, 8 Nov 1856, pp85–6 Law Magazine, new ser. 2, pp302–7 The English Reports
England
England is a country, part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to Scotland to the north-northwest; the Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south; the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century, since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world; the English language, the Anglican Church, English law – the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world – developed in England, the country's parliamentary system of government has been adopted by other nations.
The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's terrain is chiefly low hills and plains in central and southern England. However, there is upland and mountainous terrain in the west; the capital is London, which has the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. England's population of over 55 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom concentrated around London, the South East, conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century; the Kingdom of England – which after 1535 included Wales – ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The name "England" is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means "land of the Angles"; the Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages. The Angles came from the Anglia peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea; the earliest recorded use of the term, as "Engla londe", is in the late-ninth-century translation into Old English of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The term was used in a different sense to the modern one, meaning "the land inhabited by the English", it included English people in what is now south-east Scotland but was part of the English kingdom of Northumbria; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Domesday Book of 1086 covered the whole of England, meaning the English kingdom, but a few years the Chronicle stated that King Malcolm III went "out of Scotlande into Lothian in Englaland", thus using it in the more ancient sense.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its modern spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, in which the Latin word Anglii is used; the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars. How and why a term derived from the name of a tribe, less significant than others, such as the Saxons, came to be used for the entire country and its people is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling the Germanic people in Britain Angli Saxones or English Saxons to distinguish them from continental Saxons of Old Saxony between the Weser and Eider rivers in Northern Germany. In Scottish Gaelic, another language which developed on the island of Great Britain, the Saxon tribe gave their name to the word for England. An alternative name for England is Albion; the name Albion referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus the 4th-century BC De Mundo: "Beyond the Pillars of Hercules is the ocean that flows round the earth.
In it are two large islands called Britannia. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, i.e. it was written in the Graeco-Roman period or afterwards. The word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins, it either derives from a cognate of the Latin albus meaning white, a reference to the white cliffs of Dover or from the phrase the "island of the Albiones" in the now lost Massaliote Periplus, attested through Avienus' Ora Maritima to which the former served as a source. Albion is now applied to England in a more poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend; the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximate
1847 United Kingdom general election
The 1847 United Kingdom general election saw candidates calling themselves Conservatives win the most seats, in part because they won a number of uncontested seats. However, the split among the Conservatives between the majority of Protectionists, led by Lord Stanley, the minority of free traders, known as the Peelites, led by former prime minister Sir Robert Peel, left the Whigs, led by Prime Minister Lord John Russell, in a position to continue in government; the Irish Repeal group won more seats than in the previous general election, while the Chartists gained the only seat they were to hold, Nottingham's second seat, held by Chartist leader Feargus O'Connor. The election witnessed the election of Britain's first Jewish MP, the Liberal Lionel de Rothschild in the City of London. Members being sworn in were however required to swear the Christian Oath of Allegiance, meaning Rothschild was unable to take his seat until the passage of the Jews Relief Act in 1858. Craig, F. W. S. British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN 0900178302 Rallings, Colin.
British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, Ashgate Publishing Ltd Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts; the essence of antiquarianism is a focus on the empirical evidence of the past, is best encapsulated in the motto adopted by the 18th-century antiquary Sir Richard Colt Hoare, "We speak from facts, not theory." Today the term is used in a pejorative sense, to refer to an excessively narrow focus on factual historical trivia, to the exclusion of a sense of historical context or process. During the Song Dynasty, the scholar Ouyang Xiu analyzed alleged ancient artifacts bearing archaic inscriptions in bronze and stone, which he preserved in a collection of some 400 rubbings. Patricia Ebrey writes; the Kaogutu or "Illustrated Catalogue of Examined Antiquity" compiled by Lü Dalin is one of the oldest known catalogues to systematically describe and classify ancient artifacts which were unearthed.
Another catalogue was the Chong xiu Xuanhe bogutu or "Revised Illustrated Catalogue of Xuanhe Profoundly Learned Antiquity", commissioned by Emperor Huizong of Song, featured illustrations of some 840 vessels and rubbings. Interests in antiquarian studies of ancient inscriptions and artifacts waned after the Song Dynasty, but were revived by early Qing Dynasty scholars such as Gu Yanwu and Yan Ruoju. In ancient Rome, a strong sense of traditionalism motivated an interest in studying and recording the "monuments" of the past. Books on antiquarian topics covered such subjects as the origin of customs, religious rituals, political institutions. Annals and histories might include sections pertaining to these subjects, but annals are chronological in structure, Roman histories, such as those of Livy and Tacitus, are both chronological and offer an overarching narrative and interpretation of events. By contrast, antiquarian works as a literary form are organized by topic, any narrative is short and illustrative, in the form of anecdotes.
Major antiquarian Latin writers with surviving works include Varro, Pliny the Elder, Aulus Gellius, Macrobius. The Roman emperor Claudius published antiquarian works, none of, extant; some of Cicero's treatises his work on divination, show strong antiquarian interests, but their primary purpose is the exploration of philosophical questions. Roman-era Greek writers dealt with antiquarian material, such as Plutarch in his Roman Questions and the Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus; the aim of Latin antiquarian works is to collect a great number of possible explanations, with less emphasis on arriving at a truth than in compiling the evidence. The antiquarians are used as sources by the ancient historians, many antiquarian writers are known only through these citations. Despite the importance of antiquarian writing in the literature of ancient Rome, some scholars view antiquarianism as emerging only in the Middle Ages. Medieval antiquarians sometimes made collections of inscriptions or records of monuments, but the Varro-inspired concept of antiquitates among the Romans as the "systematic collections of all the relics of the past" faded.
Antiquarianism's wider flowering is more associated with the Renaissance, with the critical assessment and questioning of classical texts undertaken in that period by humanist scholars. Textual criticism soon broadened into an awareness of the supplementary perspectives on the past which could be offered by the study of coins and other archaeological remains, as well as documents from medieval periods. Antiquaries formed collections of these and other objects; the importance placed on lineage in early modern Europe meant that antiquarianism was closely associated with genealogy, a number of prominent antiquaries held office as professional heralds. The development of genealogy as a "scientific" discipline went hand-in-hand with the development of antiquarianism. Genealogical antiquaries recognised the evidential value for their researches of non-textual sources, including seals and church monuments. Many early modern antiquaries were chorographers:, to say, they recorded landscapes and monuments within regional or national descriptions.
In England, some of the most important of these took the form of county histories. In the context of the 17th-century scientific revolution, more that of the "Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns" in England and France, the antiquaries were on the side of the "Moderns", they argued that empirical primary evidence could be used to refine and challenge the received interpretations of history handed down from literary authorities. By the end of the 19th century, antiquarianism had diverged into a number of more specialized academic disciplines including archaeology, art history, sigillography, literary studies and diplomatics. Antiquaries had al
1857 United Kingdom general election
In the 1857 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston won a majority in the House of Commons as the Conservative vote fell significantly. The election had been provoked by a vote of censure in Palmerston's government over his approach to the Arrow affair which led to the Second Opium War. Aged 72 Palmerston became the oldest person to win a general election for the first time; as of 2019 there has been no person as old as Palmerston to win a general election for the first time. Craig, F. W. S. British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN 0900178302 Rallings, Colin. British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, Ashgate Publishing Ltd 1857 General Election Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
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