Lord Palmerston is without a doubt one
of the most famous people ever to serve as Prime Minister of Great Britain. He
was a man dedicated to his country and to politics and spent the majority of his
adult life in and around the Palace of Westminster and government offices. He
was seen as a great reforming Prime Minister, desperate to keep Britain great by
working hard to get a better deal for everyone.
This slightly larger than life-size
bronze statue of Viscount Palmerston is by the sculptor H Young and was cast in
1859. The statue shows Palmerston standing with his left leg slightly in front
of his right. His left arm is bent at the elbow with his forearm extended and
the fingers on his hand extended with the palm up. His right arm is down by his
side with a cape or cloak resting over his rest. He is wearing a knee length
double=breasted coat that is fully buttoned. He is bare headed and has luxurious
side whiskers. His gaze is slightly to the left towards the Palace of
Westminster.
The statue is Grade II listed and its
entry, at the English Heritage website (visit
link), describes it thus:
"Statue of Henry John Temple,
Viscount Palmerston G.V. II Memorial statue. Unveiled 1876, by T Woolner, the
pedestal designed by E M Barry. Bronze standing figure on granite
pedestal."
The Spartacus Educational website (visit link)
tells us:
"Henry John Temple, son of the Irish
peer, Viscount Palmerston, was born at Broadlands, Hampshire, on 29th October,
1784. Educated at Harrow School and St. John's College, Cambridge, he succeeded
to the Irish peerage on his father's death on 16th April 1802.
At the age of twenty-two Palmerston,
a Tory, paid £1,500 to became the MP for Horsham. The legality of the election
was challenged and the following year Sir Leonard Holmes, arranged for
Palmerston to become MP for his pocket borough of Newtown on the Isle of Wight
(in 1811 he became MP for Cambridge University). One of the conditions set by
Holmes was that Palmerston was not allowed, even during election campaigns, to
visit Newtown. Later that year, Palmerston's guardian, Lord Malmesbury, arranged
for him to become appointed as lord of the admiralty in the government of the
Duke of Portland.
In October 1809, the new Prime
Minister, Spencer Perceval, offered Palmerston the post of Chancellor of the
Exchequer. As he was only twenty-five years old, Palmerston thought he was too
young for this high office and instead accepted the post of Secretary at War.
Lord Palmerston held this post for twenty years serving five Prime Ministers,
Lord Liverpool, George Canning, Lord Goderich and the Duke of
Wellington.
Although he had always been a member
of Tory administrations, Lord Palmerston accepted the offer to join Lord Grey
and his Whig government in 1830. Palmerston became Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, and for the next two years was preoccupied with persuading
France and Holland to accept that independence of Belgium.
One of the condition of being a
member of Lord Grey's government was to support the Whig policy of parliamentary
reform. Although Palmerston had previously been opposed to parliamentary reform,
he agreed to support Grey's proposed measures. The decision upset his electors
at Cambridge University and he was forced to move to Bletchley and when this
seat disappeared as a result of the 1832 Reform Act he became the MP for South
Hampshire.
Between 1832 and 1852 Lord
Palmerston served both Whig (Lord Melbourne, Lord John Russell) and Tory (Sir
Robert Peel) governments. Although Palmerston had the support of most of
Parliament, he was strongly disliked by Queen Victoria. Palmerston believed the
main objective of the government's foreign policy should be to increase
Britain's power in the world. This sometimes involved adopting policies that
embarrassed and weakened foreign governments. Victoria and her husband, Prince
Albert, on the other hand, believed that the British government should do what
it could to help preserve European royal families against revolutionary groups
advocating republicanism. This was very important to Victoria and Albert as they
were closely related to several of the European royal families that faced the
danger of being overthrown.
Queen Victoria also objected to
Palmerston's sexual behaviour. On one occasion he had attempted to seduce one of
Victoria's ladies in waiting. Palmerston entered Lady Dacre's bedroom while
staying as Victoria's guest at Windsor Castle. Only Lord Melbourne's
intervention saved Palmerston from being removed from office.
In the summer of 1850, Queen
Victoria asked Lord John Russell to dismiss Palmerston. Russell told the queen
he was unable to do this because Palmerston was very popular in the House of
Commons. However, in December 1851, Palmerston congratulated Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte on his coup in France. This action upset Russell and other radical
members of the Whig party and this time he accepted Victoria's advice and sacked
Palmerston. Six weeks later Palmerston took revenge by helping to bring down
Lord John Russell's government.
In 1855 Lord Palmerston, aged
seventy, became Prime Minister. Queen Victoria found it difficult to work with
him but their relationship gradually improved. She later wrote in her journal:
"We had, God knows! terrible trouble with him about Foreign Affairs. Still, as
Prime Minister he managed affairs at home well, and behaved to me well. But I
never liked him."
Palmerston first period as Prime
Minister lasted for three years. His second period started in 1859 when he was
seventy-five years old. The main foreign events that he had to deal with during
this period included the American Civil War and Napoleon III's war with Austria.
The main domestic issue involved the continuing debate over parliamentary
reform. Palmerston was totally opposed to any extension of the franchise and
during 1864 came into conflict with William Gladstone, his Chancellor of the
Exchequer, who was a strong supporter of reform. Palmerston won the argument and
Gladstone had to wait until he became Prime Minister before he could introduce
these measures.
Parliament was dissolved on 6th July
1865. Although nearly eighty-one years old, Palmerston refused to retire and
once again was elected to Parliament. However, before he could take up office he
became very ill and was forced to stay at his estate at Brocket Hall,
Hertfordshire.
Lord Palmerston died on 18th
October, 1865."