Sir Charles Lyell and William Gladstone - Harley Street, London, UK - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com

The Famous Scientists website has an article about Sir Charles Lyell that tells us:

Sir Charles Lyell was the most famous lawyer and geologist of his time. One of the most important British scientists in history, Lyell wrote “Principles of Geology”, a landmark work in geology that explores James Hutton’s doctrine of uniformitarianism.

Early Life and Education:

Born at Kinnordy, Scotland to a botanist father who possessed considerable literary tastes, Charles Lyell graduated from Oxford in 1821, and joined the bar in 1825. He soon realized that his ambitions were more towards science, so, in 1827, he finally chose geology over the law.

Contributions and Achievements:

The first volume of his legendary book “Principles of Geology” was published in 1830. The third and last volume was published three years later. It is considered to be a work of synthesis, supported by his own personal observations on his travels.

Lyell’s primary belief was that all the the past changes of the earth can be detailed by the forces now acting. The notion became the fundamental basis of modern geology. It is very difficult to explain how odd it appeared at that time.

His another work, “Antiquity of Man”, was published in 1863, and discussed the proofs of the long existence of human beings on the earth. Lyell’s geological approach tends to be an assessment of evolutionism in the wider sense. He was one the earliest men to embrace Darwin’s theory of natural selection in biology.

Lyell’s geological contributions ranged from volcanoes and geological dynamics through stratigraphy, paleontology, and glaciology to subjects that would now be considered as parts of prehistoric archaeology and paleoanthropology.

Later Life and Death:

In 1866, Charles Lyell was made a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Lyell died on February 22, 1875. He was 77 years old. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The BBC website tells us about William Gladstone:

Four-times Liberal prime minister of Great Britain, Gladstone was one of the dominant political figures of the Victorian era and a passionate campaigner on a huge variety of issues, including home rule for Ireland.

William Ewart Gladstone was born on 29 December 1809 in Liverpool, the son of a prosperous merchant. He was educated at Eton and Oxford University and was elected to parliament in 1832, as a Tory. He made his mark from the start and held junior offices in Robert Peel's government of 1834 - 1835. Although he was slowly moving towards liberalism, in 1843 Gladstone entered Peel's Conservative cabinet. When the Conservatives split in 1846, Gladstone followed Peel in becoming a Liberal-Conservative. Between 1846 and 1859 Gladstone was politically isolated, although he held some cabinet posts, including chancellor of the exchequer, a position he would ultimately hold three times.

In 1859, he joined the Liberals, becoming their leader in 1867 and the following year, prime minister for the first time. His government created a national elementary programme and made major reforms in the justice system and the civil service. Ireland was always a focus for Gladstone. In 1869 he disestablished the Irish Protestant church and passed an Irish Land Act to rein-in unfair landlords. A heavy defeat in the 1874 general election led to Gladstone's arch-rival Benjamin Disraeli becoming Conservative prime minister, and Gladstone retired as Liberal leader. He remained a formidable government opponent, attacking the Conservatives over their failure to respond to Turkish brutality in the Balkans - the 'Eastern Crisis'.

In 1880, Gladstone became prime minister for the second time, combining this with the office of chancellor for two years. His failure to rescue General Charles Gordon from Khartoum and slow reaction to other imperial issues cost him dear, and in 1885 the government's budget was defeated, prompting him to resign.

Gladstone's third (1886) and fourth (1892 - 1894) terms as prime minister were dominated by his crusade for home rule in Ireland. The years he was out of office were devoted to the issue as well. His first home rule bill in 1886 split the Liberal Party and was rejected. In 1893, another home rule bill was rejected by the House of Lords. Gladstone found himself increasingly at odds with his cabinet and, in 1894, he resigned. He died of cancer on 19 May 1898 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.