Lord Palmerston - Carlton Gardens, London, UK
N 51° 30.342 W 000° 08.024
30U E 698911 N 5709958
This brown, "blue", plaque for Lord Palmerston is embedded into a house just north of The Mall.
Waymark Code: WME6XV
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/11/2012
Views: 6
The plaque reads:
|
LCC
Lord
Palmerston
1784-1865
Statesman
Lived Here
|
|
Beneath the plaque is
another, rectangular plaque that reads:
|
|
|
Tablet fixed 1907
Premises rebuilt 1933
Tablet refixed 1936
|
|
The Spartacus Schoolnet website (visit
link) tells us about Palmerston:
"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."
Blue Plaque managing agency: LCC
Individual Recognized: Lord Palmerston
Physical Address: 4 Carlton Gardens London, United Kingdom
Web Address: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:To log an entry for a "Blue Plaque," please try to include a picture of you next to the plaque!
|