Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (original) (raw)

Earl of Rosebery

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (May 7, 1847 - May 21, 1929). British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Also known as Archibald Primrose (1847-1851), Lord Dalmeny (1851-1868).

After an education at Eton College and Oxford, Dalmeny succeeded to his grandfather's Scottish earldom in 1868. Becoming involved in politics, he became a Liberal, and was involved in Gladstone's Midlothian Campaign, which brought the Liberals back into power in 1880. In the Liberal administration that followed, Rosebery served in junior offices, including that of Undersecretary of State for the Home Department, before entering the Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal in March, 1885.

Rosebery became a leader of the Liberal Imperialist faction of the Liberal Party, and in Gladstone's third (February - July 1886) and fourth (August 1892 to March 1894) administrations, Rosebery served as Foreign Secretary. When Gladstone retired in 1894, Rosebery became his successor as Prime Minister, much to the disgust of Sir William Harcourt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the more left-wing Liberals. Rosebery's government was largely unsuccessful - his designs in foreign policy, such as expansion of the fleet, were defeated by disagreements within the Liberal Party, while the Tory dominated House of Lords stopped the whole of the Liberals' domestic legislation. On June 21, 1895, Rosebery resigned, and a conservative government under Lord Salisbury, took his place.

Rosebery resigned as leader of the Liberal Party on October 8, 1896, to be succeeded by Harcourt, and gradually moved further and further from the mainstream of the party, supporting the Boer War and opposing Irish Home Rule, a position which prevented him from participating in the Liberal government that returned to power in 1905. In his later years, Rosebery turned to writing, including biographies of Lord Chatham, Pitt the Younger, Napoleon, and Lord Randolph Churchill. He was also noted for his champion racehourses.

Lord Rosebery's Government, March 1894 - June 1895

• Lord Rosebery - First Lord of the Treasury and Lord President of the Council
• Lord Herschell - Lord Chancellor
• Lord Tweedmouth - Lord Privy Seal
• Herbert Henry Asquith - Secretary of State for the Home Department
• Lord Kimberley - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• Lord Ripon - Secretary of State for the Colonies
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman - Secretary of State for War
• Sir Henry Hartley Fowler - Secretary of State for India
• Sir William Harcourt - Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Lord Spencer - First Lord of the Admiralty
• Anthony John Mundella - President of the Board of Trade
• Arnold Morley - Postmaster-General
• George John Shaw-Lefevre - President of the Local Government Board
• James Bryce - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• John Morley - Chief Secretary for Ireland
• Sir George Otto Trevelyan - Secretary for Scotland
• Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland - Vice President of the Council

Changes

• May 1894 - James Bryce succeeds A.J. Mundella at the Board of Trade. Lord Tweedmouth succeeds Bryce at the Duchy of Lancaster, remaining also Lord Privy Seal.