Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare
| The Right Honourable The Lord Aberdare GCB PC FRS | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 9 December 1868 – 9 August 1873 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | Gathorne Hardy |
| Succeeded by | Robert Lowe |
| Lord President of the Council | |
| In office 9 August 1873 – 21 February 1874 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | The Earl de Grey and Ripon |
| Succeeded by | The Duke of Richmond |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 April 1815 Duffryn, Aberdare, Glamorganshire |
| Died | 25 February 1895 (aged 79) London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Annabella Beadon (d. 1852) (2) Norah Napier (c. 1827–1897) |
Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare GCB, PC, FRS (16 April 1815 – 25 February 1895) was a British Liberal Party politician, who served in government most notably as Home Secretary (1868–1873) and as Lord President of the Council.[1]
Background and education
Henry Bruce was born at Duffryn, Aberdare, Glamorganshire, the son of John Bruce, a Glamorganshire landowner, by his wife Sarah, daughter of Reverend Hugh Williams Austin. John Bruce's original family name was Knight, but on coming of age in 1805 he assumed the name of Bruce: his mother, through whom he inherited the Duffryn estate, was the daughter of William Bruce, high sheriff of Glamorganshire.
Henry was educated at the Bishop Gore School, Swansea (Swansea Grammar School), and in 1837 was called to the bar. Shortly after he had begun to practice, the discovery of coal beneath the Duffryn and other Aberdare Valley estates brought his family great wealth.[2]
Political career
From 1847 to 1854 Bruce was stipendiary magistrate for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, resigning the position in the latter year, when he entered parliament as Liberal member for Merthyr Tydfil.[2] The electorate at this time remained relatively small, excluding the vast majority of the working classes. Significantly, however, Bruce's relationship with the miners of the Aberdare Valley, in particular, deteriorated as a result of the Aberdare Strike of 1857-8. In a speech to a large audience of miners at the Aberdare Market Hall, Bruce sought to strike a conciliatory tone in persuading the miners to retuen to work. In a second speech, however, he delivered a broadside against the trade union movement generally, referring to the violence engendered elsewhere as a result of strikes and to alleged examples of intimidation and violence in the immediate locality.[3] The strike damaged his reputation and may well have contributed to his eventual election defeat ten years later.
During his time as member for Merthyr, he became involved in the management of the Dowlais Iron Company. In 1862 he became Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department. At the 1868 General Election, Merthyr Tydfil became a two-member constituency but Bruce was defeated by Henry Richard and Richard Fothergill. However, after losing his seat, Bruce was elected for Renfrewshire, he was made Home Secretary by William Ewart Gladstone. His tenure of this office was conspicuous for a reform of the licensing laws, and he was responsible for the Licensing Act 1872, which made the magistrates the licensing authority, increased the penalties for misconduct in public-houses and shortened the number of hours for the sale of drink. In 1873 Bruce relinquished the home secretaryship, at Gladstone's request, to become Lord President of the Council, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Aberdare, of Duffryn in the County of Glamorgan, on 23 August that year.[2]
Public career after 1874
The defeat of the Liberal government in the following year terminated Lord Aberdare's official political life, and he subsequently devoted himself to social, educational and economic questions. In 1876 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; from 1878 to 1891 he was president of the Royal Historical Society; and in 1881 he became president of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Girls' Day School Trust.[2] In 1888 he headed the commission that established the Official Table of Drops, listing how far a person of a particular weight should be dropped when hanged for a capital offence (the only method of 'judicial execution' in the United Kingdom at that time), to ensure an instant and painless death, by cleanly breaking the neck between the 2nd and 3rd vertebrae, an 'exacting science', eventually brought to perfection by Chief Executioner Albert Pierrepoint.
In 1882 he began a connection with West Africa which lasted the rest of his life, by accepting the chairmanship of the National African Company, formed by Sir George Goldie, which in 1886 received a charter under the title of the Royal Niger Company and in 1899 was taken over by the British government, its territories being constituted the protectorate of Nigeria. West African affairs, however, by no means exhausted Lord Aberdare's energies, and it was principally through his efforts that a charter was in 1894 obtained for the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire,a constituent institution of the University of Wales. This is now Cardiff University. Lord Aberdare, who in 1885 was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, presided over several Royal Commissions at different times.[2]
Family
Henry Bruce married firstly Annabella, daughter of Richard Beadon, in 1846. They had one son and three daughters. After her death in July 1852 he married secondly Norah Creina Blanche, daughter of Sir William Napier, the historian of the Peninsular War, whose biography he edited.[4] They had seven daughters and two sons, of whom the youngest was the mountaineer Charles Granville Bruce. Their daughter, Sarah was married to Montague Muir Mackenzie, barrister.[5]
Lord Aberdare died in London on 25 February 1895, aged 79, and was succeeded in the barony by his only son from his first marriage, Henry. Lady Aberdare, born 1827, died in April 1897[6] and was a proponent of women's education and active in the establishment of Aberdare Hall in Cardiff.
Memorial
Henry Austin Bruce is buried at Aberffrwd Cemetery in Mountain Ash, Wales. His large family plot is surrounded by a chain, and his grave is a simple Celtic cross with double plinth and kerb. In place is written "To God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men more perfect."
References
- ↑ Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 4
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aberdare, Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. - ↑ "The Great Strike and the Colliers". Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian. 12 December 1857. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
- ↑ Chisholm 1911.
- ↑ "Hon. Sarah Napier Bruce". www.thepeerage.com. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ↑ Cardiff University Archives accessed 28 December 2011
Bibliography
- Cooper, Thompson (1884). "Aberdare (Lord), Henry Austin Bruce". Men of the Time (eleventh ed.). London: George Routledge & Sons. pp. 4–5.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Bruce
- Portraits of Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare at the National Portrait Gallery, London
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