Historic Prime Minister William Gladstone
FOR some of us, William Gladstone is a name from the history books – a great statesman of a bygone era.
FOR some of us, William Gladstone is a name from the history books – a great statesman of a bygone era. A Victorian icon fading with the passage of time.
Yet at Flintshire's Hawarden Castle the spirit lives on of this towering figure of the 19th century, who served four times as Britain's prime minister.
He has, of course, been chosen by Daily Post readers as one of our top 30 Great North Walians.
The castle remains the home of the Gladstone family and at its head is Sir William Gladstone, 84 last week, great grandson of the former prime minister.
To sit with Sir William in his study at the castle and talk about his great grandfather, surrounded by shelf upon shelf of history books is to feel transported back to the Victorian age dominated by Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli.
"When I was a child, most adults in Britain remembered Gladstone as a living person and gradually they disappeared and he has become an historical figure," says Sir William, whose father Charles was Gladstone's second son.
"But I have learned about him from his grandchildren who know him. My father attended Gladstone's funeral as a schoolboy, he walked behind the coffin with his brother. It was all vivid to him."
There will soon be a new history book about Gladstone, written by Sir William himself, from the very room where Gladstone would himself have penned books and speeches.
It is called Gladstone: A Bicentenary Portrait and is intended to delve further into the life of Gladstone the man, not just the politician. It will contain previously unseen essays and documentary evidence from castle archives and be available from December from Norwich publishers Michael Russell.
"What I want to do is to enable people to know what Gladstone was like, what he wanted to achieve and feel they know the man by the time they have read it," says Sir William.
"It's not just concerned with praising him, but detailing his problems, difficulties and mistakes. I have picked out some of the most important scenes in his life. It's a labour of love and I should have started it long before."
Does the direct family link help him get closer to his subject? "I feel I do know quite a lot about him. (Former Home Secretary) Roy Jenkins paid me a lot of visits and asked me a lot of questions for his biography – it is very good on his politics and the House of Commons, but he was weak on some of his other characteristics.
"I am claiming to have a slightly different perception of Gladstone because I feel I know the man intimately, I have spent so long studying him and I like the man.
"I understand his faults and his foibles but I like him. It helps to be a direct descendant and to have the privilege of living among his possessions and books. His spirit lives on here."
Sir William admires Gladstone as a free thinker, many of whose ideas were before his time, who generated considerable hostility among contemporaries, including his monarch, Victoria.
There is much which can connect people today with a politician like Gladstone, believes Sir William.
"He hated the idea of the British fighting wars in order to acquire territory. He roused the nation against the atrocities committed against the Christians in the Turkish empire and later in life against the Armenians.
"He was taking an absolutely modern 21st century view of international tolerance. Gladstone is worth celebrating because he pioneered a fair society and an inclusive society. He pioneered protests against ethnic and racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing. He started out on the road. It's very easy to forget that the first steps are the most difficult steps."
Sir William admits his own world view is influenced by his remarkable great grandfather. Does he regret not following in his footsteps and giving Britain and the modern-day Liberals a second William Gladstone?
"No, because I felt that all the glory I could get would be reflected glory. He was very much cleverer and more gifted than me," replies Sir William. "I would have been a poor shadow of the great man."