William Ewart Gladstone
(1809-1898), Prime Minister and writer; Trustee of the National Portrait GalleryEarly Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter associated with 324 portraits
Famous as the ‘grand old man’ of British politics; Gladstone was leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister in four governments from 1868 to 1894. Gladstone was responsible for major reforms in every sphere of national life, and for the development of imperial foreign policy. He divided the party on the issue of Irish Home Rule and stamped his moral authority on the politics of his time. Gladstone’s father, John Gladstone was one of the largest owners of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and this wealth supported Gladstone’s early career in politics. As a politician, Gladstone supported the proposal to compensate slave-owners for the loss of their ‘property’ after slavery was abolished and the introduction of the apprenticeship system that required newly freed Africans to continue working for their masters for four to six years.
William Ewart Gladstone; Joe Chamberlain and seven other sitters
after Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.')
glass lantern slide, circa 1892-1895
NPG D41922
after Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.')
glass lantern slide, circa 1892-1895
NPG D41923
after Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.')
glass lantern slide, circa 1892-1895
NPG D41924
after Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.')
glass lantern slide, circa 1892-1895
NPG D41925
Joe Chamberlain, Gladstone, Balfour, Harcourt et al
after Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.')
glass lantern slide, circa 1892-1895
NPG D41942
William Ewart Gladstone; Joe Chamberlain
after Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.')
glass lantern slide, circa 1892-1895
NPG D41944
"Mixed Political Wares: Methodical & Methodist, Babble and Bluster and Faithful & Faddist"
by Sir Leslie Ward
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 3 December 1892
NPG D44623
William Ewart Gladstone ('The evening of his days: Mr Gladstone in the library at Hawarden Castle')
after Sydney Prior Hall
wood engraving, published 19 May 1898 (1890s)
NPG D34518
William Ewart Gladstone ('Mr. Gladstone speaking on the Transvaal difficulty, March 16, 1883')
by Charles Roberts, after Theodore Blake Wirgman
wood engraving, published by The Graphic 1898
NPG D34526
by Carlo Pellegrini, printed by Vincent Brooks, Day & Son
chromolithograph, reprint published in Vanity Fair 26 May 1898; originally published 16 February 1869
NPG D44909
published by William Heinemann, after William Nicholson
lithographic reproduction of a hand-coloured woodcut, published 1899
NPG D32965
after Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.')
line block postcard, circa 1903
NPG D42276
Key to Private View of the Old Masters Exhibition, Royal Academy, 1888
after Henry Jamyn Brooks
photograph, 1919 or after
NPG D42236
by Unknown photographer
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s-1870s
NPG Ax38749
by William Walker & Sons
albumen carte-de-visite, 1862-1866
NPG Ax10005
by Caldesi, Blanford & Co
albumen carte-de-visite, 9 July 1863
NPG x5953
by Henry Joseph Whitlock
albumen carte-de-visite, circa 1869
NPG x27762
Related People
- Mary Drew (née Gladstone) (daughter)
- Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone (son)
- Henry Neville Gladstone, 1st Baron Gladstone of Hawarden (son)
- Catherine Gladstone (née Glynne) (wife)
- Constance Gertrude Gladstone (granddaughter)
- Evelyn Catherine Gladstone (granddaughter)
- Helen Gladstone (daughter)
- Sir John Gladstone (father)
- Robertson Gladstone (brother)
- Stephen Deiniol Gladstone (grandson)
- Stephen Edward Gladstone (son)
- Sir Thomas Gladstone, 2nd Bt (brother)
- William Glynne Charles Gladstone (grandson)
- William Henry Gladstone (son)
- Dorothy Mary Catherine ('Dossie') Parish (née Drew) (granddaughter)
- Agnes Wickham (née Gladstone) (daughter)
- Lucy C. Wickham (granddaughter)
- Margaret Wickham (granddaughter)
- William G. Wickham (grandson)
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