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; Charles Arthur Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen
by Sydney Prior Hall
pencil, 1890
NPG 2318
by Eveleen Myers (née Tennant)
platinum print, 25 April 1890
NPG P54
by Sydney Prior Hall
watercolour
NPG 3641
by Sydney Prior Hall
gouache on millboard, circa 1890s
NPG 2227
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1890
NPG 3378
by Eveleen Myers (née Tennant)
platinum print, 25 April 1890
NPG P146
by Sydney Prior Hall
watercolour, circa 1890s
NPG 2228
by Sydney Prior Hall
pencil, 1892
NPG 2324
by Prince Pierre Troubetskoy
oil on millboard, 1893
NPG 2159
by George Roland Halkett
pencil, 1893
NPG 3183
by Phil May
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 2819
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3362
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3364
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3369
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3370
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3371
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3372
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3374
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3375
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1893
NPG 3376
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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