The Preambulator (Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith)
1 portrait of Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith
© National Portrait Gallery, London
The Preambulator (Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith)
by Bernard Partridge
pen and ink on artists' board, 1911
14 5/8 in. x 10 3/4 in. (372 mm x 272 mm)
Given by the Art Fund, 1949
Reference Collection
NPG D9962
Sitterback to top
- Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1852-1928), Prime Minister. Sitter in 73 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Sir (John) Bernard Partridge (1861-1945), Cartoonist and illustrator. Artist or producer associated with 91 portraits, Sitter in 20 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This drawing by Bernard Partridge was published in Punch on 25 January 1911 along with the inscription 'The Preamble to the Parliament Bill is threatened with strong opposition from the Labour Party.' The cartoon records how the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith (shown here as the nanny rocking the pram), had to gain the support of Labour MPs, then small in number, to ensure the success of his Parliament Bill of 1911. This resulted in an Act to inhibit the ability of the House of Lords to veto legislation passed by the House of Commons. By depicting the Labour Party as a squalling baby, Partridge indicates how the Party, only formally founded in 1900, was seen as a newly formed and relatively weak, albeit tricky, force in political terms at this point in the century.
Placesback to top
- Place portrayed: United Kingdom: England, London (Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1911back to top
Current affairs
Asquith's Liberal government introduces the Parliament Act to curb the powers of the House of Lords following the clash between the Commons and Lords over the 1909 People's Budget. The Act removed the Lords' power to veto bills, reduced the length of Parliament from seven to five years, and provided for the payment of MPs.Art and science
Ernest Rutherford discovers the structure of the atom. The New Zealand born physicist working in Manchester showed with his Nuclear Model that electrons orbited a nucleus composed of protons and neutrons. The discovery paved the way for nuclear physics.International
The Polish Chemist, Marie Curie, becomes the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for her discovery in 1898 of the radioactive element, Radon.The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre. The masterpiece was missing for two years, during which time suspicion fell on avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire and his friend Pablo Picasso, before Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the Louvre, was arrested in Florence.
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