David Lloyd George

by Walton Adams
bromide print, circa 1913
8 1/8 in. x 7 5/8 in. (206 mm x 194 mm)
Purchased, 1980
Primary Collection
NPG P140(36)

Sitterback to top

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George (1863-1945), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 134 portraits.

Artistback to top

(Arthur) Walton Adams (1842-1934), Photographer. Artist associated with 13 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

Rogers, Malcolm, Camera Portraits, 1989 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 October 1989 - 21 January 1990), p. 173 Read entry
The 'Welsh Wizard' was one of the most eloquent and dynamic figures in British politics of his day. In his twenties he established himself a reputation as a speaker on religious, temperance and political issues, and entered Parliament as the Liberal Member for Caernarvon Boroughs in 1890, a seat which he held until 1945. As Chancellor of the Exchequer he declared war on poverty in his first ('the People's') Budget of 1909, and introduced many social reforms. He succeeded Asquith as Prime Minister in 1916.
This photograph, taken shortly before the First World War, shows Lloyd George as Chancellor, in his prime, and conveys much of that energy and determination which he later brought both to the conduct of the war, and the pursuit of 'a short sharp peace' after it.
The photographer Walton Adams, who worked in Southampton and Reading, and was the co-inventor of the dry plate process, was the father of Marcus Adams.

Portrait setback to top

Royal family and prominent people: photographs by Marcus Adams, Bertram Park and others, 1910-56

Subject/Themeback to top

Screens

Events of 1913back to top

Current affairs

The Suffragette, Emily Davison dies after stepping out in front of the King's horse as a protest at the Epsom Derby. In the same year the Liberal government passed the Cat and Mouse Act allowing them to release and re-arrest Suffragettes who went on hunger strike while in prison. Davidson, herself, had been on hunger strike and was force-fed while detained at Holloway Prison.

Art and science

Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring comes to London following its premier at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Audiences were shocked by Stravinsky's rhythmic and dissonant musical score and by the violent jerky dancing of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, which were intended to represent pagan ritual.

International

Henry Ford introduces the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company, rapidly increasing the rate at which the famous Model T could be manufactured, leading to massive growth in the motorcar industry and demonstrating to other industries the efficiency of mass production.

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