William Henry Smith
© National Portrait Gallery, London
William Henry Smith
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, 1881?
4 in. x 2 1/2 in. (103 mm x 62 mm) overall
Given by Terence Pepper, 2014
Photographs Collection
NPG x197164
Sitterback to top
- William Henry Smith (1825-1891), Newsagent and politician, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons. Sitter in 27 portraits.
Artistback to top
- London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company (active 1854-1922), Photographers. Artist or producer associated with 952 portraits.
Events of 1881back to top
Current affairs
Benjamin Disraeli dies of bronchitis. He refuses a state funeral and is buried next to his wife, Mary Ann Viscountess Beaconsfield.Gladstone's Irish Land Act is passed in a bid to stop violence carried out by the republican Land League, conducted in protest at the 1870 Land Act.
Henry Mayers Hyndman forms the Marxist Democratic Federation.
Art and science
The Natural History Museum is opened on Exhibition Road, South Kensington. The museum, a landmark gothic design by the architect Alfred Waterhouse, was built to house specimens from the natural sciences, previously in the British Museum's collection. Today, the museum comprises of over 70 million items, and is a world-renowned research centre.International
Alexander II is assassinated in a bomb attack by members of a left-wing revolutionary movement. He was succeeded by his son, Tsar Alexander III.US President James Garfield is shot by Charles Guiteau.
The first Anglo-Boer war ends. The war is started by a Boer uprising, as the British had annexed the Transvaal in 1877. Following Britain's defeat at the Battle of Majuba Hill, a truce is signed giving the Boers self-government and later independence.
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