Harcourt, Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon

Related Category: British and Irish History: Biographies

1827–1904, English statesman. A brilliant parliamentarian and a supporter of Gladstone, he entered Parliament in 1868 and had a notable career as solicitor general (1873–74), home secretary (1880–85), and chancellor of the exchequer (1886, 1892–95). On Gladstone's retirement (1894) he was passed over for the office of prime minister (see Victoria), but he effectively led (1894–99) the Liberal party in the Commons. He was also a noted writer on international law.