Will Gladstone

William Glynne Charles Gladstone (14 July 1885 – 13 April 1915) was a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom, and the last of four generations of Gladstones to sit in the House of Commons, the first being his great-grandfather Sir John Gladstone (1764–1851).[1] His body was the last to be officially repatriated to the United Kingdom during the First World War.[2]

For other people named Gladstone, see Gladstone (disambiguation).

Will Gladstone
Gladstone in 1906 aged 21
MP for Kilmarnock Burghs
In office
1911–1915
Preceded byAdam Rolland Rainy
Succeeded byAlexander Shaw
Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire
In office
1911–1915
Preceded byHugh Robert Hughes
Succeeded by Henry Gladstone
Personal details
Born
William Glynne Charles Gladstone

(1885-07-14)14 July 1885
Died13 April 1915(1915-04-13) (aged 29)
Laventie, Pas-de-Calais, France
Resting placeSt Deiniol's Church, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales
Political partyLiberal Party
Parents
Residence(s)Hawarden Castle, Flintshire, Wales
EducationEton College
Alma materNew College, Oxford
Military service
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1914-1915
Rank Lieutenant

Early life
Gladstone as a child in 1887 with his famous grandfather

Gladstone was born on 14 July 1885.[3] His father, William Henry Gladstone (1840–1891), was the eldest son of the Liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and his wife Catherine, and his mother was the Hon. Gertrude Gladstone, daughter of Charles Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre. He inherited from his father the 18th-century Hawarden Castle which had belonged to the family of his grandmother's brother Sir Stephen Glynne, the 9th and last baronet.[4]

He was educated at home before attending Eton and then New College, Oxford. He was president of the Oxford Union in 1907[5] and graduated with a second class degree.[6]

Career

Political career
William Gladstone in 1911 around the time of his election as an MP

In 1909, Gladstone was the Assistant Private Secretary to John Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen who was serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.[6] In 1911, he worked for a few months at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., as an honorary attaché[7] to Lord Bryce.[6]

He stood as the Liberal Party candidate in the Kilmarnock Burghs by-election held on 26 September 1911 and was elected as the member of parliament (MP).[8] A whip in Asquith's government, he was in Parliament for only 4 years.

Military service
Gladstone in military uniform in 1915

Gladstone was commissioned into the British Army on 15 August 1914 as a second lieutenant (on probation);[2][9] he had originally wished to enlist as a private but was advised to become an officer.[5] He joined the 3rd Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers[10] and underwent training at Wrexham before going out to France in March 1915.[6] He first came under fire on 23 March.[6] His commission was confirmed and he was promoted to lieutenant on 7 April 1915.[11]

Death
Gladstone's funeral procession leaving Hawarden Castle, Flintshire, Wales, on 23 April 1915
Gladstone's funeral procession passing through the village of Hawarden

On 13 April 1915,[12] he was killed in action near Laventie,[13] three weeks after arriving in France.[2] He was shot by a sniper.[6] He was initially buried in France, but permission was granted by King George V for his body to be brought back to the United Kingdom.[2] Nine days after his death,[2] his body was disinterred and re-buried in the churchyard of St Deiniol's, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales.[14] Also commemorated on the gravestone is his cousin William Herbert Gladstone, MC, son of Stephen and Annie Gladstone, killed in action in 1918.

As a memorial, a rood was installed at St Deiniol's, Hawarden and a new theatre and wards at Chester Royal Infirmary. Gladstone is also commemorated on Panel 8 of the Parliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs who died during the War to be named on that memorial.[15][16] Gladstone is one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber.[17] A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style illuminated book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which includes a short biographical account of the life and death of Gladstone.[18][19]

After his death, the estate was purchased by an uncle Henry Gladstone, the third son (and seventh child) of William and Catherine.[20] Herbert Gladstone, another uncle, wrote a memoir of him that was published in 1918.[21]

Honours

On 8 July 1911, Gladstone was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire.[22] This appointment also came with the title of Custos Rotulorum of Flintshire.

Election results
Kilmarnock Burghs by-election, 1911[23] Electorate
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Will Gladstone 6,923 48.3 -12.6
Conservative John David Rees 4,637 32.4 -6.7
Labour Thomas McKerrell 2,761 19.3 n/a
Majority 2,286 15.9 -5.9
Turnout 14,321
Liberal hold Swing -3.0

References
  1. Dictionary of National Biography: Gladstone, Sir John, 1st Baronet
  2. Van Emden, Richard (7 June 2012). The Quick and the Dead. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 131–133. ISBN 978-1408822456.
  3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
  4. Dictionary of National Biography: Gladstone, Herbert John
  5. Timpson, Trevor (17 January 2014). "WW1: Can we really know the Lost Generation?". BBC News. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  6. "WILLIAM G. C. GLADSTONE". The Spectator. 28 June 1918. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  7. "W G C Gladstone an MP" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 September 1911. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  8. "No. 28536". The London Gazette. 29 September 1911. p. 7121.
  9. "No. 28918". The London Gazette. 29 September 1914. p. 7694.
  10. "No. 29102". The London Gazette. 16 March 1915. pp. 2638–2640.
  11. "No. 29137". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 April 1915. p. 3992.
  12. "Casualty Details: Gladstone, William Glynne Charles". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  13. Bebbington, David; Swift, Roger (2000). Gladstone centenary essays (1. publ. ed.). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 154. ISBN 9780853239253.
  14. "Hawarden – 1914-1918 War Memorial". Clwyd Family History Society. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  15. "Recording Angel memorial Panel 8". Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  16. "List of names on the Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall" (PDF). Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  17. "Gladstone". Heraldic shields to MPs, First World War. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  18. "House of Commons War Memorial: Final Volumes Unveiled by The Speaker". The Times. No. 46050. London. 6 February 1932. p. 7.
  19. Moss-Blundell, Edward Whitaker, ed. (1931). The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914–1918. E. Mathews & Marrot.
  20. Dictionary of National Biography: Gladstone, Henry Neville
  21. Gladstone, Herbert John (1918). William G. C. Gladstone: a Memoir. Nisbet.
  22. "No. 28512". The London Gazette. 11 July 1911. p. 5168.
  23. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 by Craig, F. W. S. (1974)
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