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]
Will Gladstone | |
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MP for Kilmarnock Burghs | |
In office 1911–1915 | |
Preceded by | Adam Rolland Rainy |
Succeeded by | Alexander Shaw |
Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire | |
In office 1911–1915 | |
Preceded by | Hugh Robert Hughes |
Succeeded by | Henry Gladstone |
Personal details | |
Born | William Glynne Charles Gladstone 14 July 1885 |
Died | 13 April 1915 29) Laventie, Pas-de-Calais, France | (aged
Resting place | St Deiniol's Church, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales |
Political party | Liberal Party |
Parents |
|
Residence(s) | Hawarden Castle, Flintshire, Wales |
Education | Eton College |
Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
Military service | |
Branch/service | British Army |
Years of service | 1914-1915 |
Rank | Lieutenant |
Early life
![](../I/William_Ewart_Gladstone_with_his_grandson_William_Glynne_Charles_Gladstone_in_1887.jpg.webp)
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
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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
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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
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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]
- 1999 picture of the rood at St Deiniol's Church, Hawarden
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
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
- Dictionary of National Biography: Gladstone, Sir John, 1st Baronet
- Van Emden, Richard (7 June 2012). The Quick and the Dead. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 131–133. ISBN 978-1408822456.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
- Dictionary of National Biography: Gladstone, Herbert John
- Timpson, Trevor (17 January 2014). "WW1: Can we really know the Lost Generation?". BBC News. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- "WILLIAM G. C. GLADSTONE". The Spectator. 28 June 1918. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- "W G C Gladstone an MP" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 September 1911. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- "No. 28536". The London Gazette. 29 September 1911. p. 7121.
- "No. 28918". The London Gazette. 29 September 1914. p. 7694.
- "No. 29102". The London Gazette. 16 March 1915. pp. 2638–2640.
- "No. 29137". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 April 1915. p. 3992.
- "Casualty Details: Gladstone, William Glynne Charles". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
- Bebbington, David; Swift, Roger (2000). Gladstone centenary essays (1. publ. ed.). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 154. ISBN 9780853239253.
- "Hawarden – 1914-1918 War Memorial". Clwyd Family History Society. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- "Recording Angel memorial Panel 8". Recording Angel memorial, Westminster Hall. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- "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.
- "Gladstone". Heraldic shields to MPs, First World War. UK Parliament (www.parliament.uk). Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- "House of Commons War Memorial: Final Volumes Unveiled by The Speaker". The Times. No. 46050. London. 6 February 1932. p. 7.
- Moss-Blundell, Edward Whitaker, ed. (1931). The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914–1918. E. Mathews & Marrot.
- Dictionary of National Biography: Gladstone, Henry Neville
- Gladstone, Herbert John (1918). William G. C. Gladstone: a Memoir. Nisbet.
- "No. 28512". The London Gazette. 11 July 1911. p. 5168.
- British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 by Craig, F. W. S. (1974)
External links
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