WIVES OF THE PRIME MINISTERS WIVES OF THE PRIME MINISTERS 1844-1906 BY ELIZABETH LEE AUTHOR OF “OUIDA: A MEMOIR” ETC. WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY MRS. C. F. G. MASTERMAN [Illustration] London NISBET & CO. LIMITED 22 BERNERS STREET, W. 1 _First Published_ _January 1918_ _Reprinted_ _August 1918_ PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN NOTE My most cordial thanks are due to Mrs. Drew for permission to print the extracts from Mrs. Gladstone’s manuscript diary, and to reproduce the portrait which forms the frontispiece to this book; to Mr. Wilfrid W. Ashley, who most kindly invited me to Broadlands and gave me permission to print extracts from some of the letters of Lady Palmerston in his possession; to Lady Battersea for a similar permission in regard to letters from Mrs. Disraeli; and to the Hon. George Peel for information about Lady Peel’s family and her early childhood. Thanks are also due to Mr. Stuart M. Ellis for information concerning Bulwer and Lady Caroline Lamb. It would be impossible to acknowledge separately the published sources consulted, but I have done so wherever possible. E. L. CONTENTS PAGE I. LADY CAROLINE LAMB 1 II. LADY PEEL 44 III. LADY JOHN RUSSELL (COUNTESS RUSSELL) 63 IV. LADY PALMERSTON 99 V. MRS. DISRAELI (VISCOUNTESS BEACONSFIELD) 131 VI. MRS. GLADSTONE 156 VII. LADY SALISBURY 218 VIII. LADY CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN 233 INDEX 249 INTRODUCTION Few, we take it, would deny the influence that women, through the ages, have wielded in political life. Kings and potentates, Ministers of State and priests, have been guided by their counsels. Although such influence was indirect, it was nevertheless powerful, and produced both good and bad results. The published and unpublished diaries and letters of women of high position in the nineteenth century show their deep interest in political matters and their large knowledge of affairs from the inside. That knowledge was, of course, obtained from the communications of the men who were their relatives and friends, but the method of using it was determined by the woman herself. Doubtless the gain and loss of such influence neutralised each other. Whether, when women come to exercise direct influence through the vote, the gain will preponderate, remains to be proved.