View source for George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll

{{Short description|British polymath and statesman (1823–1900)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[His Grace]]
| name                = The Duke of Argyll
| honorific-suffix    = [[Order of the Garter|KG]] [[Order of the Thistle|KT]] [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] [[Royal Society of Edinburgh|FRSE]]
| image               = George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll.jpg
| imagesize           =
| caption             = Portrait by [[Herbert Rose Barraud]], {{circa|1870-75}}
| order1              = [[Lord Privy Seal]]
| term_start1         = 4 January 1853
| term_end1           = 7 December 1855
| monarch1            = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister1      = [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|The Earl of Aberdeen]] <br /> [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]]
| predecessor1        = [[James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| successor1          = [[Dudley Ryder, 2nd Earl of Harrowby|The Earl of Harrowby]]
| term_start2         = 18 June 1859
| term_end2           = 26 June 1866
| monarch2            = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister2      = [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]] <br /> [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|The Earl Russell]]
| predecessor2        = [[Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke|The Earl of Hardwicke]]
| successor2          = [[James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury|The Earl of Malmesbury]]
| term_start3         = 28 April 1880
| term_end3           = 2 May 1881
| monarch3            = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister3      = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| predecessor3        = [[Algernon Percy, 6th Duke of Northumberland|The Duke of Northumberland]]
| successor3          = [[Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford|The Lord Carlingford]]
| order4              = [[United Kingdom Postmaster General|Postmaster General]]
| term_start4         = 30 November 1855
| term_end4           = 21 February 1858
| monarch4            = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister4      = [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]]
| predecessor4        = [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|The Viscount Canning]]
| successor4          = [[Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester|The Lord Colchester]]
| order5              = [[Secretary of State for India]]
| term_start5         = 9 December 1868
| term_end5           = 17 February 1874
| monarch5            = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister5      = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| predecessor5        = [[Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh|Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt]]
| successor5          = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| birth_date          = {{birth-date|30 April 1823|}}
| birth_place         = [[Ardencaple Castle]], [[Dunbartonshire]], Scotland
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1900|4|24|1823|4|30|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Inveraray Castle]], [[Argyll]], Scotland
| nationality         = [[British people|British]]
| party               = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]
| alma_mater          =
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll|Lady Elizabeth Sutherland-Leveson-Gower]]|1844|25 May 1878|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Amelia Claughton|1881|January 1894|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Ina McNeill|1895}}
}}
| children            = 12, including [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John]], [[Lord Colin Campbell|Colin]], [[Lady Victoria Campbell|Victoria]] and [[Frances Balfour|Frances]]
| parents             = {{plainlist|
* [[John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll]]
* Joan Glassel
}}
| signature           = George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll Signature.jpg
}}
'''George John Douglas Campbell, 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KG|KT|PC|FRS|FRSE}} (30 April 1823 – 24 April 1900; styled '''Marquess of Lorne''' until 1847), was a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[polymath]] and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] statesman. He made a significant geological discovery in the 1850s when his tenant found fossilized leaves embedded among basalt lava on the Island of Mull. He also helped to popularize [[ornithology]] and was one of the first to give a detailed account of the principles of bird flight in the hopes of advancing artificial aerial navigation (i.e. flying machines). His literary output was extensive writing on topics varying from science and theology to economy and politics. In addition to this, he served prominently in the administrations of [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Lord Aberdeen]], [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]], [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|John Russell]] and [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]].
==Background==
Argyll was born at [[Ardencaple Castle]], [[Dunbartonshire]], the second but only surviving son of [[John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll]], and his second wife [[Joan, Lady Campbell|Joan Glassel]], the only daughter of John Glassel.<ref name = Dod>{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | year = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 92 }}</ref> Argyll succeeded his father as '''Duke of Argyll''' ([[Peerage of Scotland]]) in 1847.<ref name = Dod/> With his death he became also hereditary [[Master of the Household of Scotland]] and [[Sheriff of Argyll]]shire.<ref name = Dod/>
He owned 175,000 acres in Argyll and Dumbarton.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/greatlandownerso00bateuoft/page/14/mode/1up The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland]</ref>
==Political career==
[[File:George Campbell, Vanity Fair, 1869-04-17.jpg|thumb|left|1869 caricature of the Duke of Argyll by [[Carlo Pellegrini (caricaturist)|Carlo Pellegrini]]]]
By the time of his succession, Argyll had already obtained notice as a writer of pamphlets on the [[Disruption of 1843|disruption of the Church of Scotland]], which he strove to avert, and he rapidly became prominent on the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] side in parliamentary politics via the [[Peelite]] [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] faction. He was a frequent and eloquent speaker in the House of Lords.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Argyll, Earls and Dukes of|display=Argyll, Earls and Dukes of s.v. George John Douglas Campbell, 8th duke|volume=2|page=486|first1=Philip Chesney|last1=Yorke|first2=Hugh|last2=Chisholm|author-link2=Hugh Chisholm}}</ref> A close associate of [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Prince Albert]], he served as [[Lord Privy Seal]] between 1852 and 1855 in the cabinet of [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Lord Aberdeen]], and then as [[United Kingdom Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] between 1855 and 1858 in [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston's]] first cabinet.
He was again Lord Privy Seal between 1859 and 1866 in the second Palmerston administration, and then under [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|Lord Russell's]] second administration, in which position he was notable as a strong advocate of the Northern cause in the [[American Civil War]].
Argyll was a major catalyst of the Education (Scotland) Act of 1872. Under his leadership in 1866, the Argyll Commission looked into the Scottish schooling system and found it severely inadequate. The report – eventually finished in 1869 – was used to call for education reforms. As a result of this lobbying, the Education Act (Scotland) 1872 was passed making primary school education mandatory in Scotland for children aged between 5 and 13.
In [[William Ewart Gladstone]]'s first government of 1868 to 1874, Argyll became [[Secretary of State for India]], in which role his refusal to promise support against the Russians to the emir of [[Afghanistan]] helped lead to the [[Second Afghan War]].<ref name="EB1911"/>
Argyll's wife (née [[Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll|Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Leveson-Gower]]), served as [[Mistress of the Robes]] in this government. {{cn|date=January 2023}}
Argyll also played a key role in the establishment of the [[Royal Indian Engineering College]] which functioned from 1872 to 1906. This college which was located on the Coopers Hill estate, near Egham was set up in order to train civil engineers for service in the Indian [[Public Works Department]]. In 1871, while actually serving in the Cabinet, his son and heir, [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|Lord Lorne]], married one of [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria's]] daughters, [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]], enhancing his status as a leading grandee.
In 1880 he again served under Gladstone, as [[Lord Privy Seal]], but resigned on 31 March 1881 in protest at Gladstone's Land Bill, claiming it would interfere with the rights of landlords and had been brought in response to terrorism.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/gladstone0000part | url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/gladstone0000part/page/192 192] | title=Gladstone | first= Michael | last=Partridge | publisher=Routledge | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-415-21626-5 }}</ref> In 1886, he fully broke with Gladstone over the question of the prime minister's support for [[Irish Home Rule]], although he did not join the [[Liberal Unionist Party]], but pursued an independent course. Having been already [[Vice Lord Lieutenant]] from 1847,<ref name = Dod/> Argyll held the honorary post of [[Lord Lieutenant of Argyllshire]] from 1862 until his death in 1900. He was sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] in 1853,<ref>{{London Gazette | issue = 21399 |page=29 | date = 4 January 1853 }}</ref> appointed a [[Order of the Thistle|Knight of the Thistle]] in 1856<ref>{{London Gazette | issue = 21881 |page=1680 | date = 6 May 1856 }}</ref> and a [[Order of the Garter|Knight of the Garter]] in 1883. In 1892 he was created '''Duke of Argyll''' in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{London Gazette | issue = 26276 |page=2082 | date = 8 April 1892 }}</ref>
==Scholarship==
[[File: George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll by George Frederic Watts.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait by [[George Frederic Watts]], {{circa|1860}}]]
Argyll was also an amateur scientist dedicated to many areas of science. Aside from his own work in [[ornithology]], he wrote on [[anthropology]], [[evolution]], [[glaciology]] and [[economics]]. He was a leader in the scholarly opposition against [[Darwinism]] (1869, 1884b) although he was not against the theory of evolution, Argyll argued instead for theistic evolution. He did argue against the erosive capability of glaciers (1873) and was an important economist (1893) and institutionalist (1884a), in which latter capacity he was quite similar to his political opponent, [[Benjamin Disraeli]].
In 1851, he was elected a [[Royal Society|Fellow of the Royal Society]] and was appointed [[Chancellor of the University of St Andrews]]. Three years later, he became additionally [[Rector of the University of Glasgow]].<ref name = Dod/> In 1849 he was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] and served as its president from 1860 to 1864.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |title=Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002: Part 1 (A–J) |author=C D Waterston |author2=A Macmillan Shearer |publisher=[[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] |isbn=090219884X |date=July 2006 |access-date=18 September 2015 |archive-date=24 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1855 he became president of the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science]]. From 1872 to 1874 he was [[List of Presidents of the Geological Society of London|President of The Geological Society]]. In 1866, he was a founding member of Britain's first aeronautical society, the [[Royal Aeronautical Society|Aeronautical Society of Great Britain]] (later renamed the Royal Aeronautical Society),<ref>{{cite web|title=RAeS History|url=https://www.aerosociety.com/about-us/history/|website=Royal Aeronautical Society|access-date=11 January 2017}}</ref> and served as its president from 1866 to 1895. He was elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1869.<ref>[http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistc American Antiquarian Society Members Directory]</ref> In 1886, he was elected as a member to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1886&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-05-24|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
[[File:George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll in Cassell's Universal Portrait Gallery.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Campbell by [[Elliott & Fry]] (no later than 1895)]]
==Private life==
Argyll was married three times. He married firstly [[Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll|Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower]], eldest daughter of [[George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland]], in 1844.<ref name = Dod/> They had five sons and seven daughters, being:<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1yQwAAAAYAAJ&q=argyll&pg=PR40 The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing]</ref>
*[[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll]] (6 August 1845 – 2 May 1914), married [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]], daughter of [[Queen Victoria]] on 21 March 1871.
*Lord Archibald Campbell (18 December 1846 – 29 March 1913), married [[Janey Sevilla Callander|Janey Callander]] on 12 January 1869. They had two children, including [[Niall Campbell, 10th Duke of Argyll]].
*Lord Walter Campbell (30 July 1848 – 2 May 1889), married Olivia Rowlandson Milns on 14 April 1874. They had two children, including Douglas Walter Campbell, whose son was [[Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll]].
*Lady Edith Campbell (7 November 1849 – 6 July 1913), married [[Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland]] on 23 December 1868. They had thirteen children.
*Lord George Granville Campbell (25 December 1850 – 21 April 1915), married Sybil Lascelles Alexander, daughter of James Brace Alexander, on 9 May 1879. They had three children.
*Lady Elisabeth Campbell (14 February 1852 – 24 September 1896) she married Lt.-Col. Edward Harrison Clough-Taylor on 17 July 1880. They had one daughter.
*[[Lord Colin Campbell]] (9 March 1853 – 18 June 1895), married Gertrude Blood in 1881.
*[[Lady Victoria Campbell]] (22 May 1854 – 6 July 1910).
*Lady Evelyn Campbell (17 August 1855 – 22 March 1940), married James Baillie-Hamilton on 10 August 1886.
*[[Lady Frances Balfour|Lady Frances Campbell]] (22 February 1858 – 25 February 1931), married [[Eustace Balfour]] on 12 May 1879. They had five children.
*Lady Mary Emma Campbell (22 September 1859 – 22 March 1947), married Rt. Rev. Hon. [[Edward Carr Glyn]] on 4 July 1882. They had three children.
*Lady Constance Harriett Campbell (11 November 1864 – 9 February 1922), married Charles Emmott on 27 June 1891.
The Duchess of Argyll died aged 53 in May 1878. In 1881, Argyll married Amelia Maria (born 1843), daughter of the Right Reverend [[Thomas Legh Claughton|Thomas Claughton]], [[Bishop of St Albans]], and widow of [[Augustus Anson]]. She died aged 50 in January 1894. In 1895, Argyll married a third time, to Ina, daughter of Archibald McNeill. Ina survived the duke by a quarter of a century, dying in December 1925.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} There were no children from either the second or third marriages.
Argyll died at [[Inveraray Castle]] in April 1900, six days before his 77th birthday, and is buried at [[Kilmun Parish Church and Argyll Mausoleum|Kilmun Parish Church]]. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}
==Legacy==
Argyll Road in [[Penang]], [[Malaysia]] is named in his honour.
==Key works==
* (1867) [http://www.victorianweb.org/science/science_texts/argyll/5rl.htm ''The Reign of Law'']. London: Strahan. (5th Ed. in 1868).
* (1869) [https://archive.org/details/primevalmanexa00argy ''Primeval Man: An Examination of some Recent Speculations'']. New York: Routledge.
* (1873) ''President's Anniversary Address''. Proceedings of the Geological Society. pp. li - lxxviii.
* (1879) [https://archive.org/details/easternquestionf01argyuoft ''The Eastern Question'']. London: Strahan.
* (1884) ''The Unity of Nature''. New York: Putnam.
* (1887) ''Scotland As It Was and As It Is''
* (1893) ''The Unseen Foundations of Society. An Examination of the Fallacies and Failures of Economic Science Due to Neglected Elements''. London: John Murray.
* (1896) [https://archive.org/details/philosophyofbeli00argy ''The Philosophy of Belief; Or, Law in Christian Theology'']
* (1898) [https://archive.org/details/organicevolution00argyrich ''Organic Evolution Cross-Examined'']
* (1906) ''Autobiography and Memoirs''
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{wikisource author}}
{{Commons category|George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll}}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-george-campbell-2 | the Duke of Argyll }}
*{{UK National Archives ID}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Lord Privy Seal]] | before=[[James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]] | after=[[Dudley Ryder, 2nd Earl of Harrowby|The Earl of Harrowby]] | years=1852–1855}}
{{succession box | title=[[United Kingdom Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] | before=[[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|The Viscount Canning]] | after=[[Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester|The Lord Colchester]] | years=1855–1858}}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord Privy Seal]] | before=[[Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke|The Earl of Hardwicke]] | after=[[James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury|The Earl of Malmesbury]] | years=1859–1866}}
{{succession box | title=[[Secretary of State for India]] | before=[[Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh|Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt]] | after=[[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]] | years=1868–1874}}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord Privy Seal]] | before=[[Algernon Percy, 6th Duke of Northumberland|The Duke of Northumberland]] | after=[[Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford|The Lord Carlingford]] | years=1880–1881}}
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{{succession box | before=[[John Campbell, 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane|The Marquess of Breadalbane]] | title=[[Lord Lieutenant of Argyllshire]] | years=1862–1900 | after=[[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|The Duke of Argyll]]}}
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{{succession box|title=[[Chancellor of the University of St Andrews]]|years=1851–1900|before=[[Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville|The Viscount Melville]]|after=[[Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh|The Lord Balfour of Burleigh]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[Rector of the University of Glasgow]]|years=1854–1856|before=[[Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton|The Earl of Eglinton]]|after=[[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton|Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Bt]]}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Duke of Argyll]] | before=[[John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll|John Campbell]] | after=[[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John Campbell]] | years=1847–1900}}
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{{s-ttl | title=[[Duke of Argyll]] | years=1892–1900}}
{{s-aft | after=[[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John Campbell]]}}
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[[Category:1823 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:People from Argyll and Bute]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:Dukes of Argyll|8]]
[[Category:Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Knights of the Thistle]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Argyllshire]]
[[Category:Lords Privy Seal]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Aeronautical Society]]
[[Category:Rectors of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:Scottish economists]]
[[Category:Scottish politicians]]
[[Category:Scottish scientists]]
[[Category:Scottish science writers]]
[[Category:Scottish political writers]]
[[Category:Scottish non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Secretaries of State for India]]
[[Category:Postmasters general of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish landowners]]
[[Category:Burials at the Argyll Mausoleum|G]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish businesspeople]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Geological Society of London]]