View source for William Harcourt (politician)

{{Short description|British politician (1827–1904)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2015}}
{{use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = Sir William Harcourt
| honorific-suffix    = [[King's Counsel|KC]]
| image               = Sir William Harcourt.jpg
| imagesize           =
| order1              = [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| term_start1         = 6 October 1896
| term_end1           = 8 December 1898
| predecessor1        = [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|The Earl of Rosebery]]
| successor1          = [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman|Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman]]
| order3              = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| term_start3         = 18 August 1892
| term_end3           = 21 June 1895
| primeminister3      = [[William Ewart Gladstone]] <br/> [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|The Earl of Rosebery]]
| predecessor3        = [[George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|George Goschen]]
| successor3          = [[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt]]
| term_start4         = 6 February 1886
| term_end4           = 20 July 1886
| primeminister4      = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| predecessor4        = [[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt]]
| successor4          = [[Lord Randolph Churchill]]
| order5              = [[Home Secretary]]
| term_start5         = 28 April 1880
| term_end5           = 23 June 1885
| primeminister5      = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| predecessor5        = [[R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross|R. A. Cross]]
| successor5          = [[R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross|R. A. Cross]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1827|10|14}}
| birth_place         =
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1904|10|01|1827|10|14}}
| death_place         =
| nationality         = British
| party               = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]
| alma_mater          = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| spouse              = (1) Maria Theresa Lister <br/> (d. 1863) <br/> (2) Elizabeth Cabot Motley <br/> (d. 1928)
}}
'''Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|KC|size=100}} (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] statesman. He was Member of Parliament for Oxford, Derby then West Monmouthshire and held the offices of [[Home Secretary]] and [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] under [[William Ewart Gladstone]] before becoming [[Leader of the Opposition (UK)|Leader of the Opposition]]. A talented speaker in parliament, he was sometimes regarded as aloof and possessing only an intellectual involvement in his causes. He failed to engender much emotional response in the public and became only a reluctant and disillusioned leader of his party.<ref name="eb">{{harvnb|Chisholm|1911|pp=939–940}}</ref>
Historian [[Roy Jenkins]] says he was "too much of a party man. In manner and by origin he was a patrician figure, but he saw most issues exclusively in terms of parliamentary infighting… His views were usually much more of a reaction to what his political enemies, in the other party and in his own, were saying than the result of any objective thought. He inspired considerable loyalty among his followers – the Great Gladiator he was sometimes enthusiastically called – but his colleagues, partly as a result of his execrable temperament and his bullying… found him a difficult man with whom to work."<ref>Roy Jenkins, "From Gladstone to Asquith: The Late Victorian Pattern of Liberal Leadership," ''History Today'' (July 1964) 14#7 pp 445-452 at page 446-447.</ref>
==Family and ancestry==
{{main|Harcourt family}}
Harcourt was the second son of {{Abbreviation|Rev.|The Reverend}} Canon [[William Vernon Harcourt (scientist)|William Vernon Harcourt]], a scientist and owner of [[Nuneham Park]], [[Nuneham Courtenay]], [[Oxfordshire]] and his wife Matilda Mary, daughter of [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] William Gooch.<ref name="Stansky">{{harvnb|Stansky|2008}}</ref> His father was the fourth son and eventually heir of {{Abbreviation|The Most Rev.|The Most Reverend}} [[Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt|Edward Harcourt]], [[Archbishop of York]]<ref name="Stansky"/> and his wife Lady Anne Leveson-Gower.<ref name="Morrell">{{harvnb|Morrell|2004}}</ref> Anne was a daughter of [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford]] and kinswoman Lady Louisa Egerton. Her maternal grandparents included [[Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater]] and Rachel.<ref name="Fairclough">{{harvnb|Fairclough|2009}}</ref> Rachel was a daughter of [[Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford]] and the rich heiress Elizabeth, daughter of John Howland of Streatham.<ref name="Fairclough"/> William was, due to the family's appendage of a surname to recognise an inheritance, born a Vernon, and his position as a senior heir in the landed Vernon and [[Harcourt family|Harcourt]] was emphasised by his link to many of the greater English houses, a fact of which he was proud. In later life his descent from the [[Plantagenet]]s was a joke among his political opponents.<ref name="eb"/>
His [[probate]] was sworn in the year he died (when he was resident at Nuneham Park and at ''Malwood'' in Hampshire) then resworn, over £3000 upward, at ninepence short of {{GBP|190265|1904|round=-5|about=yes|long=no}}.<ref>https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk Calendar of Probates and Administrations</ref>
==Education and early life==
William's childhood was an austere one, educated at home by a Swiss [[governess]], he was sent to a private school at [[Southwell, Nottinghamshire]], when he was eight. William's father denied him a [[Public school (United Kingdom)|public school]] education, sending him to be educated in [[classics]] at the small class of Rev. John Owen Parr. In 1840, Parr moved to [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]] and William witnessed the [[Preston Strike of 1842|Preston bread riots]] there in 1842. He left Parr in 1844 and, after two more years' study at home, William entered [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], to pursue his interest in mathematics.{{sfn|ACAD|HRCT846WG}} At Cambridge he became an [[Cambridge Apostles|Apostle]], and graduated with first-class honours in the classics [[tripos]] in 1851, but he did not enjoy the mathematics, graduating only [[optime|senior optime]].<ref name="Stansky"/>
At Cambridge, William rejected his family's [[Tory]] instincts and began to write for the ''[[Morning Chronicle]]'' in support of [[Sir Robert Peel]]. William's father encouraged him to seek a [[Fellow#In ancient universities|Cambridge fellowship]] or a career in politics but William chose law and journalism. He entered [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1852 and was [[called to the bar]] at the [[Inner Temple]] in 1854.<ref name="Stansky"/>
He quickly made his mark as a speaker,<ref name="eb"/> his reception into London society being eased by his uncle [[George Harcourt]] and aunt Frances Waldegrave. From 1855 William started to write for the ''[[Saturday Review (London)|Saturday Review]]'', becoming increasingly a follower of [[William Ewart Gladstone]] and an opponent of [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]].  He practised in railway law, commentating, especially in ''[[The Times]]'' on [[international law]]. In 1862, he wrote some famous letters to ''The Times'' over the signature of "Historicus," supporting [[Britain and the American Civil War|Britain's neutrality in the American Civil War]] and condemning the widespread public sympathy for the [[Confederate States]]. He also wrote on the [[Trent Affair]] and the [[Alabama Claims|Alabama controversy]].<ref name="Stansky"/><ref>[[#Publications|Harcourt (1863, 1865)]]</ref> He became a [[Queen's Counsel]] in 1866, and was appointed [[Whewell Professorship of International Law|Whewell professor of international law]] at the [[University of Cambridge]] in 1869.<ref name="eb"/>
==Political career==
Harcourt entered [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]] as [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] member for [[Oxford (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford]], and sat from 1868 to 1880, being appointed [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor General]] and [[knighthood|knighted]] in 1873. He was re-elected in the Liberal victory at the [[1880 United Kingdom general election]] and, though he had not been a strong supporter of Gladstone in opposition, he was appointed [[Home Secretary]].<ref name="eb"/> A mandatory re-election was then required on acceptance of such an office and Harcourt was defeated by [[Alexander William Hall]] by just 54 votes. Though Hall was then unseated for political corruption, a seat was found for Harcourt at [[Derby (UK Parliament constituency)|Derby]], by the voluntary retirement of [[Samuel Plimsoll]].<ref name="Stansky"/> He continued to co-represent Derby until 1895, when, having been defeated, he found a seat in [[West Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|West Monmouthshire]].<ref name="eb"/>
[[File:William Vernon Harcourt, Vanity Fair, 1870-06-04.jpg|thumb|left|Caricature by [[Alfred Thompson (artist)|ATn]] published in ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' in 1870.]]
His name became connected with the passing of the [[Ground Game Act 1880]] and the [[Arms (Ireland) Act 1881]]. As Home Secretary at the time of the [[Phoenix Park killings]] and the subsequent London [[bombings]] he reacted rapidly, and the [[Explosive Substances Act 1883]] was passed through all its stages in the shortest time on record. His robust stand on [[Law and order (politics)|law and order]] brought him into conflict with the [[Ireland|Irish members]]. In 1884 he introduced an aborted bill for unifying the municipal administration of London.<ref name="eb"/> and led the demand for a prosecution in the [[survival cannibalism]] case of ''[[R v. Dudley and Stephens|Dudley and Stephens]]'', but also advised the Queen to grant clemency, to six months' in prison.{{sfn|Simpson|1984|pp=77, 89}} In 1885 he similarly saw commutation of [[John 'Babbacombe' Lee]]'s death penalty to [[life imprisonment]] after his execution failed three times.{{sfn|Waugh|2002}} He was further the victim of the embarrassing stunts of the [[Harcourt interpolation]] and the [[Home Office Baby]].{{sfn|Simpson|1984|p=245}}
===Chancellor of the Exchequer===
He was recognised as one of the ablest and most effective leaders of the Liberal party and when, after a brief interval in 1885, Gladstone returned to office in 1886, Harcourt was made [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], an office which he again filled from 1892 to 1895. Between 1880 and 1892 Harcourt acted as Gladstone's political deputy. A first-rate party fighter, his services were of huge value. However, in spite of his great success as a platform speaker, he was generally felt to be speaking from an "advocate's [[Brief (law)|brief]]", and did not impress the public as a conviction politician. It was he who coined the phrase about "stewing in [[Parnellite]] juice", and, when the split came in the Liberal party on the [[Irish question]], even those who gave Gladstone and [[John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn|John Morley]] the credit of being convinced [[Irish Home Rule|Home Rulers]] could not be persuaded that Harcourt had followed anything but the line of party expediency.<ref name="eb"/>
[[File:1895_Sir_William_Harcourt.jpg|thumb|right|Sir William Harcourt c1895]]
In 1894 he introduced and carried a memorable [[Government budget|budget]], which equalised the [[death duties]] on [[real property|real]] and [[personal property]]. After Gladstone's retirement in 1894 and [[Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|Lord Rosebery]]'s selection as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]], Harcourt became the leader of the Liberal party in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]], but it was never probable that he would work comfortably in the new conditions. He had been ignored as Gladstone's successor, and it was evident that Rosebery's ideas of Liberalism and of the policy of the Liberal Party were not those of Harcourt. Their differences were patched up from time to time, but the combination was unstable. However the one significant legacy of the government was the introduction of a high uniform rate of death duties in Harcourt's 1894 budget. Harcourt himself was a second son, and thus unlikely to ever have to pay such duties himself, so it was often quipped that this introduction was a "second son's revenge".<ref name="eb"/>  However, this proved to not be the case, when Harcourt inherited the Nuneham Park estate in Oxfordshire.
===Leader of the Opposition===
At the [[1895 United Kingdom general election|1895 elections]] it was clear that there were divisions as to what issue the Liberals were fighting for.<ref name="eb"/> The effect of Harcourt's aborted [[Local Veto Bill]], which would have given parishes the right to vote on the closure of all local [[public house]]s,{{sfn|Fahey|2001}} on the election was seen not only in his defeat at Derby, which gave the signal for the Liberal rout, but in the set-back it gave to [[Temperance movement|temperance]] legislation. Though returned for [[West Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|West Monmouthshire]] (1895, 1900), Harcourt's speeches in debate only occasionally showed his characteristic spirit, and it was evident that for the hard work of opposition he no longer had the same motivation as of old.<ref name="eb"/> In October 1896 Gladstone, in his last public speech, called for action to support the Armenians who were being [[Armenians in the Ottoman Empire#Bloody years, 1894–96|massacred by their Ottoman rulers]]. Harcourt backed Gladstone but Rosebery used the incident as an excuse to resign as [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]] and Harcourt became an unenthusiastic leader.<ref name="Stansky"/>
During Harcourt's period as leader of the Liberal party in the House of Commons, the all-House enquiry into the failed [[Jameson Raid]] took place.  Harcourt's performance in the enquiry disillusioned sections of the Liberal party, as the Opposition let the Conservative government off the hook by not exposing the involvement of the Colonial Secretary [[Joseph Chamberlain]] in the raid's genesis and preparation, Harcourt instead settling for censure of the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, [[Cecil Rhodes]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=John|title=CB - A life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman|url=https://archive.org/details/cblifeofsirhenry0000wils|url-access=registration|date=1973|publisher=Constable and Company Limited|location=London|isbn=0-09-458950X|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cblifeofsirhenry0000wils/page/266 266–275]|edition=1st}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Marsh|first1=Peter T.|title=Joseph Chamberlain - Entrepreneur in Politics|date=1994|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|isbn=0300058012|pages=387–405|edition=1st}}</ref>
In December 1898 the crisis arrived and, with Morley, Harcourt retired from the party and resigned his Leadership of the Opposition, alleging as his reason, in letters to Morley, the cross-currents of opinion among his old supporters and former colleagues. The split excited considerable comment, and resulted in much heart-searching and a more or less open division between the section of the Liberal party following Rosebery and those who disliked his [[imperialism]].<ref name="eb"/>
Though now a private member, Harcourt still continued to assert his independent position, and his attacks on the government were no longer restrained by any deference to Liberal Imperialism. He actively intervened in 1899 and 1900, strongly condemning the government's financial policy and their attitude towards the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]]. Throughout the [[Second Boer War]] he lost no opportunity of criticising the South African developments in a pessimistic vein. A great parliamentary debater, he sprinkled his speeches with humour. From 1898 to 1900 he was conspicuous, both on the platform and in letters to ''The Times'', in demanding active measures against [[Ritualism in the Church of England]]. However, his attitude in this was reflected in his political advocacy of [[disestablishment]]. In March 1904, just after he had announced his intention not to seek election again to parliament, he succeeded, by the death of his nephew, to the family estates at Nuneham. He found that the estate was in crisis, especially after having to pay the death duties he himself had introduced, and he died suddenly there in the same year.<ref name="eb"/>
Harcourt was offered a peerage in 1902 but he declined it in order to stay in the House of Commons, and to allow his son to advance his political career.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Sir W. Harcourt and the Peerage |date=27 June 1902 |page=4 |issue=36805}}</ref>
==Marriages and children==
[[File:Sir Vernon Harcourt, 1890.png|thumb|250px|Sir William Harcourt in 1890.]]
On 5 November 1859, Harcourt married his first wife Maria Theresa Lister, known as Therese.{{cn|date=October 2020}} She was a daughter of novelist [[Thomas Henry Lister]] and Lady [[Maria Theresa Villiers]]. They had two children:
*Julian Harcourt (6 October 1860 – 2 March 1862).
*[[Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt]] (31 January 1863 – 24 February 1922). Originally christened Reginald, but rechristened at the age of two months.{{sfn|Jenkins|1998|p=45}} Lewis Harcourt served as Private Secretary to his father and later became a prominent politician in his own right, most notably as [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] from 1910 to 1915.
His first wife died on 1 February 1863, only a day after giving birth to their second and last son. Harcourt remained a widower for thirteen years. On 2 December 1876, he married his second wife Elizabeth Cabot Motley.<ref>{{cite book|last1=MacColl|first1=Gail|last2=Wallace|first2=Carol McD.|title=To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery in the Gilded Age (An Inspiration for Downton Abbey)|publisher=Workman Publishing|isbn=9780761171980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rr7MRSed7h8C&q=sir+harcourt+cabot+motley+december+1876&pg=PA343|page=343|year=2012|access-date=25 June 2021|language=en}}</ref> Elizabeth was a daughter of American historian [[John Lothrop Motley]] and his wife Mary Benjamin. Her maternal uncle [[Park Benjamin]] was a [[patent law]]yer and writer on scientific subjects. She had been previously married to naval officer Thomas Poynton Ives. Ives was among the casualties of the [[American Civil War]]. By this second marriage, Harcourt had his third and final son:
*[[Robert Harcourt (Liberal politician)|Robert Harcourt]] (born 7 May 1878). He married Marjorie Laura Cunard. Their daughter Mary Elizabeth Harcourt married Ian Rochfort Johnston, a [[Commander]] of the [[Royal Navy]].
==Publications==
* {{cite book |title= Letters by Historicus on some Questions of International Law: reprinted from 'The Times' with considerable additions |publisher= Macmillan and Co. |place= London and Cambridge |year= 1863 |url= https://archive.org/stream/lettersbyhistori00harc#page/n5/mode/2up |access-date= 3 July 2018 |via= Internet Archive}}
* {{cite book |title= American Neutrality by Historicus: Reprinted from the London "Times" of December 22nd, 1864 |place= New York |year= 1865 |publisher= New York |url= https://archive.org/stream/americanneutral00harcgoog#page/n4/mode/2up|access-date= 3 July 2018|via= Internet Archive}}
==Popular culture==
* Harcourt was the subject of several parody novels based on [[Alice in Wonderland]], such as [[Edward Harold Begbie|Caroline Lewis]]'s ''[[Clara in Blunderland]]'' (1902) and ''[[Lost in Blunderland]]'' (1903).,{{sfn|Sigler|1997|pp=340–347}}{{sfn|Dickinson|1902}}
==See also==
* [[Harcourt interpolation]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}
==References==
*{{cite journal |last=Dickinson |first=Evelyn |date=20 June 1902 |title=Literary Note and Books of the Month |journal= United Australia |volume=II |number=12 }}
*{{acad|id=HRCT846WG|name=Harcourt, William George Venables Vernon Granville Vernon}}
* {{Cite ODNB |last=Fairclough |first=K R |year=2009 |id=8584 |title=Egerton, Francis, third duke of Bridgewater (1736–1803)}}
*{{cite journal |last=Fahey |first=D. M. | year=2001 |title=The Politics of Drink in Britain: Anglo-American Perspectives: Presidential Address to the Ohio Academy of History, April 29, 2000 | url=http://www.athg.org/faheypresidential.html |journal=The Social History of Alcohol Review |publisher=Alcohol and Drugs History Society |access-date=17 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050209083508/http://www.athg.org/faheypresidential.html |archive-date=2005-02-09}}
*{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Jenkins |title=The Chancellors |publisher=Macmillan |year=1998 |page=45 }}
* {{Cite ODNB |last=Morrell |first=Jack |year=2004 |id=12249 |title=Harcourt, William Venables Vernon (1789–1871)}}
*{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=A. W. B.|year=1984|title=Cannibalism and the Common Law: The Story of the Tragic Last Voyage of the Mignonette and the Strange Legal Proceedings to Which It Gave Rise|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|author-link=A. W. B. Simpson|isbn=978-0-226-75942-5}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Sigler |editor-first=Carolyn |year=1997 |title=Alternative Alices: Visions and Revisions of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" Books |location=Lexington, Kentucky |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |pages=340–347 }}
* {{Cite ODNB |last=Stansky |first=Peter |year=2008 |id=33693 |title=Harcourt, Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon (1827–1904)}}
* {{citation |last=Waugh |first=Ian |chapter-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series1/john-babbacombe-lee.shtml |chapter=The man they could not hang |title=Inside Out – South West |publisher=[[BBC]] |year=2002 |access-date=17 February 2008}}
'''Attribution'''
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Harcourt, Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon |volume=12 |last= Chisholm |first= Hugh |author-link= Hugh Chisholm|pages=939–940|short=1}}
==Further reading==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{cite book | author=Gardiner, A. G. | title=The Life of Sir William Harcourt | url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofsirwilliam02garduoft | edition=2 vols | year=1923 | location=London | publisher=Constable | author-link=Alfred George Gardiner }}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=10&item=biography |title=Biography of Sir William Harcourt |website=Liberal Democrat History Group |author=Machin, I |access-date=17 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207161253/http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=10&item=biography |archive-date=2012-02-07}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|William Vernon Harcourt (politician)}}
* [https://archive.org/details/lawlessnessinthe00harcuoft Lawlessness in the national church] (1899)
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-william-vernon-harcourt | William Vernon Harcourt }}
* {{NPG name}}
* {{Find a Grave|104427156|Sir William Vernon Harcourt (memorial tablet – inside church)}}
* {{Find a Grave|196273274|William Vernon Harcourt – churchyard}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef| before  = [[Charles Neate]]
| before2 = [[Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell|Edward Cardwell]]
}}
{{s-ttl| title   = Member of Parliament for [[Oxford (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford]]
| with    = [[Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell|Edward Cardwell]] 1868–1874
| with2   = [[Alexander William Hall]] 1874–1880
| with3   = [[Joseph William Chitty]] 1880
| years   = [[1868 United Kingdom general election|1868]]–[[1880 Oxford by-election|1880]] }}
{{s-aft| after   = [[Alexander William Hall]]
| after2  = [[Joseph William Chitty]]
}}
{{s-bef| before  = [[Samuel Plimsoll]]
| before2 = [[Michael Thomas Bass]]
}}
{{s-ttl| title   = Member of Parliament for [[Derby (UK Parliament constituency)|Derby]]
| with    = [[Michael Thomas Bass]] 1880–1883
| with2   = [[Thomas Roe, 1st Baron Roe|Thomas Roe]] 1883–1895
| years   = [[1880 Derby by-election|1880]]–[[1895 United Kingdom general election|1895]] }}
{{s-aft| after   = [[Henry Howe Bemrose|Sir Henry Bemrose]]
| after2  = [[Geoffrey Drage]]
}}
{{s-bef| before  = [[Cornelius Warmington]] }}
{{s-ttl| title   = Member of Parliament for [[West Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|West Monmouthshire]]
| years   = [[1895 United Kingdom general election|1895]]–[[1904 West Monmouthshire by-election|1904]] }}
{{s-aft| after   = [[Thomas Richards (Welsh politician)|Thomas Richards]] }}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef |before=[[Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford|Sir Henry James]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Solicitor-General for England]] |years=1873–1874}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Richard Baggallay|Sir Richard Baggallay]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef |before=[[R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross|Sir Richard Cross]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Home Secretary]] |years=1880–1885}}
{{s-aft |after=[[R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross|Sir Richard Cross]]}}
{{s-bef |before=[[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] |years=1886}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Lord Randolph Churchill]]}}
{{s-bef |before=[[George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|George Goschen]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] |years=1892–1895}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt]]}}
{{s-bef |before=[[William Ewart Gladstone]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Leader of the House of Commons]] |years=1894–1895}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Arthur Balfour]]}}
{{s-bef |before=[[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|The Earl of Rosebery]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Leader of the Opposition (UK)|Leader of the Opposition]] |years=1896–1898}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Henry Campbell-Bannerman|Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{S-bef|before=[[William Ewart Gladstone]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Leader of the Liberal Party (UK)#Leaders of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons|Liberal Leader in the Commons]]|years=1894–1898}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry Campbell-Bannerman|Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman]]}}{{s-bef |before=[[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|The Earl of Rosebery]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Liberal Party (UK)|Leader of the British Liberal Party]] |years=1896–1898|regent1=[[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley|The Earl of Kimberley]]}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Henry Campbell-Bannerman|Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman]]<br>[[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley|The Earl of Kimberley]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{British Chancellors of the Exchequer}}
{{HomeSecretary}}
{{Leader of the House of Commons}}
{{UKLiberalLeaders}}
{{Leaders of the Opposition UK}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harcourt, William}}
[[Category:1827 births]]
[[Category:1904 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Liberal Party (UK)]]
[[Category:Secretaries of State for the Home Department]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Cambridge Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1874–1880]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1892–1895]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1895–1900]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1900–1906]]
[[Category:House of Harcourt|William]]
[[Category:Solicitors general for England and Wales]]
[[Category:Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Whewell Professors of International Law]]
[[Category:British legal scholars]]
[[Category:English King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Members of the Inner Temple]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Politicians from York]]