Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T22:10:35.009Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

John Bright and Joseph Chamberlain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Roland Quinault
Roland Quinault
Affiliation:
Polytechnic of North London
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Richard Cobden, John Bright and Joseph Chamberlain were the most famous and influential reform agitators of the Victorian era. Collectively they ensured that much British political development in the period was influenced by ideas associated first with Manchester and then with Birmingham. In this context, Blight's career was particularly important since he was the only one of the trio who had close links with the other two and with both Manchester and Birmingham. Bright's partnership with Cobden in the Anti-Corn-Law League has long been an historical cliché and has been closely studied. Yet Cobden died in 1865 and Bright outlived him for twenty-four years. During that period Bright pursued a political career which often owed little to Cobden's influence. He also became a Liberal cabinet minister on three occasions: an honour declined by Cobden. Moreover Bright developed a close association with the rising radical leader Joseph Chamberlain. Yet their relationship has received scant attention from historians.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , September 1985 , pp. 623 - 646
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 The Times, 1 Aug. 1889.

2 See, for example, Read, Donald, Cobden and Bright: a Victorian political partnership (London, 1967)Google Scholar.

3 Trevelyan, G. M., The life of John Bright (London, 1913), pp. 3–4Google Scholar.

4 Bright, John, Letters on home rule (Birmingham, 1892), n.p.Google Scholar

5 Ausubel, Herman, John Bright, Victorian reformer (New York, 1966)Google Scholar; Robbins, Keith, John Bright (London, 1979), p. 195Google Scholar.

6 Jay, Richard, Joseph Chamberlain, a political study (Oxford, 1981), p. 47Google Scholar.

7 The Times, 21 Nov. 1885.

8 Morley, John, Recollections (2 vols., London, 1917), 1, 167Google Scholar: Chamberlain, to Collings, j., 27 04 1880, Chamberlain papers, Birmingham University Library, JC 5/16/95Google Scholar.

9 Chamberlain, Joseph, A political memoir, 1880–92, ed. by Howard, C. H. D. (London, 1953), pp. 2–3Google Scholar.

10 The Times, 14 June, 1883.

11 Parl, Debates, 1889, CCCXXXIV, 1176–8.

12 Dale, A. W. W., The life of R. W. Dale of Birmingham (London, 1899 edn), p. 437Google Scholar.

13 Smith, G. Barnett, The life and speeches of the Rt. Hon. John Bright M.P. (2 vols., London, 1882 edn), 11,131Google Scholar.

14 The Times, 2 June, 1877.

15 Hovell, Mark, The Chartist movement (Manchester, 1966 edn), pp. 243–8Google Scholar; Tholfsen, Trygve R., ‘The origins of the Birmingham Caucus’, Historical Journal, II, 2 (1959), 162Google Scholar.

16 Morley, John, The life of Richard Cobden (London, 1903 edn), p. 663Google Scholar.

17 The Times, 28 Oct. 1858.

18 Ibid. 23 Apr. 1867.

19 Ibid.

20 The Times, 14 June, 1883.

21 Dod's Parliamentary Companion (London, 1866 and 1884 editions).

22 P.D., 1889, CCCXXXIV, 1176.

23 The Times, 30 Jan. 1884.

24 Bright, to Gladstone, , 16 04 1873, Gladstone papers, British Library, Add. MSS 44,113Google Scholar.

25 Smith, Bright, II, 234.

26 Walling, Robert A. J. (ed.) The diaries of John Bright (London, 1930), p. 367Google Scholar.

27 Chamberlain, to Morley, , 25 11 1876, Chamberlain papers, JC 5/54/134Google Scholar.

28 Bright, to Chamberlain, , 17 02 1875, Chamberlain papers, JC 5/7/6Google Scholar.

29 Chamberlain, to Bright, , 28 03 1875, Bright papers, British Library, Add. MSS 43,387Google Scholar.

30 Ibid. 14 May, 1878.

31 Bright, to Chamberlain, , 7 11 1876, Chamberlain papers, JC 5/7/11Google Scholar.

32 Bright diaries, p. 383.

33 Bright to Chamberlain, 1 Apr. 1880, JC 5/7/18.

34 Smith, , Bright, 11, 330Google Scholar.

35 Chamberlain, to Harris, W., 13 06 1880, Chamberlain papers, JC 5/39/11Google Scholar.

36 Brummagem Bright (Birmingham, 1880)Google Scholar.

37 Hamilton, Claud to Churchill, R., 26 09 1884, Lord Randolph Churchill papers, Churchill College, Cambridge, RCHL 1/2/275Google Scholar.

38 St Stephen's Review, 17 Oct. 1885.

39 Churchill, to Salisbury, , 25 11 1885, Salisbury papers, Hatfield House, HertsGoogle Scholar.

40 Leech, H.J. (ed.) The public letters of the Rt. Hon. John Bright (New York, 1969 edn), p. 94Google Scholar.

41 Smith, , Bright II, 211Google Scholar.

42 Garvin, J. C., The life of Joseph Chamberlain, vol. I. 1836–85 (London, 1932), pp. 253–4Google Scholar.

43 The Times, 2 June, 1877.

44 Chamberlain, Joseph, ‘A new political organisation’, The Fortnightly Review, XXII (1877), 133–4Google Scholar.

45 Chamberlain, Joseph, ‘The Caucus’, The Fortnightly Review, XXIV (1878), 721–2Google Scholar.

46 The Times, 2 June, 1877.

47 Vince, C. A., John Bright (London, 1898), p. 156Google Scholar.

48 Garvin, , Chamberlain, 1, 90Google Scholar.

49 Boyd, C. W., Mr Chamberlain's speeches (2 vols., London, 1914), 1, 8–9Google Scholar.

50 Chamberlain, to Morley, , 10 08 1873, Chamberlain papers, JC 5/54/7Google Scholar.

51 Ibid. 14 Aug. 1873, JC 5/547/10.

52 Chamberlain, Joseph, ‘The Liberal Party and its leaders’, The Fortnightly Review, XIV (1873), 287Google Scholar.

53 Chamberlain, to Morley, , 19 08 1873, Chamberlain papers, JC 5/54/13Google Scholar.

54 Bright, to Chamberlain, , 19 08 1873 JC 5/7/3Google Scholar.

55 Chamberlain, Joseph, ‘The next page of the Liberal programme’, The Fortnightly Review, XVI (1874), 420, 427Google Scholar.

56 Bright to Chamberlain, 4 May, 1876, JC 5/7/7.

57 Leech, , Bright letters, pp. 268–9Google Scholar.

58 Walling, , Bright diaries, p. 375Google Scholar.

59 Bright to Chamberlain, 4 May, 1876, JC 5/7/7.

60 Chamberlain to J. T. Bunce, June, 1876, JC 5/8/15; Boyd, , Chamberlain's speeches, I, 74Google Scholar.

61 Chamberlain, , ‘Next page’ p. 417Google Scholar.

62 Ibid. pp. 412, 417.

63 Leech, , Bright Utters, p. 187Google Scholar.

64 Bright to Chamberlain, 29 June, 1876, JC 5/7/8.

65 Bright to Morley, 1 Nov. 1877, JC 5/54/187.

66 The Times, 8 Nov. 1877.

67 The autobiography of Joseph Arch (London, 1966 edn), p. 36Google Scholar.

68 Smith, , Bright, 11, 236Google Scholar.

69 Walling, , Bright diairies, p. 371Google Scholar.

70 Bright to Gladstone, 23 Oct. 1885, Add. MSS 44,113.

71 The Times, 13 Nov. 1872.

72 Bright to Chamberlain, 5 Mar. 1873, JC 5/7/1; Chamberlain, , Political memoir, p. 86Google Scholar.

73 The Times, 14 June, 1883.

74 Bahlman, Dudley W. R. (ed.) The diary of Sir Edward Walter Hamilton (2 vols., London, 1972), 11, 449Google Scholar.

75 Chamberlain, to Gladstone, , 21 12 1883, Gladstone papers, Add. MSS 44, 125Google Scholar.

76 Smith, , Bright, 1, 200–1Google Scholar; Garvin, , Chamberlain, 1, 98–9Google Scholar.

77 The Times, 5 Aug. 1884.

78 Chamberlain, Joseph, ‘The labour question’, The Nineteenth Century, XXXII (1892), 679Google Scholar.

79 P. D., 1889, LXVIII, 786.

80 The Times, 28 Oct. 1903.

81 Ibid. 8 Oct. 1903.

82 Vincent, B., Haydn's dictionary of dates and universal information (London, 1895 edn), p. 243Google Scholar.

83 Chamberlain to William Harris, 18 Aug. 1881, JC 5/39/17.

84 The Times, 17 Nov. 1880.

85 Ibid. 4 May, 1881.

86 Stephens, W. B. (ed.) A history of the county of Warwick, vol. VII: The city of Birmingham (London 1964), p. 196Google Scholar.

87 The Times, 17 Dec. 1903, 12 Jan. 1905.

88 Creswicke, Louis, The life of the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain (4 vols., London, n.d.), III, 44Google Scholar.

89 The Times, 16 May, 1903.

90 p. D., 1879, CCXLIV, 1311.

91 Smith, , Bright, 1, 82Google Scholar.

92 The Times, 14 June, 1883.

93 Chamberlain to Morley, 25 Nov. 1876, JC 5/54/134.

94 The Times, 2 Jan. 1888.

95 Ibid. 7 Oct. 1903.

96 Marris, N. Murell, The Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain (London, 1900), p. 56Google Scholar.

97 Chamberlain to Morley, 25 Nov. 1876, JC 5/54/199.

98 The Times, 5 Dec. 1876.

99 Chamberlain to Morley, 13 Jan. 1878, JC 5/54/199.

100 Ibid. 31 Jan. 1878, JC 5/54/205.

101 Smith, , Bright, I, 269Google Scholar.

102 The Times, 20 March, 1880.

103 Garvin, , Chamberlain, I, 224Google Scholar.

104 Boyd, , Chamberlain's speeches, I, 77Google Scholar.

105 Garvin, , Chamberlain, I, 439Google Scholar.

106 Gwynn, Stephen & Tuckwell, Gertrude, The life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Dilke (2 vols., London, 1917), p. 368Google Scholar.

107 Garvin, , Chamberlain, I, 443, 454Google Scholar.

108 Leech, , Bright letters, p. 23Google Scholar.

109 Chamberlain to Bright, 15 July, 1882, Add. MSS 43,387.

110 Chamberlain to Harcourt, 31 Aug. 1882, JC 5/38/137.

111 Chamberlain, , Political memoir, pp. 80–1Google Scholar.

112 Chamberlain to Bright, 31 Dec. 1882, Add. MSS 43,387.

113 Bright to Chamberlain, 4 Jan. 1883, JC 5/7/20.

114 Chamberlain to Bright, 5 Jan. 1883, Add. MSS 43,387.

115 Ibid. 14 Jan. 1884.

116 Bright to Chamberlain 18 Jan. 1884, JC 5/7/21.

117 Ibid. 22 Dec. 1884, JC 5/7/22.

118 The Times, 6 Jan. 1885.

119 Shannon, Richard, The crisis of imperialism, 1865–1915 (London, 1976 edn), p. 144Google Scholar.

120 Reid, T. Wemyss, Life of the Rt. Hon. William Edward Forster (2 vols., London, 1888 edn), 506–7Google Scholar.

121 The Times, 30 Jan. 1885.

122 P. D., 1886, CCCIV, 1204–5; The Times, 9 July, 1886.

123 The Times, 28 Mar. 1888.

124 Creswicke, , Chamberlain, II, 154–6Google Scholar.

125 The Times, 26 Jan. 1880.

126 Chamberlain to Harcourt, 25 Jan. 1880, JC 5/38/124.

127 Morley, , Recollections, I, 165–6Google Scholar.

128 Russell, G. W. E., Portraits of the seventies (London, 1916), p. 157Google Scholar; Chamberlain, , Political memoir, pp. 5–16Google Scholar.

129 The Times, 4 Jan. 1882.

130 Walling, , Bright diaries, p. 525Google Scholar.

131 Bright to Chamberlain, 15 Dec. 1885, JC 5/7/25.

132 Chamberlain to Bright, 28 Jan. 1886, Add. MSS 43,387.

133 Chamberlain, Joseph, ‘A radical view of the Irish crisis’, The Fortnightly Review, XXXIX (1886), 282–3Google Scholar.

134 Bright to Chamberlain, 4 Feb. 1886, JC 5/7/26.

135 Chamberlain to Bright, 5 Feb. 1886, Add. MSS 43,387.

136 Chamberlain, , Political memoir, pp. 186, 190Google Scholar.

137 Chamberlain to Gladstone, 15 March, 1886, Add. MSS 44,126.

138 Walling, , Bright diaries, pp. 535–6Google Scholar.

139 Garvin, , Chamberlain, II, 215Google Scholar.

140 Chamberlain to Bunce, 11 Apr. 1886, JC5/8/84B.

141 Garvin, , Chamberlain, II 213–14Google Scholar.

142 Bright, to Gladstone, , 13 05, 1886, Gladstone papers, Add. MSS 44,113Google Scholar.

143 Chamberlain, to Bright, , 15 05, 1886, Bright papers, Add. MSS 43,387Google Scholar.

144 Walling, , Bright diaries, p. 541Google Scholar.

145 Chamberlain to Bright, 30 May, 1886, Add. MSS 43,387.

146 Bright to Chamberlain, 31 May, 1886, JC5/7/27.

147 Chamberlain to Bright, 2 June, 1886, Add. MSS 43,387.

148 Marris, , Chamberlain, p. 259Google Scholar.

149 Bright to Chamberlain, 9 June, 1886, JC5/7/30.

150 Chamberlain to Bright, 9 June, 1886, Add. MSS 43,387.

151 The Times, 2 July, 1886.

152 Morley, John, The life of William Ewart Gladstone (2 vols., London, 1908 edn), II, 437Google Scholar; , Russell, Portraits, p. 175Google Scholar.

153 Bright to Chamberlain, 28 Aug. 1886, JC5/7/31.

154 Ibid. 15 June, 1886, JC5/7/54.

155 Chamberlain, Political memoir, pp. 233–48Google Scholar.

156 Bright to Arthur Chamberlain, 11 Feb. 1887, JC5/7356.

157 Bright, Home Rule letters, n.p.

158 Walling, , Bright diaries, p. 557Google Scholar; Garvin, , Chamberlain, II, 302–3Google Scholar.

159 The Times, 12 Oct. 1887.

160 Leech, , Bright letters, p. 194Google Scholar.

161 Bright, Home Rule letters, n.p.

162 The Times, 1 Apr. 1889.

163 Birmingham Daily Gazette, 3 Apr. 1889.

164 The Times, 28 Mar. 1889.

165 J. Powell Williams to Chamberlain, 11 Apr. 1889, JC6/2/1/19.

166 The Times, 22 June, 1892.

167 Ibid. 23 June.

168 Ibid. 29 June.

169 Vince, , Bright, p. viGoogle Scholar.

170 Hutchinson, H. G. (ed.) The private diaries of the Rt. Hon. Algernon West (London, 1922), p. 222Google Scholar.

171 Cobden to Paulton, Jan. 1862, quoted in Morley, , Cobden, p. 854Google Scholar.

172 The Times, 14 June, 1883.

173 Marris, , Chamberlain, p. 430Google Scholar.