George Goschen
Encyclopedia
George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen (10 August 1831 – 7 February 1907) was a British
statesman
and businessman best remembered for being "forgotten" by Lord Randolph Churchill
. He was initially a Liberal
, then a Liberal Unionist
before joining the Conservative Party
by the time of the 1895 General Election
.
the son of William Henry Goschen, a merchant of German extraction. He was educated at Rugby
under Tait
, and at Oriel College, Oxford, where he took a first in classics
. He entered his father's firm of Fruhling & Goschen, of Austin Friars, in 1853, and three years later became a director of the Bank of England
.
for the City of London
in the Liberal
interest, and he was reelected in 1865. In November of the same year he was appointed Vice-President of the Board of Trade and Paymaster-General
, and in January 1866 he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
, with a seat in the cabinet
. When Gladstone
became prime minister
in December 1868, Goschen joined the cabinet as President of the Poor Law Board, until March 1871, when he succeeded Childers
as First Lord of the Admiralty. In the 1874 general election
he was the only Liberal returned for the City of London, and by a narrow majority
. Being sent to Cairo
in 1876 as delegate for the British holders of Egyptian bonds
in 1876, he concluded an agreement with the Khedive
in order to arrange for the conversion of the debt.
In 1878 his views on the county franchise
question prevented him from voting consistently with his party. With the City of London becoming more Conservative, Goschen did not stand there at the 1880 general election
, but was instead returned for Ripon
in Yorkshire, which he represented until 1885, when he was returned for the Eastern Division of Edinburgh
. He declined to join Gladstone's government in 1880 and also refused the post of Viceroy of India, but he did become special ambassador to the Porte
, where he settled the Montenegrin
and Greek
frontier questions in 1880 and 1881. He was made an Ecclesiastical Commissioner
in 1882. When Sir Henry Brand was raised to the peerage
in 1884, Goschen was offered the role of Speaker of the House of Commons
, but he declined. During the parliament of 1880-1885 he frequently found himself at odds with his party, especially over franchise extension and questions of foreign policy
. When Gladstone adopted Home Rule for Ireland, Goschen followed Lord Hartington (afterwards 8th Duke of Devonshire) and became one of the most active of the Liberal Unionists
. He failed to retain his seat for Edinburgh at the election in July of that year.
On the resignation of Lord Randolph Churchill
in December 1886, Goschen, though a Liberal Unionist, accepted Lord Salisbury's
invitation to join his ministry as Chancellor of the Exchequer
. Churchill had assumed he could not be replaced, and famously commented that he "forgot Goschen" was a potential alternative. Goschen needed a seat in Parliament and so first stood in a by-election
in the Liverpool Exchange constituency
, but was defeated by seven votes in January 1887. He was then elected for the strongly Conservative St George's, Hanover Square
, in February. His chancellorship was memorable for his successful conversion of the National Debt in 1888. The University of Aberdeen
again conferred upon him the honour of the rectorship in 1888, he received an honorary LL.D from the University of Cambridge
in the same year, and he received a similar honour from the University of Edinburgh
in 1890.
Following the defeat of Salisbury's government in 1892, Goschen moved into opposition. Though he had been a leading Liberal Unionist as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Goschen did not stand against Joseph Chamberlain for the leadership of the party in 1892 following the departure of Hartington to the House of Lords as the Duke of Devonshire. Unable to work with Chamberlain, Goschen left the Liberal Unionists and joined the Conservatives in 1893 - one obvious sign of his change of allegiance within the Unionist alliance was when he joined the Carlton Club
in 1893.
as Viscount Goschen
of Hawkhurst, Kent. Though retired from active politics he continued to take a great interest in public affairs, and when Chamberlain
started his tariff reform movement
in 1903, Lord Goschen was one of the weightiest champions of free trade
on the Unionist side.
to the universities. His published works indicate how ably he combined the wise study of economics
with a practical instinct for business-like progress, without neglecting the more ideal aspects of human life. In addition to his well-known work on The Theory of the Foreign Exchanges, he published several financial and political pamphlets and addresses on educational and social subjects, among them being that on Cultivation of the Imagination, Liverpool, 1877, and that on Intellectual Interest, Aberdeen, 1888. He also wrote a biography of his grandfather, The Life and Times of George Joachim Goschen, publisher and printer of Leipzig (1903). He was President of the Royal Statistical Society
, 1886-8.
Goschen died on 7 February 1907 and was succeeded by his son George Joachim (1866–1952), who was Conservative M.P. for East Grinstead
from 1895 to 1900 and married a daughter of Lord Cranbrook.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
and businessman best remembered for being "forgotten" by Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill MP was a British statesman. He was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane , daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...
. He was initially a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
, then a Liberal Unionist
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
before joining the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
by the time of the 1895 General Election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
.
Background, education and business career
He was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
the son of William Henry Goschen, a merchant of German extraction. He was educated at Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
under Tait
Archibald Campbell Tait
Archibald Campbell Tait was a priest in the Church of England and an Archbishop of Canterbury.-Life:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Tait was educated at the Royal High School and at the Edinburgh Academy, where he was twice elected dux. His parents were Presbyterian but he early turned towards the...
, and at Oriel College, Oxford, where he took a first in classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
. He entered his father's firm of Fruhling & Goschen, of Austin Friars, in 1853, and three years later became a director of the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
.
Political career, 1863-1885
In 1863 he was returned without opposition as one of the four MPsMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the City of London
City of London (UK Parliament constituency)
The City of London was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950.-Boundaries and boundary...
in the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
interest, and he was reelected in 1865. In November of the same year he was appointed Vice-President of the Board of Trade and Paymaster-General
Paymaster-General
HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom. The Paymaster General is in charge of the Office of HM Paymaster General , which held accounts at the Bank of England on behalf of Government departments and selected other public bodies...
, and in January 1866 he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...
, with a seat in the cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
. When Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
became prime minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
in December 1868, Goschen joined the cabinet as President of the Poor Law Board, until March 1871, when he succeeded Childers
Hugh Childers
Hugh Culling Eardley Childers was a British and Australian Liberal statesman of the nineteenth century. He is perhaps best known for his reform efforts at the Admiralty and the War Office...
as First Lord of the Admiralty. In the 1874 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1874
-Seats summary:-References:* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...
he was the only Liberal returned for the City of London, and by a narrow majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
. Being sent to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
in 1876 as delegate for the British holders of Egyptian bonds
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
in 1876, he concluded an agreement with the Khedive
Khedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...
in order to arrange for the conversion of the debt.
In 1878 his views on the county franchise
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
question prevented him from voting consistently with his party. With the City of London becoming more Conservative, Goschen did not stand there at the 1880 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1880
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...
, but was instead returned for Ripon
Ripon (UK Parliament constituency)
Ripon was a constituency sending members to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1983, centred on the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire.-History:...
in Yorkshire, which he represented until 1885, when he was returned for the Eastern Division of Edinburgh
Edinburgh East (UK Parliament constituency)
Edinburgh East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
. He declined to join Gladstone's government in 1880 and also refused the post of Viceroy of India, but he did become special ambassador to the Porte
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, where he settled the Montenegrin
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
and Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
frontier questions in 1880 and 1881. He was made an Ecclesiastical Commissioner
Ecclesiastical Commissioners
Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title is Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Church of England, and they made extensive changes in how...
in 1882. When Sir Henry Brand was raised to the peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
in 1884, Goschen was offered the role of Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
, but he declined. During the parliament of 1880-1885 he frequently found himself at odds with his party, especially over franchise extension and questions of foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
. When Gladstone adopted Home Rule for Ireland, Goschen followed Lord Hartington (afterwards 8th Duke of Devonshire) and became one of the most active of the Liberal Unionists
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
. He failed to retain his seat for Edinburgh at the election in July of that year.
Political career, 1885-1895
Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill MP was a British statesman. He was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane , daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...
in December 1886, Goschen, though a Liberal Unionist, accepted Lord Salisbury's
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
invitation to join his ministry as Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
. Churchill had assumed he could not be replaced, and famously commented that he "forgot Goschen" was a potential alternative. Goschen needed a seat in Parliament and so first stood in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in the Liverpool Exchange constituency
Liverpool Exchange (UK Parliament constituency)
Liverpool Exchange was a borough constituency within the city of Liverpool in England, centred around Liverpool Exchange railway station. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.The...
, but was defeated by seven votes in January 1887. He was then elected for the strongly Conservative St George's, Hanover Square
Westminster St George's (UK Parliament constituency)
Westminster St George's, originally named St George's, Hanover Square, was a parliamentary constituency in Central London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system of election.-History:The...
, in February. His chancellorship was memorable for his successful conversion of the National Debt in 1888. The University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
again conferred upon him the honour of the rectorship in 1888, he received an honorary LL.D from the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in the same year, and he received a similar honour from the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
in 1890.
Following the defeat of Salisbury's government in 1892, Goschen moved into opposition. Though he had been a leading Liberal Unionist as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Goschen did not stand against Joseph Chamberlain for the leadership of the party in 1892 following the departure of Hartington to the House of Lords as the Duke of Devonshire. Unable to work with Chamberlain, Goschen left the Liberal Unionists and joined the Conservatives in 1893 - one obvious sign of his change of allegiance within the Unionist alliance was when he joined the Carlton Club
Carlton Club
The Carlton Club is a gentlemen's club in London which describes itself as the "oldest, most elite, and most important of all Conservative clubs." Membership of the club is by nomination and election only.-History:...
in 1893.
Political career, 1895-1907
From 1895 to 1900 Goschen was First Lord of the Admiralty. He retired in 1900, and was raised to the peeragePeerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Viscount Goschen
Viscount Goschen
Viscount Goschen, of Hawkhurst in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1900 for the politician George Goschen upon his retirement from a long political career, during which he served variously as Member of Parliament, Vice-President of the Board of...
of Hawkhurst, Kent. Though retired from active politics he continued to take a great interest in public affairs, and when Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
started his tariff reform movement
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
in 1903, Lord Goschen was one of the weightiest champions of free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
on the Unionist side.
Other public positions
In educational subjects Goschen had always taken the greatest interest, his best known, but by no means his only, contribution to popular culture being his participation in the University Extension Movement. His first efforts in parliament were devoted to advocating the abolition of religious tests and the admission of DissentersNonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
to the universities. His published works indicate how ably he combined the wise study of economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
with a practical instinct for business-like progress, without neglecting the more ideal aspects of human life. In addition to his well-known work on The Theory of the Foreign Exchanges, he published several financial and political pamphlets and addresses on educational and social subjects, among them being that on Cultivation of the Imagination, Liverpool, 1877, and that on Intellectual Interest, Aberdeen, 1888. He also wrote a biography of his grandfather, The Life and Times of George Joachim Goschen, publisher and printer of Leipzig (1903). He was President of the Royal Statistical Society
Royal Statistical Society
The Royal Statistical Society is a learned society for statistics and a professional body for statisticians in the UK.-History:It was founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London , though a perhaps unrelated London Statistical Society was in existence at least as early as 1824...
, 1886-8.
Goschen died on 7 February 1907 and was succeeded by his son George Joachim (1866–1952), who was Conservative M.P. for East Grinstead
East Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
from 1895 to 1900 and married a daughter of Lord Cranbrook.
Cultural references
- Appears as a minor character in the historical-mystery novel Stone's FallStone's Fall-Synopsis:An aging BBC reporter approaching retirement in 1953, Matthew Braddock is on a farewell tour, visiting the old Paris bureau. Chancing upon a familiar name in the obituary notices, he decides to attend the funeral of an acquaintance he has not seen for many years. After the service, he is...
, by Iain PearsIain PearsIain Pears is an English art historian, novelist and journalist. He was educated at Warwick School, Warwick, Wadham College and Wolfson College, Oxford. Before writing, he worked as a reporter for the BBC, Channel 4 and ZDF and correspondent for Reuters from 1982 to 1990 in Italy, France, UK and...
.
Further reading
- Thomas J. Spinner: George Joachim Goschen: the transformation of a Victorian liberal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973 ISBN 0-521-20210-8
- Arthur D. Elliot: The life of George Joachim Goschen, First Viscount Goschen, 1831-1907. 2v. London: Longmans Green, 1911