Wives of the Prime Ministers, 1844-1906


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Wives of the Prime Ministers, 1844-1906 depicts the influence these strong women yielded in the British political arena, not forgetting their impact on various charities as well.







Prime Ministers' Wives


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Much is required of a prime minister’s wife. As a hostess, sympathetic ear and adviser, she must ensure her husband never puts a foot wrong (and never do so herself). Arguably she has one of the hardest jobs in politics – without ever stepping into the House of Commons. Of the wives from the past two centuries featured in this book, nearly all have given their husbands unqualified support in political matters, two notable exceptions being Emily Palmerston and Clementine Churchill, who were always ready to dissent. And, until Audrey Callaghan and Cherie Blair, none had careers of their own. They came from a variety of backgrounds: some, such as Emily Palmerston, Caroline Lamb, Catherine Gladstone and Dorothy Macmillan, from the ruling classes. Two - Clementine Churchill and Margot Asquith - had aristocratic connections, while Lucy Baldwin’s father was a scientist, Mary Ann Disraeli’s was a junior naval officer and Margaret Lloyd George’s a Welsh hill farmer. In terms of their marriages, some were secure, some wobbly and one actually broke down. In the case of Clementine Churchill, her marriage to Winston of fifty-seven years was a particularly remarkable achievement. Mark Hichens examines these women - and one husband, Denis Thatcher - in the light of their personalities and achievements as well as the roles they have indirectly played in British history in this timely volume.







Wives of the Prime Ministers


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Excerpt from Wives of the Prime Ministers: 1844-1906 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. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.







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