John Neilson Gladstone

Captain John Neilson Gladstone RN (18 January 1807 – 7 February 1863) was a British Conservative politician and an officer in the Royal Navy.

He was the fourth child of Sir John Gladstone, a Scottish-born businessman who settled in Liverpool and made a large fortune initially from trading in corn with the United States and cotton with Brazil, and later through sugar plantations in Jamaica.^[1] His mother was Anne MacKenzie née Robertson, from Dingwall.^[2] His younger brother was the British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, and his elder brother Thomas was also a MP.

After Eton, and Christ Church, Oxford, John Neilson was determined to attend the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth from 1820. He spent eight years at sea, but thereafter was still able to gain promotion to Captain RN. William decided to undertake a tour of European cities in 1832 with his naval brother, who was temporarily without a ship. They got along fine, and spent 179 days together criss-crossing Europe. Travelling by post-chaise, haggling at inns, occasionally talking in a foreign language, but the hotels were often unclean, supplying strange menu fare. Leaving London on 1 February 1832 they crossed the Channel into Brittany. By 1 March they had arrived at Turin, where they tarried a week, before moving on to Genoa. They at Rome during April for a whole month; and another 25 days in Naples; another 10 days in Rome before they headed home on 5 June. Via Ravenna and Bologna they visited Venice; and then onto the Lakes Garda and Como, pausing four days in Milan, before travelling across the Alps to Geneva. From Basle they took a boat down the River Rhine, and overland to Brussels and Ostend. They arrived back in London on 28 July 1832.^[3]

In 1839 he married Elizabeth Honoria, daughter of William Bateson. They purchased Bowden Park, near Chippenham in Wiltshire where he chose to settle. He maintained good health, and was the least neurotic of the Gladstones.

No longer able to get a ship at sea with the Royal Navy, he stood as a Conservative and won the seat of Walsall on 4 February to June 1841, when the general election cut into to obscure the fact that a petition was raised against him for corrupt electoral practices. His Anti-Corn Law League opponent accused him of using money from slavery to pay for election expenses, and for a scheme of compensation for the economic loss of slaves to pay for them. The accusation from J B Smith was flatly denied, both that his family had had anything to do with West India slavery plantation, until after its abolition, and that the rumours of compensation were much exaggerated.^[4] He was another by-election, this time at Ipswich in 1842 and sat there until 1847. During that parliament 'Captain Gladstone' spoke against corn law repeal arguing that agriculture would go to the wall, if protective tariffs were removed. Small farmers would be bankrupted, with no commensurate gain to burgeoning manufacturers. He expressed great regret at being forced to oppose the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel.

I suppose the agriculturists are not supposed to have any mind, as the late county elections prove that they are strongly opposed to it,

, declared the backwoodsman; "but being convinced that the main feature of the whole is the total repeal of the Corn Laws, ...the community interested in agriculture should, at the earliest possible period, know its fate, I feel compelled to endeavour to stop the measure on the threshold, and to vote for the Amendment".^[5]

On 13 April 1847 he supported the recommendation of the Admiralty for the salvage of the wreck of The Thetis. As an ex-naval officer, John Neilson was ell-qualified to express an opinion,ad the amendment proposed, even if its opponents had ruled it out on grounds of cost.^[6]

Partly because Wiltshire was his adopted home county, John Gladstone was able to remain MP for Devizes from 7 July 1852 and then to April 1857. For some reason he lost the seat and then won it back agan. For eleven years until his death, having won at the general election of 1859, he was in parliament for a creditably longtime.^[7]

His brothers were all in attendance at Bowden Park for the over-wrought emotion scene at John Neilson's deathbed. William arrived early in February 1863 three days before his brother died and, took great care over a period of ten days, which he later related in some depth of detail in his diaries.^[8] John Neilson left seven daughters and a son without parents, orphans, making William wholly responsible for the funeral arrangements.^[9] Money he acquired in his brother's will went to supplement the budget of the famous Midlothian campaign.^[10] A writ was moved only five days later in the Commons for a new member.^[11]

Notes

See also

• O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). " Gladstone, John Neilson".  A Naval Biographical Dictionary. John Murray. Wikisource. 

References

Bibliography

• Jenkins, Roy (1995). Gladstone. London. 

External links

• http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1846/feb/27/commercial-policy-customs-corn-laws#S3V0084P0_18460227_HOC_30
• http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/1816395450
• Lundy, Darryl. "Captain John Neilson Gladstone". 
• Historical list of Members of Parliament: W
• Historical list of Members of Parliament: I
• Historical list of Members of Parliament: D
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Gladstone