Robert Lowe
Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, GCB, PC (4 December 1811 – 27 July 1892),[2] British statesman, was a pivotal conservative spokesman who helped shape British politics in the latter half of the 19th century. He held office under William Ewart Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1868 and 1873 and as Home Secretary between 1873 and 1874. Lowe is remembered for his work in education policy, his opposition to electoral reform and his contribution to modern UK company law. Gladstone appointed Lowe as Chancellor expecting him to hold down public spending. Public spending rose, and Gladstone pronounced Lowe "wretchedly deficient"; most historians agree. Lowe repeatedly underestimated the revenue, enabling him to resist demands for tax cuts and to reduce the national debt instead. He insisted that the tax system be fair to all classes. By his own main criterion of fairness — that the balance between direct and indirect taxation remain unchanged — he succeeded. Even in his time, however, this concept of fiscal incidence was obsolescent.[3]
For other people named Robert Lowe, see Robert Lowe (disambiguation).Early life[edit]
Lowe was born in Bingham, Nottinghamshire, England, the second son of the Reverend Robert Lowe (rector of St Mary and All Saints, Bingham). His mother was Ellen,[2] the daughter of the Rev. Reginald Pyndar.[4] Lowe had albinism, and his sight was so weak that initially it was thought he was unfit to be sent to school.[4]
In 1822, he went to a school at Southwell, then Latin House, Risley, and in 1825 to Winchester as a commoner. In Lowe's fragment of autobiography he shows an unpleasing picture of the under-feeding and other conditions of the school life of the time. The languages of Latin and Greek were the main subjects of study and Lowe records that both were easy for him.[4]
Lowe then attended University College, Oxford, and enjoyed the change; there as a pupil of Benjamin Jowett he gained a first class degree in Literae Humaniores and a second class in mathematics, besides taking a leading part in the Union debates.
In 1835, he won a fellowship at Magdalen, but vacated it on marrying, on 26 March 1836, Georgiana Orred (d. 1884).[2] Lowe was for a few years a successful tutor at Oxford, but in 1838 was disappointed at not being elected to the professorship of Greek at the University of Glasgow.
Australia[edit]
In 1841 Lowe moved to London to read for the Bar, but his eyesight showed signs of serious weakness, and, acting on medical advice, he sailed to Sydney in the colony of New South Wales, where he set to work in the law courts. On 7 November 1843 he was nominated by Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales, to a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Council replacing Robert Jones who had to resign from the Council due to insolvency.[5][6]
Owing to a difference of opinion with Gipps, Lowe resigned from the council on 9 September 1844,[6][7] but was elected in April 1845 for Counties of St Vincent and Auckland.[6] Lowe held that seat until 20 June 1848 and was elected for City of Sydney in July 1848, a seat he held until November 1849.[6]
Lowe soon made his mark in the political world by his clever speeches, particularly on finance and education; and besides obtaining a large legal practice, he was involved with the founding and was one of the principal writers for the Atlas newspaper.[4]
In 1844, Lowe defended a Royal Navy captain, John Knatchbull, on a charge of murdering a widowed shopkeeper named Ellen Jamieson;[8] he was one of the earliest to raise in a British court the plea of moral insanity (unsuccessfully). Knatchbull was hanged on 13 February 1844. Lowe and his wife adopted Mrs. Jamieson's two orphaned children, Bobby and Polly Jamieson.[2]
On 27 January 1850, the Lowes and the two Jamieson children sailed to England.[4]
British politics[edit]
Early years[edit]
Lowe's previous university reputation and connections combined with his colonial experience stood him in good stead; The Times was glad to employ him, and, as one of its ablest leader-writers, he made his influence widely felt. In 1852, he was returned to Parliament for Kidderminster in the Liberal interest. In the House of Commons, his acute reasoning made a considerable impression, and, under successive Liberal ministries (1853–1858), he obtained official experience as Secretary to the Board of Control and Vice-President of the Board of Trade. During his time there, he saw the Joint Stock Companies Act 1856 passed – the first nationwide codification of company law in the world. He has been referred to as "the father of modern company law".[9] This status was again referred to in the presentation by Lord Sainsbury of the second reading leading up to the new United Kingdom Companies Act 2006:
Australian federal electoral division[edit]
The Division of Lowe, a now abolished Australian electoral division located in Sydney, was named after him.[18]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh (1911). "Sherbrooke, Robert Lowe, Viscount". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). pp. 843–844.