Wives of the prime ministers, 1844-1906

by Elizabeth Lee

WIVES OF THE

PRIME MINISTERS

1844-1906

BY

ELIZABETH LEE

AUTHOR OF "OUIDA: A MEMOIR" ETC.

with contributions by

Mrs. C. F. G. MASTERMAN

London
NISBET & CO. LIMITED
22 BERNERS STREET, W. 1

First Published	January 1918
Reprinted	August 1918

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

NOTE

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.

E. L.

CONTENTS

		page
I.	Lady Caroline Lamb	1
II.	Lady Peel	44
III.	Lady John Russell (Countess Russell)	63
IV.	Lady Palmerston	99
V.	Mrs. Disraeli (Viscountess Beaconsfield)	131
VI.	Mrs. Gladstone	156
VII.	Lady Salisbury	218
VIII.	Lady Campbell-Bannerman	233
	Index	249