John Eldon Gorst

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Vice-President of the
Committee on Education
In office
4 July 1895 – 8 August 1902
Monarchs
Prime Minister
Preceded byArthur Dyke Acland
Succeeded byThe Duke of Devonshire
Personal details
Born24 May 1835 (1835-05-24)
Preston, Lancashire, England
Died4 April 1916 (1916-04-05) (aged 80)
London, England
Political party
Spouse
Mary Elizabeth Moore
​
​
(m. 1860)​
Alma materSt John's College, Cambridge

Sir John Eldon Gorst,

Vice-President of the Committee on Education
between 1895 and 1902.

Background and education

Gorst was born in Preston, Lancashire, the son of Edward Chaddock Gorst, who took the name of Lowndes on succeeding to the family estate in 1853.[1] He graduated third wrangler from St John's College, Cambridge, in 1857, and was admitted to a fellowship.[2]

New Zealand

After beginning to read for the bar in London, his father's illness and death led to his sailing to New Zealand. The Māori had at that time set up a king of their own in the Waikato district and Gorst, who had made friends with the chief Tamihana (William Thomson), known as the kingmaker, established a Māori trade school in Te Awamutu and later acted as an intermediary between the Māori and the government. Sir George Grey made him inspector of schools, then resident magistrate, and eventually civil commissioner in Upper Waikato which the Kingite Māori considered their own land. Tamihana's influence secured his safety at the start of the conflict when chief Rewi Maniapoto of the Ngāti Maniapoto tribe and his warriors attempted to kill Gorst. As Gorst was forewarned they made do by destroying the trade school, destroying a printing press and scaring all the settlers out of the Waikato where they had lived peacefully since 1830. This incident and the ambush and killing of British troops walking along a beach near New Plymouth, led to a restart of the war between the Māori King Movement and the New Zealand government in 1863. In 1884 he hosted the Māori King when he and his party came to England to seek an audience with Queen Victoria over issues to do with land. At that time Gorst was a member of the liberal Aborigine Protection League. In 1908 he published a volume of recollections, under the title of New Zealand Revisited: Recollections of the Days of my Youth.[1]

Political and legal career

Gorst then returned to England and was

Queen's Counsel in 1875. He stood unsuccessfully for Hastings as a Conservative in the 1865 general election,[1] but the next year he entered parliament as member for Cambridge.[3][4] He served as chairman of the inaugural meeting of the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations in November 1867.[5] He was not re-elected at the 1868 general election. After the Conservative defeat of that year Benjamin Disraeli entrusted him with the reorganization of the party machinery, and in five years of hard work he paved the way for the Conservative success at the general election of 1874.[1]

At a by-election in 1875 Gorst reentered parliament as member for

House of Commons.[1]

At the

Lord Ranfurly was chosen (and Gorst weas said to have twice refused the Cape governorship, a more exaulted position) .[10]

Gorst remained committed to the principles of

Tory democracy which he had advocated in the days of the Fourth Party, and continued take an active interest in the housing of the poor, the education and care of their children, and in social questions generally, both in parliament and in the press. However, he became exceedingly independent in his political action.[1] In 1905 he contributed to Robert Morant's dispute concerning a school inspection report by Katherine Bathurst about elementary education for under fives. The report's outspokeness had been encouraged by Gorst who was trying to gain a revenge on Morant. This dispute resulted in Bathurst having to resign and for the ministry publishing her report but (unusually) with Morant's apologies and annotations.[11]

Gorst objected to Joseph Chamberlain's proposals for tariff reform, and at the general election of 1906 he stood as an independent Free Trader, but came third, behind the two official Unionist candidates, and lost his seat. He then withdrew from the vice-chancellorship of the Primrose League, of which he had been one of the founders, on the ground that it no longer represented the policy of Benjamin Disraeli. In 1910 he contested Preston as a Liberal, but failed to secure election.[1]

Family

Gorst married Mary Elizabeth Moore in

Consul-General in Egypt. Gorst died in London in April 1916, aged 80, and lies buried in St Andrew's churchyard, Castle Combe, Wilts. An account of his connection with Lord Randolph Churchill will be found in the Fourth Party (1906), by his younger son, Harold Edward Gorst.[1]

His illegitimate older half brother was Edward Frankland.[13]

Publications

  • John Eldon Gorst, Gorst, John Eldon, Sir, 1835-1916 (1908). New Zealand Revisited. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gorst, Sir John Eldon" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  2. ^ "Gorst, John Eldon (GRST853JE)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ "The city of Cambridge: Parliamentary representation Pages 68-76 A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3, the City and University of Cambridge". British History Online. Victoria County History, 1959. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Caernarfon to Cambridgeshire South West". Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ DNB
  6. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Carmarthen East and Dinefwr to Chesterton". Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "No. 25486". The London Gazette. 3 July 1885. p. 3061.
  8. ^ "No. 26022". The London Gazette. 11 February 1890. p. 727.
  9. ^ "No. 26640". The London Gazette. 5 July 1895. p. 3805.
  10. ^ "Our London Letter". Papers Past (New Zealand). 29 March 1897.
  11. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48585. Retrieved 19 December 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  12. ^ Sorrenson, M. P. K. "Gorst, John Eldon". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  13. ISBN 0 7146 5180 X
    .

External links

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Cambridge
1866–1868
With: Sir Francis Powell 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
George Elliott
 Member of Parliament for Chatham
1875–1892 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Cambridge University
1892–1906
With: Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb 		Succeeded by
John Rawlinson
Samuel Butcher
Legal offices
Preceded by
Solicitor-General for England

1885–1886 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
None
 Chairman of the
National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations
1867 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Principal Agent of the Conservative Party
1870 – 1877 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Principal Agent of the Conservative Party
1880 – 1882 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Under-Secretary of State for India
1886–1891 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1891–1892 		Succeeded by
Sir J. T. Hibbert
Preceded by
Vice-President of the Committee on Education

1895–1902 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Rector of the University of Glasgow
1893–1896 		Succeeded by
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