LORD SHAFTESBURY

Shaftesbury Avenue (1886) is one of the West End's principal streets. The road derives its name from the social reformer the 7^th Earl of Shaftesbury (d.1885), the poor man s earl . The peer's parents tended to treat him in a remote and harsh manner. In later life he was to attribute his religiosity to the example of a family servant. Bearing the courtesy title of Lord Ashley, he entered the House of Commons as a Tory. He was soon appointed to junior office and displayed concern about issues such as the proper government of India and the treatment of those who were afflicted with mental health problems. However, he was also opposed to Parliamentary reform. In 1830 Ashley married Lady Emily Cowper. Her biological father was probably the Irish peer the 3^rd Viscount Palmerston, who was one of the leading political figures of the day.

In the Commons Michael Sadler had been the champion of factory reform and the shorter working week. At the 1832 general election he lost his seat. Ashley allowed himself to become the cause's new principal advocate within Parliament. It was an association that was to last for the rest of his life. Through it, he immensely improved the working lives of millions of ordinary people. The government of the day soon concluded that it would be wiser for it to pass its own partial measure - the Factory Act of 1833 - than to risk the possibility that Ashley might secure his own fuller Bill.

During the course of the decade the M.P.'s religious faith grew to be more intense. A side-effect of this was his conduct was to accrete an aspect that in 21^stC terms would be styled sectarian . However, in parallel, it also developed in him a millenarian outlook that compelled him to improve the lot of his fellow man as swiftly as he could. It was this latter strand that was to turn him into a major figure. He was to hold a couple more junior governmental posts but temperamentally he found himself to be more fulfilled by pursuing his own social, moral, and religious agenda. Therefore, he became inclined to take independent political stances. This effectively barred him from resuming office.

In 1839 Palmerston married Lady Ashley's mother.

Ashley s religious outlook made him question Britain's role upon the international stage. He was critical of intervention in Afghanistan, believed that the annexation of Sind should not have been carried out, and opposed the opium trade with China. He was to be a supporter both of Italian unification and of the Union side in the American Civil War. In 1846 he resigned from the Commons because he believed that the protectionist Corn Laws should be repealed, whereas the large mass of his rural constituents did not. He was to spend eighteen months out of the House. This experience led him to lay far greater stress upon voluntary philanthropic activity. He developed an interest in education and identified himself with the Ragged School Union.

In 1847 he re-entered the Commons. The following year he was appointed as a member of the General Board of Health. As such, he played a role in countering the 1849 cholera epidemic. He called for London's water supply to be improved and for its old burial grounds to be closed.

In 1851 Ashley succeeded his father and became the 7^th Earl of Shaftesbury. Four years later Palmerston became prime minister. He tried to persuade his stepson-in-law to enter the Cabinet. The earl came close to accepting the offer but ultimately refrained from doing so. Through his close association with the viscount, he became able to exercise considerable informal power. He remodelled the episcopal bench in the House of Lords, so as to give it an Evangelical cast. In 1861 he was made a Knight of the Garter. In 1865 Palmerston died. Shaftesbury's influence within the senior ranks of the state was thereby ended. He found himself to be out of step with the new mood of political reform. However, for the next two decades he continued to be viewed as being a major public figure with regard to issues of social reform.

Location: Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5EA (red, yellow)

Website: www.stgileshouse.com (The earl's ancestral home)

The Shaftesbury Society

The Shaftesbury Society provided help for people with disabilities. Among those whom it aided were the 3ft. 8in. entertainer Kenny Baker (1934-2016). It was he who played the robot R2-D2 in the Star Wars movies series.

Location: 47-49 Union Street, SE1 1SG

Website: www.livability.org.uk

David Backhouse 2024