Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne

The Right Honourable The Earl of Selborne PC
Lord Chancellor
In office 15 October 1872 – 17 February 1874
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	The Lord Hatherley
Succeeded by	The Lord Cairns
In office 28 April 1880 – 9 June 1885
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	The Lord Cairns
Succeeded by	The Lord Halsbury
Personal details
Born	27 November 1812 (1812-11-27) Mixbury, Oxfordshire
Died	4 May 1895 (1895-05-05) (aged 82)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative Liberal Liberal Unionist
Spouse(s)	Lady Laura Waldegrave
Children	5
Alma mater	University of Oxford
Religion	Anglican

Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne PC (27 November 1812 – 4 May 1895), was a British lawyer and politician. He served twice as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.

Background and education

Selborne was born at Mixbury in Oxfordshire, where his father William Jocelyn Palmer was rector. His mother Dorothea was daughter of the Rev. William Roundell of Gledstone Hall, Yorkshire; and William Palmer and Edwin Palmer were his brothers. He was educated at Rugby School and Winchester College. He graduated in 1834 from the University of Oxford, and received his master's degree in 1836. While at University he became a close friend of the hymn writer and theologian, Frederick William Faber. He was called to the bar in 1837.

Political career

Selborne entered parliament as a Conservative in 1847. He joined the Peelite Conservatives who were to eventually help create the Liberal party in 1859. He served under Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell as Solicitor General between 1861 and 1863 and as Attorney General between 1863 and 1866.

Under Gladstone, he became Lord Chancellor in 1872 and was created Baron Selborne, of Selborne in the County of Southampton. His first tenure in the office saw the passage of the Judicature Act of 1873, which completely reorganised the judiciary. He served in the same office in Gladstone's Second Cabinet (1880–1885), and was created Viscount Wolmer, of Blackmoor in the County of Southampton, and Earl of Selborne in 1882. He broke with Gladstone, however, over Irish Home Rule, in 1885, and joined the Liberal Unionists.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1860.

Judicial Decisions

L'Union St. Jacques de Montreal v. Bélisle (1874), 6 L.R. P.C. 31, [1874] UKPC 53 (P.C.).

Family

Selborne married Lady Laura, daughter of William Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave, in 1848. They had five children: four daughters followed by a son. Their eldest, Laura Elizabeth (1849–1939), was an author and social reformer, who in 1876 married George Ridding, the first bishop of Southwell, and became known as Lady Laura Ridding. Their second, Mary Dorothea (1850–1933), married her first cousin, the 9th Earl Waldegrave in 1874. Their third, Sophia Matilda (1852–1915) married the Comte de Franqueville in 1903. Their fourth, Sarah Wilfreda (1854–1910) married her second cousin George Tournay Biddulph, the son of Robert Biddulph, in 1883. Their youngest, William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, later became a prominent Unionist politician. Lady Selborne died in April 1885. Lord Selborne survived her by ten years and died in May 1895, aged 82.

Publications

• 2nd ed. (London, December 1886), 3rd ed. (London, March 1887), 4th ed. (London, February 1888)
• Selborne Memorials (London, 1896–98)

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Selborne
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Papers at Lambeth Palace Library

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Thomas Gill Viscount Ebrington	Member of Parliament for Plymouth 1847–1852 With: Viscount Ebrington	Succeeded by Charles John Mare Robert Collier
Preceded by Charles John Mare Robert Collier	Member of Parliament for Plymouth 1853–1857 With: Robert Collier	Succeeded by James White Robert Collier
Preceded by Henry Rich Marmaduke Wyvill	Member of Parliament for Richmond 1861 – 1872 With: Marmaduke Wyvill to 1865 John Dundas 1865–66 Marmaduke Wyvill from 1866	Succeeded by Lawrence Dundas
Legal offices
Preceded by Sir William Atherton	Solicitor General for England and Wales 1861–1863	Succeeded by Sir Robert Collier
Preceded by Sir William Atherton	Attorney General for England and Wales 1863–1866	Succeeded by Sir Hugh Cairns
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Hatherley	Lord Chancellor 1872–1874	Succeeded by The Lord Cairns
Preceded by The Earl Cairns	Lord Chancellor 1880–1885	Succeeded by The Lord Halsbury
Academic offices
Preceded by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley	Rector of the University of St Andrews 1877–1880	Succeeded by Sir Theodore Martin
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Selborne 1872–1895	Succeeded by William Palmer
	Earl of Selborne 1882–1895
	Viscount Wolmer 1882–1895