George Otto Trevelyan

The Right Honourable Sir George Otto Trevelyan, Bt (20 July 1838 - 17 August 1928) was an English statesman and author and the only son of Sir Charles Trevelyan.

Office

When the first Gladstone ministry was formed, in December 1868, Trevelyan was appointed civil lord of the Admiralty, but resigned in July 1870 on a point of conscience connected with the government Education Bill. He advocated a sweeping reform of the army, including the abolition of the purchase of commissions, and both in and out of parliament he was the foremost supporter for many years of the extension of the county franchise. In the session of 1874 he brought forward his Household Franchise (Counties) Bill, which was lost on the second reading; it was not till ten years later that the agricultural laborer was enfranchized. Among other causes which he warmly supported were women's suffrage, a thorough reform of metropolitan local government, and the drastic reform or abolition of the House of Lords. He was also in favor of the direct veto and other temperance legislation. In 1876 he published The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, and in 1880 he published The Early History of Charles James Fox. In the latter year he was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Admiralty. This office he held until May 1882, when, after the assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish, he became for two years Chief Secretary for Ireland. From November 1884 to June 1885 he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In February 1886 he became Secretary for Scotland, but resigned in March over Home Rule. The same year he succeeded his father in the baronetcy. At the general election of 1886 Sir George Trevelyan lost his seat for Hawick. As a representative of the Unionist party he took part in the Round Table Conference, and, being satisfied with the modifications made by Gladstone in his Home Rule scheme, he formally rejoined the Liberal party. In August 1887 he re-entered the House of Commons as member for Glasgow Bridgeton; and from 1892 to 1895 he was again Secretary for Scotland. Early in 1897 he resigned his seat in parliament and retired into private life.

Related Topics:
Gladstone - Admiralty - House of Lords - Lord Frederick Cavendish - Chief Secretary for Ireland - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster - Secretary for Scotland - Baronetcy - 1886 - Unionist - House of Commons - Glasgow Bridgeton

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