MR AND MRS GLADSTONE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1947, 24 September 1889, Page 4

MR AND MRS GLADSTONE.

“ Yesterday, at Hawarden, by tbe Hon. and Rev. G. Neville Granville, the Right Hon, Lord Lyttelton, of Hagley, near Stourbridge, Worcestershire, to Miss Mary Glynne; and William Ewart Gladstone, Esq., M.P. for Newark, to Miss Glynne; the ladies being the daughters of the late Sir Stephen Glynne, Bart., and sister* of the present Sir S. R. Glynne, Bart., M.R, Hawarden Castle, Flintshire,” This interesting advertisement is copied from the Chester Chronicle of 26th July, 1839, the double marriage having taken place on the previous day. The future' Prime Minister at this time was unknown in Hawarden, and had not yet made much figure in the world. He was thirty years l of age and had been member for Newark, in the Conservative interest, since the beginning of 1833, having taken his seat in the first Parliament after the passing of the Reform Bill, He was beginning ; to be looked upon as , a rising man, and under Sir Robert Peel had been for a short time Undersecretary for the Colonies. But he was not yet, as he was afterwards to become, “ the lope of tbe-more solemn and solid Conservatives.” He was the son of a plain Liverpool merchant (Mr John Gladstone, his father, was made a baronet by Sir Robert Peel in 1845), and had for grandfather a com dealer in Leith. It was no great match, one would have said, for the eldest daughter of Sir Stephen Glynne, of Hawarden. Miss Glynne and her sister were known in society. “ as the handsome Miss Glynnes,” and it is said that when they first came out their friends were inclined to look down upon any suitor who could not offer a peerage. If the story is true, what first attracted Miss Glynne’s attention t© Mr Gladstone was a remark made by a minister who sat beside her at a dinner party at which Mr Gladstone was also present. “ Mark that young , man,” said the minister, “he will yet be Prime Minister of England.” Miss Glynne keenly scrutinised the expressive features of the young member of Parliament who sat opposite, but it was not until the subsequent winter

that she made his acquaintance in Italy—an acquaintance which speedily ripened into affection.