View source for Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell

{{Short description|British politician (1813–1886)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Viscount Cardwell 
| honorific-suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100%|PC|PC (Ire)|FRS}}
| image = 1stViscountCardwell.jpg
| caption = The 1st Viscount Cardwell, {{circa|1878}}
| order = [[Secretary of State for War]]
| term_start = 9 December 1868
| term_end = 17 February 1874
| monarch = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| primeminister = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| predecessor = [[John Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton|Sir John Pakington, Bt]]
| successor = [[Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby|Hon. Frederick Stanley]]
| order1 = [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]]
| term_start1 = 7 April 1864
| term_end1 = 26 June 1866
| monarch1 = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| primeminister1 = [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]]<br>[[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|The Earl Russell]]
| predecessor1 = [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle|The Duke of Newcastle]]
| successor1 = [[Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon|The Earl of Carnarvon]]
| order2 = [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
| term_start2 = 25 July 1861
| term_end2 = 7 April 1864
| monarch2 = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| primeminister2 = [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]]
| predecessor2 = [[Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet|Sir George Grey, Bt]]
| successor2 = [[George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon|The Earl of Clarendon]]
| order3 = [[President of the Board of Trade]]
| term_start3 = 28 December 1852
| term_end3 = 31 March 1855
| monarch3 = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| primeminister3 = [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|The Earl of Aberdeen]] <br/> [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]]
| predecessor3 = [[J. W. Henley]]
| successor3 = [[Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley|The Lord Stanley of Alderley]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1813|07|24}} 
| birth_place = 
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1886|02|15|1813|07|24}} 
| death_place = [[Torquay]], Devon 
| nationality = British
| party = [[Tory (political faction)|Tory]] <br/> [[Peelite]] <br/> [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]   
| alma_mater = [[Balliol College, Oxford]]  
| spouse = Annie Parker (d. 1887)
}}

[[File:Edward Cardwell, Vanity Fair, 1869-04-03.jpg|thumb|Cardwell caricatured by Ape in ''Vanity Fair'', 1869]]
'''Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell''', {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|PC|PC (Ire)|FRS}} (24 July 1813 – 15 February 1886) was a prominent British politician in the [[Peelite]] and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] parties during the middle of the 19th century. He is best remembered for his tenure as [[Secretary of State for War]] between 1868 and 1874 and, with [[William Ewart Gladstone]]'s support, the introduction of the [[Cardwell Reforms]].   The goal was to centralise the power of the War Office, abolish purchase of officers' commissions, and to create reserve forces stationed in Britain by establishing short terms of service for enlisted men.

==Background and education==
Cardwell was the son of John Henry Cardwell, of [[Liverpool]], a merchant, and Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Birley. He was educated at [[Winchester College|Winchester]] and [[Balliol College, Oxford]], from where he took a degree in 1835. He was [[Call to the Bar|called to the bar]], [[Inner Temple]], in 1838.<ref name = "CardwellODNB">{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4620|title=Cardwell, Edward, first Viscount Cardwell|first=Brian|last=Bond|author-link = Brian Bond}}</ref>

== Early political career==
Cardwell was employed in the Colonial Office in the late 1830s, and directly involved in drafting written instructions (sent to Sydney) to Captain [[William Hobson]] RN, as to how to 'treat with the natives' (Maori) of New Zealand;

{{cn|date=October 2020}} He became a follower and confidant of [[Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet|Sir Robert Peel]], the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]], and held his first office under him as [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]] between 1845 and 1846.{{cn|date=October 2020}} 

When Peel split the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in 1846 over the issue of repealing the [[Corn Laws]], Cardwell followed Peel, and became a member of the Peelite faction. When the Peelites came to power in 1852, Cardwell was sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=21396 |date=28 December 1852 |page=3931 }}</ref> and made [[President of the Board of Trade]] by [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Lord Aberdeen]], a position he held until 1855.{{cn|date=October 2020}} 

In 1854 he passed the [[Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1854]] which stopped the cut-throat competition between Railway Companies which was acting to their and the railusers' disadvantage.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

== Reelection and return ==
During these years, Cardwell moved from seat to seat in Parliament. In 1847, he was elected as MP for [[Liverpool (UK Parliament constituency)|Liverpool]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Lcommons3.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Lichfield and Tamworth to London and Westminster South |access-date=17 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029034529/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Lcommons3.htm |archive-date=29 October 2008 }}</ref> 

In 1852, he lost elections for Liverpool and for [[Ayrshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Ayrshire]], but won a seat at [[Oxford (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford]]. In 1857, he was defeated for the Oxford seat, but a second election for the seat was held shortly after, which he won (beating [[William Makepeace Thackeray]]).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ocommons.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Ochil to Oxford University |access-date=17 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816023438/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ocommons.htm |archive-date=16 August 2011 }}</ref> 

== Liberal MP ==
The Peelite faction disintegrated in the late 1850s and fully integrated with the Whigs. The dissenting factions of the former Tory party and the Whig party combined to found the [[Liberal Party (UK)]] and Cardwell officially became a new member of the new Liberal Party in 1859. {{citation needed|date=September 2010}} 

=== Palmerston government ===
Cardwell quickly returned to office by joining [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]]'s cabinet as [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]].<ref name = "CardwellODNB"/> 

Unhappy in that position,{{citation needed|date=September 2010}} he moved two years later to another cabinet post, [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22533 |date=26 July 1861 |page=3127 }}</ref> A second move within the cabinet came in 1864, when Cardwell became the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22842 |date=8 April 1864 |page=1960 }}</ref> a position he kept until the Liberals were turned out of office in 1866.

=== Gladstone government ===
When the Liberals returned to power under [[William Ewart Gladstone]] in [[1868 United Kingdom general election|the 1868 election]], Cardwell reached the peak of his career, as Gladstone's [[Secretary of State for War]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=23449 |date=11 December 1868 |page=6581 }}</ref> 
During his six years in the post, in what became known as "[[Cardwell reforms]]", Cardwell reorganised the [[British army]], introduced professional standards for officers (including advancement by merit rather than [[Sale of commissions|purchase]]), and formed a home reserve force.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
After Gladstone's defeat in [[1874 United Kingdom general election|the 1874 election]], Cardwell was raised to the peerage as '''Viscount Cardwell''', of Ellerbeck in the County Palatine of Lancaster.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24071 |date=3 March 1874 |page=1453 }}</ref> His ennoblement ended his active political career.

====Army reform====
{{main|Cardwell Reforms}}
Liberal prime minister [[William Ewart Gladstone]] paid little attention to military affairs but he was keen on efficiency.  In 1870 he pushed through Parliament major changes in Army organisation.  Germany's stunning triumph over France proved that the Prussian system of professional soldiers with up-to-date weapons was far superior to the traditional system of gentlemen-soldiers that Britain used.<ref>Robert Ensor, ''England, 1870–1914'' (1963) pp. 7–17</ref> 
The reforms were not radical—they had been brewing for years and Gladstone seized the moment to enact them. The goal was to centralise the power of the War Office, abolish purchase of officers' commissions, and to create reserve forces stationed in Britain by establishing short terms of service for enlisted men.<ref>Albert V. Tucker, "Army and Society in England 1870–1900: A Reassessment of the Cardwell Reforms," ''Journal of British Studies'' (1963) 2#2 pp. 110–141 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/175254 in JSTOR]</ref>

Cardwell as Secretary of State for War (1868–1874) designed the reforms that Gladstone supported in the name of efficiency and democracy. In 1868 he abolished flogging, raising the private soldier status to more like an honourable career. In 1870 Cardwell abolished "bounty money" for recruits, discharged known bad characters from the ranks. He pulled 20,000 soldiers out of self-governing colonies like Canada, which learned they had to help defend themselves.

The most radical change, and one that required Gladstone's political muscle, was to abolish the system of officers obtaining commissions and promotions by purchase, rather than by merit. The system meant that the rich landholding families controlled all the middle and senior ranks in the army. Promotion depended on the family's wealth, not the officer's talents, and the middle class was shut out almost completely.  
British officers were expected to be gentlemen and sportsmen; there was no problem if they were entirely wanting in military knowledge or leadership skills.  From the Tory perspective it was essential to keep the officer corps the domain of gentlemen, and not a trade for professional experts. They warned the latter might menace the oligarchy and threaten a military coup; they preferred an inefficient army to an authoritarian state. The rise of [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]]'s new Germany made this anti authoritarian policy too dangerous for a great empire to risk.

The bill, which would have compensated current owners for their cash investments, passed Commons in 1871 but was blocked by the House of Lords. Gladstone then moved to drop the system without any reimbursements, forcing the Lords to backtrack and approve the original bill.  Liberals rallied to Gladstone's anti-elitism, pointing to the case of [[James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan|Lord Cardigan]] (1797–1868), who spent £40,000 for his commission and proved utterly incompetent in the Crimean war, where he led the disastrous "Charge of the Light Brigade" at the [[Battle of Balaklava]] in 1854.

Cardwell was not powerful enough to install a general staff system; that had to await the 20th century. He did rearrange the war department. He made the office of Secretary of State for War superior to the Army's commander in Chief; the commander was His Royal Highness [[Prince George, Duke of Cambridge|The Duke of Cambridge]], the Queen's first cousin, and an opponent of the reforms. The surveyor-general of the ordnance, and the financial secretary became key department heads reporting to the Secretary. The militia was reformed as well and integrated into the Army. The term of enlistment was reduced to 6 years, so there was more turnover and a larger pool of trained reservists. The territorial system of recruiting for regiments was standardised and adjusted to the current population. Cardwell reduced the Army budget yet increased the strength of the army by 25 battalions, 156 field guns, and abundant stores, while the reserves available for foreign service had been raised tenfold from 3,500 to 36,000 men.<ref>Ensor, ''England, 1870–1914'' pp. 7–17</ref>

==Personal life==
[[Image:Edward Cardwell, Viscount Cardwell by George Richmond.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Portrait of Lord Cardwell by [[George Richmond (painter)|George Richmond]], 1871.]]
[[File:Grave of Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell, in Highgate Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Grave of Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell, in [[Highgate Cemetery]]]]
Lord Cardwell married Annie, daughter of Charles Stuart Parker, in 1838. They had no children.<ref name = "CardwellODNB"/> 

He died in [[Torquay]], Devon, in February 1886, aged 72, and was buried on the western side of [[Highgate Cemetery]] (plot no.14065) in a large vault which now has no headstone and is largely covered by earth. Lady Cardwell died the following year, in February 1887.<ref name = "CardwellODNB"/> 

The town of [[Cardwell, Queensland|Cardwell]] in [[Queensland]], Australia, was named after Lord Cardwell.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/title/place-names/queensland-place-names-search#/&place=Cardwell6216 | title = Queensland place names search | website = [[Queensland Government]] | access-date = 2021-01-12 | quote = Cardwell6216 Named by George Elphinstone Dalrymple (1826-1876), explorer, public servant and politician, in 1864, after Edward Cardwell (1813-1886), later Viscount Cardwell, Secretary of State for the Colonies April 1864 to July 1866}}</ref>

He owned {{Convert | 4500 | acre}}.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/greatlandownerso00bateuoft/page/77/mode/1up The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland]</ref>

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Viscount.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Cardwell Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Argent a chevron Sable in base a maiden's head erased Proper ducally crowned Or on a chief of the second two maidens' heads erased also Proper ducally crowned Or.
|crest = A man in armour holding in the dexter hand a war mace all Proper charged on the breast with a cross pattee Gules.
|supporters = On either side a man in armour holding in the exterior hand a battle-axe all Proper charged on the breast with a cross pattee Gules. <ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=1876}}</ref>}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Biddulph, Robert. ''Lord Cardwell  at the War Office: A History of his Administration 1868-1874'' (1904) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211268 online]
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Cardwell, Edward Cardwell |volume=5}}
* Ensor R. C. K.  ''England 1870-1914'' (1936) pp 8–16.
*  Erickson,  Arvel B. "Edward T. Cardwell: Peelite" ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'' (1959) 49#2 pp. 1-107 [http://www.jstor.com/stable/1005831 online]
* Gallagher, Thomas F. "‘Cardwellian Mysteries’: The Fate of the British Army Regulation Bill, 1871." ''Historical Journal'' 18#2 (1975): 327-348. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638491 online]
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Cardwell, Edward (1813-1886)|volume=9|first=Goldwin|last= Smith}}
* Tucker, Albert V. "Army and Society in England 1870-1900: A Reassessment of the Cardwell Reforms." ''Journal of British Studies'' 2#2 (1963): 110–141.

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-edward-cardwell | Edward Cardwell }}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090810231604/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ccommons4.htm leighrayment.com House of Commons: Chichester to Clitheroe]}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Sir Mathew Wilson, 1st Baronet|Mathew Wilson]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = Member of Parliament for [[Clitheroe (UK Parliament constituency)|Clitheroe]]
       | years  = 1842 – [[1847 United Kingdom general election|1847]] }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[Sir Mathew Wilson, 1st Baronet|Mathew Wilson]] }}

{{s-bef| before = [[Howard Douglas|Sir Howard Douglas, Bt]] <br/> [[Dudley Ryder, 2nd Earl of Harrowby|Viscount Sandon]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = Member of Parliament for [[Liverpool (UK Parliament constituency)|Liverpool]]
       | with   = [[Sir Thomas Birch, 2nd Baronet|Sir Thomas Birch, Bt]]
       | years  = [[1847 United Kingdom general election|1847]] – [[1852 United Kingdom general election|1852]] }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[Charles Turner (1803–1875)|Charles Turner]] <br/> [[William Forbes Mackenzie]] }}

{{s-bef| before = [[James Langston]] <br/> [[William Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley|William Wood]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = Member of Parliament for [[Oxford (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford]]
       | with   = [[James Langston]] 1853–1857, 1857–1863
       | with2  = [[Charles Neate]] 1857, 1863–1868
       | with3  = [[William Harcourt (politician)|William Harcourt]] 1868–1874
       | years  = [[1853 Oxford by-election|1853]] – [[1874 Oxford by-election|1874]] }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[Alexander William Hall]] <br/> [[William Harcourt (politician)|William Harcourt]] }}

{{s-off}}
{{succession box  | title  = [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]]  | years  = 1845–1846 | before = [[Sir George Clerk, 6th Baronet|Sir George Clerk, Bt]]  | after  = [[John Parker (Whig politician)|John Parker]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Joseph Warner Henley]] | title=[[President of the Board of Trade]] | years=1852–1855 | after=[[Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley|The Lord Stanley of Alderley]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo|Lord Naas]] | title=[[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] | years=1859–1861 | after=[[Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet|Sir Robert Peel, Bt]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet|Sir George Grey, Bt]] | title=[[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]] | years=1861–1864 | after=[[George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon|The Earl of Clarendon]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle|The Duke of Newcastle]] | title=[[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] | years=1864–1866 | after=[[Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon|The Earl of Carnarvon]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[John Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton|Sir John Pakington, Bt]] | title=[[Secretary of State for War]] | years=1868–1874 | after=[[Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook|Gathorne Hardy]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of the Board of Trade}}
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