Everything about William Henry Waddington totally explained
William Henry Waddington (
December 11,
1826 -
January 13,
1894) was a
French statesman who was
Prime Minister in
1879.
Early life and education
He was born at
Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre (
Eure-et-Loir), the son of a wealthy Englishman, who had established a large spinning factory in France and had been naturalised as a French subject, and his French wife. After receiving his early education in
Paris, he was sent to
Rugby School, and then to
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he achieved second-class honors and won the chancellor's medal. He also rowed in the victorious Cambridge eight in the
Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the
Thames.
Archaeological research
Returning to France, he devoted himself for some years to
archaeological research. He travelled in
Asia Minor,
Greece and
Syria, and his experiences and discoveries were recorded in two
Mémoires, recognised by the
French Institute, and in his
Mélanges de numismatique et de philologie ("Numismatic and Philological Miscellanies", 1861).
Except for his essay on "The Protestant Church in France," published in 1856 in
Cambridge Essays, his remaining works all concerned archaeology. They include his
Fastes de l'empire romain ("The Splendours of the Roman Empire"), and editions of
Diocletian's
Edict on Maximum Prices and of
Philippe Lebas'
Voyage archéologique (1868-1877). He was elected, in 1865, a member of the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.
Chamber of Deputies
After standing unsuccessfully for a Chamber of Deputies seat for the
département of the
Aisne constituency in
1865 and
1860, Waddington was returned by that constituency in the election of
1871. He was
Minister of Public Instruction in the short-lived cabinet of
May 19 1873.
Senator for the Aisne
In
1876, having been elected senator for the Aisne, he was again entrusted by Prime Minister
Dufaure with the Ministry of Public Instruction. Because he was a
Protestant, he wasn't permitted to combine the Ministry of Public Worship with the Public Instruction portfolio, as had been the custom in ministerial assignments. His most important project, a bill transferring the granting of degrees to the state, was passed by the Chamber, but thrown out by the
Senate.
He continued to hold office under
Jules Simon, with whom he was overthrown on the famous
seize mai (
16 May,
1877). The triumph of the republicans at the general election brought him back to power the following December as
Minister of Foreign Affairs, again under Dufaure. He was one of the French plenipotentiaries at the
Berlin Congress. The cession of
Cyprus to the
United Kingdom was, at first, denounced by the French newspapers as a great blow to his diplomatic reputation, but he obtained, in a conversation with
Lord Salisbury, a promise that the United Kingdom would, in return, allow France a free hand in
Tunis.
Prime Minister of France
Early in 1879 Waddington succeeded Dufaure as
Prime Minister. Holding office by sufferance of
Léon Gambetta, he kept peace between the radicals and the reactionaries till the delay of urgent reforms lost him the support of all parties. He was forced on
December 27 to retire from office.
He refused an offer to become ambassador in London, and in 1880 was reporter of the committee on the adoption of the
scrutin de liste at elections, on which he delivered an adverse judgment.
London ambassador
In 1883 he accepted the London embassy, which he continued to hold till 1893, showing an exceptional tenacity in defence of his country's interests. His second wife, the American
Mary A. King, wrote her recollections of their diplomatic experiences -
Letters of a Diplomatist's Wife, 1883-1900 (New York, 1903), and
Italian Letters.
Changes
4 March 1879 - Charles Lepère succeeds Marcère as Minister of the Interior and of Worship. Pierre Tirard succeeds Lepère as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.
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