ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the first biographical study of Charles Pelham Villiers, whose long UK parliamentary career spanned numerous government administrations under twenty different prime ministers. Throughout their long and distinguished parliamentary careers, the relationship between Charles Villiers and William Gladstone was problematic and did not always run smoothly, frequently blowing hot and cold, although – in public at least – both were usually civil towards one another. Charles Villiers had developed a sincere interest in, and knowledge of, Ireland – as well as sympathy for the Irish people – long before Gladstone's 'mission to pacify Ireland'. For Charles Villiers, the Union between Great Britain and Ireland was sacrosanct. In short, Villiers regarded Gladstone's 'New Departure', which he held to be motivated in part by Gladstone's desire not only to retain his leadership of the Liberal Party. Charles Villiers' letters to William McIlwraith are illustrative of the impact of the Home Rule crisis on Liberal politics.
