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BARON LEONARD HENRY COURTNEY COURTNEY

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 329 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BARON LEONARD See also:HENRY See also:COURTNEY COURTNEY  (1832- ), See also:English politician and See also:man of letters, eldest son of J . S . See also:Courtney, a banker, was See also:born at See also:Penzance on the 6th of See also:July 1832 . At See also:Cambridge, Leonard Courtney was second wrangler and first See also:Smith's prizeman, and was elected a See also:fellow of his See also:college, St See also:John's . He was called to the See also:bar at See also:Lincoln's See also:Inn in 1858, was See also:professor of See also:political See also:economy at University College from 1872 to 1875, and in See also:December 1876, after a previous unsuccessful See also:attempt, was elected to See also:parliament for See also:Liskeard in the Liberal See also:interest . He continued to represent the See also:borough, and the See also:district into which it was merged by the Reform See also:Act of 1885, until 'goo, when his attitude towards the See also:South See also:African See also:War—he was one of the foremost of the so-called " See also:Pro-See also:Boer " party—compelled his retirement . Until 1885 he was a devoted adheren,. of Mr See also:Gladstone, particularly in See also:finance and See also:foreign affairs . In 188o he was under-secretary of See also:state for the See also:home See also:department, in 1881 for the colonies, and in 1882 secretary to the See also:treasury; but he was always a stubborn fighter for principle, and upon finding that the See also:government's Reform See also:Bill in 1884 contained no recognition of the See also:scheme for proportional See also:representation, to which he was deeply committed, he resigned See also:office . He refused to support Mr Gladstone's Home See also:Rule Bill in 1885, and was one of those who chiefly contributed to its rejection, and whose reputation for unbending integrity and intellectual See also:eminence gave solidity to the Liberal Unionist party . In 1886 he was elected chairman of committees in the See also:House of See also:Commons, and his efficiency in this office seemed to See also:mark him out for the speakership in 1895 . A Liberal Unionist, however, could only be elected by Conservative votes, and he had made himself objectionable to a large See also:section of the party by his See also:independent attitude on various questions, on which his Liberalism outweighed his party See also:loyalty . He would in any See also:case have been incapacitated by an See also:affection of the eyesight, which for a while threatened to withdraw him from public See also:life altogether .

After 1895 Mr Courtney's divergences from the Unionist party on questions other than Irish politics became gradually more marked . He became known in the House of Commons principally for his candid See also:

criticism of the See also:measures introduced by his nominal leaders, and he was rather to be ranked among the Opposition than as a Ministerialist; and when the crisis with the See also:Transvaal came in 1899, Mr Courtney's views, which remained substantially what they were when he supported the See also:settlement after See also:Majuba in 1881, had plainly become incompatible with his position even as a nominal follower of See also:Lord See also:Salisbury and Mr See also:Chamberlain . He gradually reverted to formal membership of the Liberal party, and in See also:January 1906 unsuccessfully contested a See also:division of See also:Edinburgh as a supporter of See also:Sir See also:Henry See also:Campbell-Bannerman at the See also:general See also:election . Among the birthday honours of 1906 he was elevated to the See also:peerage as See also:Baron Courtney of Penwith (See also:Cornwall) . Lord Courtney, who in 1883 married See also:Miss See also:Catherine See also:Potter (an See also:elder See also:sister of Mrs See also:Sidney See also:Webb), was a prominent supporter of the See also:women's See also:movement . In earlier years he was a See also:regular contributor to The Times, and he wrote numerous essays in the See also:principal reviews on political and economic subjects . In 1901 he published a See also:book on The Working Constitution of the See also:United See also:Kingdom . Two of his See also:brothers, John See also:Mortimer Courtney (b . 1838), and See also:William Prideaux Courtney (b . 1845), also attained public distinction, the former in the government service in See also:Canada (from 1869, retiring in 1906), rising to be See also:deputy-See also:minister of finance, and the latter in the See also:British See also:civil service (1865–1892), and as a prominent man of letters and bibliographer .

End of Article: BARON LEONARD HENRY COURTNEY COURTNEY
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