3-057-048 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Richard Assheton Cross, MP, Home Secretary, 1880. First elected to Parliament as a Conservative MP in 1857, Cross came to prominence in the General Election of 1868, when standing in South-West Lancashire, he defeated Gladstone, then at the height of his popularity. In Disraeli's government of 1874-1880, Cross was appointed Home Secretary, despite having no previous ministerial experience, and as such was responsible for introducing the social reform legislation widely regarded as the main achievement of that administration. When the Conservatives returned to power briefly in 1885 he again took charge of the Home Office, and then in 1886 was moved to the India Office as well as being raised to the peerage as Viscount Cross, of Broughton-in-Furness.