3-082-340 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The late Right Hon. Henry Austin Bruce, First Lord Aberdare, 1895. 'He was Undersecretary for the Home Department, and in 1864 became Minister of Education. In addition, he readily assumed the additional offices of Charity Commissioner and a Church Estates Commissioner. In 1868 he was appointed Home Secretary...His Licensing Bill, a forerunner of such legislation, was defeated. It was the first striking advance in licensing reform. It was notable at the time, though it seems inoffensive enough now, for it related mainly to the hours of public-house closing. It was denounced by the publicans as a gross infraction of their liberties, nobody complains now of restrictions which are necessary to public order, especially in the great towns...It was a fitting and much-appreciated tribute which was paid to him when he was elected first Chancellor of the newly constituted University of Wales...[and] Chairman of the Aged Poor Commission...He was extremely fond of geography, and was elected President of the Royal Geographical Society'. From "Illustrated London News", 1895.