Asquith, << AS kwihth, >> Herbert Henry (1852-1928), served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from April 1908 to December 1916. His ministry was significant for the Old Age Pension Act (1908), the National Insurance Act (1911), and the Parliamentary Act (1911), which restricted the power of the House of Lords. David Lloyd George replaced Asquith as both Liberal Party leader and as prime minister in 1916. A breach between the two men helped bring about a decline of the Liberal Party after World War I ended in 1918 (see Lloyd George, David ).
Herbert Henry Asquith was born on Sept. 12, 1852, in Morley, Yorkshire. He was the son of Joseph Dixon Asquith and Emily Willans. He was educated at City of London School and Balliol College, Oxford. He entered Parliament in 1886 as representative for East Fife in the House of Commons. Asquith served as the United Kingdom’s chancellor of the exchequer, the official who prepares the annual budget, from 1905 to 1908. In 1925, he became the Earl of Oxford and Asquith. He married twice and fathered seven children. Asquith died in Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire, on Feb. 15, 1928.
