Rosebery, Earl of (1847-1929), served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. A Liberal, he had previously been foreign secretary under William Gladstone in 1886 and again from 1892 to 1894. Rosebery was as famous for his passion for horse racing as for his political career.
Rosebery was born Archibald Philip Primrose in London on May 7, 1847. He was one of four children born to Archibald John Primrose, Lord Dalmeny, and Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Stanhope. Young Archibald was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. While at university, he bought a race horse. However, the university authorities told him that he was not allowed to own a race horse. Rather than give up the horse, he left the university without a degree. In 1868, Primrose succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Rosebery and took his seat in the House of Lords. When not occupied with politics, Rosebery traveled and read widely. In 1878, Rosebery married Hannah de Rothschild. The couple had four children. Hannah died from typhoid fever in 1890, the year after Rosebery had become the first chairman of the London County Council.
After Gladstone retired as prime minister in 1894, Queen Victoria chose Rosebery to succeed him. Three months after taking office, Rosebery’s horse Ladas II won the Epsom Derby, a famous horse race in England. His horses won the race again in 1895 and 1905. In 1917, Rosebery’s son Neil was killed in action during World War I (1914-1918). The following year, a stroke left Rosebery with a significant disability, and he largely withdrew from public life. Rosebery died on May 21, 1929, at Epsom, Surrey.
See also Derby ; Gladstone, William Ewart .
