1214 Augustine Birrell

Constituency : West  Fife  1899-1900, Bristol  North  1906-18

Augustine  was  a  major  addition  to  the  Liberal  ranks, taking  over  at  West  Fife  after  the resignation  of  Robert  Bruce. This  of  course  made  him   neighbour  to  Asqquith  and  the  two men  were  great  fririends.

Augustine  was  the  son  of  a  Baptist  minister  from  Liverpool. He  was  educated  at  Amersham Hall  and  Cambridge. He  became  a  barrister. He  was  also  a  successful  writer  with  a collection of  essays  ,Obiter  Dicta,  published  in  1887. He  contested  Liverpool  Walton  in  1885  and Widnes  in  1886.

From  1896  to  1899  he  was  Professor  of  Comparative  Law  at  University  College  London.

In  1900  Augustine  switched  to  the  seat  of  Manchester North  but  was  defeated. In  1903  he produced  the  manual  Eight  Years  of  Tory  Government  to  help  Liberal  candidates.

In  1906  Augustine  entered  the  Cabinet  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Education.  He  produced an  Education  Bill  to  address  Nonconformist  grievances  with  the Education  Act  of  1902  but the  Lords  mauled  it  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  dropped. This  was  one  of  the  main catalysts  for  Asquith  and  Lloyd  George's  subsequent  assault  on  the  Lords.

Augustine  was  reluctantly  switched  to  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland  where  he  had  mixed fortunes. His   Irish  Council  Bill  of  1907  had  to  be  abandoned  due  to  opposition  from  both unionists  and Home  Rulers. His  attempts  to  discontinue  coercion  led  to  an  increase  in  cattle-driving and  the theft  of  the  Irish  corown  jewels  in  1907  embarrrassed  him. He  was  more successful  with  the Irish  Universities  Bill  of  1908  which  established  the  National  Uiniversity of  Ireland  and Queen's  University  Belfast. He  also  secured  the  passage  of  the Land  Purchase  ( Ireland ) Act   in  1909  which  allowed  the  Land  Commission  to  compulsorily  purchase.  After that  Augustine's effectiveness  was  compromised  by  the  serious  illness  of  his  wife  who  went insane  from  a brain  tumour. He  kept  this  private  but  his  dithering  in  dealing  with  industrial agitation  in Dublin  in  1913  has  been  attributed  to  this. She  died  in  1915/

Augustine  was  opposed  to  any   exclusion  of  Ulster  from  the  Home  Rule  Bill  and  offered  his resignation  at  Lloyd  George's  proposal  to  give  Ulster  a  stay  of  execution. Opposition  from both  Unionists  and  Nationalists  spared  him  having  to  go  through  with  it.

Augustine  was  known  to  be  lukewarm  towards  female  suffrage  and  as  a  consequence  was attacked  and  injured  by  a  mob  of  20  suffragettes  in  1910
      
Augustine  supported  Britain's  entry  into  World  War  One  and  retained  his  post  in  the  coalition government.   He  was  unhappy  about  conscription  but  did  not  join  Simon  in  resigning. Augustine  was  aware  of  the  activities  of  the  Sinn  Feiners  who  were  gaining  ground  as Ireland  feared  an  extension  of conscription  to  include  its  men. He  agreed  with  Redmond  that direct  suppression  was  dangerous  and  ignored  the  armed  parades  in  Dublin  and  stagings  of mock  attacks. He  therefore  took  full  responsibility  for  the  Easter  Rising and  resigned  the  day after  it  was  quashed. The Royal  Commission  on  the  rebellion  was critical  of  his  earlier reticence  in  tackling  the  rebels.

Augustine  did  not  defend  his  seat  in  1918  and  never  returned  to  Ireland. He  returned  to writing.  He  was  a  keen  bibliophile  and  once  said  "Any  ordinary  man  can.... surround  himself with  two  thousand  books.... and  thenceforward  have  at  least  one  place  in  the  world  in  which it  is  possible  to  be  happy".

He  died  in  1933  aged  83.