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The Viscount Sherbrooke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
| In office 9 December 1868 – 11 August 1873 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | George Ward Hunt |
| Succeeded by | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 9 August 1873 – 20 February 1874 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | Henry Bruce |
| Succeeded by | R. A. Cross |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 December 1811 Bingham, Nottinghamshire |
| Died | 27 July 1892 (aged 80) |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouses |
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| Alma mater | University College, Oxford |
Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, GCB, PC (4 December 1811 – 27 July 1892),[2] British statesman, was a pivotal conservative spokesman who helped shape British politics in the latter half of the 19th century. He held office under William Ewart Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1868 and 1873 and as Home Secretary between 1873 and 1874. Lowe is remembered for his work in education policy, his opposition to electoral reform and his contribution to modern UK company law. Gladstone appointed Lowe as Chancellor expecting him to hold down public spending. Public spending rose, and Gladstone pronounced Lowe "wretchedly deficient"; most historians agree. Lowe repeatedly underestimated the revenue, enabling him to resist demands for tax cuts and to reduce the national debt instead. He insisted that the tax system be fair to all classes. By his own main criterion of fairness — that the balance between direct and indirect taxation remain unchanged — he succeeded. Even in his time, however, this concept of fiscal incidence was obsolescent.[3]
- ^ Parry, Jonathan. "Lowe, Robert, Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–1892)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17088. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Knight, R. L. (1967). "Lowe, Robert [Viscount Sherbrooke] (1811 - 1892)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ Maloney, John (2006). "Gladstone's Gladstone? The Chancellorship of Robert Lowe, 1868–73". Historical Research. 79 (205): 404–428. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.2006.00384.x.