RARE “2nd Earl of Selborne" William Palmer Clipped Signature for Sale

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RARE “2nd Earl of Selborne" William Palmer Clipped Signature For Sale

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RARE “2nd Earl of Selborne" William Palmer Clipped Signature:
$69.99

Up for sale the "2nd Earl of Selborne" William Palmer Clipped Signature.
ES-90168068E

William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne,KG,GCMG,PC(17 October 1859 – 26 February 1942), styledViscount Wolmerbetween 1882 and 1895, was a British politician and colonial administrator. Selborne was the son ofLord ChancellorRoundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne, and Lady Laura, daughter of Vice-AdmiralWilliam Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave. He was educated atTemple Grove School,WinchesterandUniversity College, Oxford, where he took a first class degree in history.Selborne was assistant private secretary to theChancellor of the Exchequer,Hugh Childers, from 1882 to 1885, when he was electedLiberalMember of ParliamentforEast Hampshire. Like his father, he became aLiberal Unionistin 1886 whenWilliam Ewart GladstoneproposedIrish Home Rule. He retained his seat till 1892, when he was elected forEdinburgh West. In 1895 he was appointedUnder-Secretary of State for the Coloniesby his father-in-lawLord Salisbury, where he became junior to theColonial SecretaryJoseph Chamberlain. During the difficult period before the outbreak of theSecond Boer Warhe progressed rapidly.In November 1900 Selborne was sworn of thePrivy Counciland madeFirst Lord of the Admiraltyunder Salisbury, with a seat in the cabinet, an office he retained whenArthur Balfourbecame Prime Minister in 1902. In 1905 he succeededLord MilnerasHigh Commissioner for Southern Africaand governor of theTransvaalandOrange Rivercolonies. He assumed office atPretoriain May of that year. He had gone out with the intention of guiding the destinies ofSouth Africaduring a period when the ex-Boerrepublics would be in a transitional state between crown colony government and self-government, andletters patentwere issued granting the Transvaal representative institutions. But theLiberal Partycame into office in Britain the following December, before the new constitution had been established, and, the decision was now taken to give both the Transvaal and Orange River colonies self-government without delay. Lord Selborne accepted the changed situation, and the experiment proved successful. He ceased to be governor of theOrange River Colonyon its assumption of self-government in June 1907, but retained his other posts until May 1910, retiring on the eve of the establishment of theUnion of South Africa. The despatch, dated 7 January 1907 and known as the Selborne Memorandum, in which he reviewed the situation in its economic and political aspects, was a comprehensive statement of the dangers inherent in the existing system and of the advantages likely to attend union. The document had in fact been compiled byLionel Curtisand other members ofMilner's Kindergarten. The force of its appeal had a marked influence on the course of events, while the loyalty with which Lord Selborne co-operated with theBothaadministration was an additional factor in reconciling the Dutch and British communities. He returned to England with his reputation, according to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "as a statesman enhanced by the respect of all parties, and with a practical experience, second only to that ofLord Milner, of Britishimperialismin successful operation." His experience made him a valuable ally in the movement among the Unionist party at home for Tariff Reform and Colonial Preference, to which he could now give his full support.In 1915 Selborne returned to government during theFirst World Warwhen he becamePresident of the Board of Agriculturein the war time coalition of Liberal prime ministerH. H. Asquith. He resigned from Cabinet in June 1916 because of Lloyd George's handling of the botched Home Rule negotiations (May–July) and the Prime Minister's failure to bring Lloyd George to task while the negotiations were still in progress. Selborne did not hold high political office again. The Selborne Committee on Church and State from 1914 to 1916 was chaired by Lord Selborne.Apart from his political career Selborne served as Master of theWorshipful Company of Mercersin 1910 and 1933, as his father had done before him, in 1875. In 1916 he was elected a member of theSociety for Psychical Research. He was also Warden ofWinchester Collegebetween 1920 and 1925 and High Steward ofWinchesterbetween 1929 and 1942. He was made aKnight of the Garterin 1909.