Abstract
Much of the history of 19th century England is associated with the development of liberalism and the agitation for democratic reform. As a result a great deal of attention has been given to those individuals who were closely associated with these movements. The campaigns of the Chartists, the Anti-Corn Law League; the careers of Bright, Cobden, Gladstone or the flamboyant Disraeli become the focus for students of the period. Those who fought and lost frequently are overlooked or serve only as foils in the stories of the victors. Such a man was Robert Lowe. | Lowe emerged to the forefront of English politics in his brilliant and temporarily successful battle to stop the cause of democracy in 1866. His battle was lost with the passage of the Reform Bill of 1867. This paper is an attempt to investigate the life and ideology of a man who seemingly was out of step with the events of his own time. | In large measure Lowe has been completely overlooked. Back in the 19th century an official biography of Robert Lowe was written by A. P. Martin, and in recent months Ruth Knight has closely examined his career in Australia, but this is the extent of the work. A major reason for the lack of work on him is due to the fact that Lowe burned most of his private papers, and what primary material that there is available must be pulled out of the lives and letters of his contemporaries along with reports of the parliamentary debates in Hansard.