William Harcourt (politician) William Harcourt (politician) Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt, KC (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of the Opposition. A talented speaker in parliament, he was sometimes regarded as aloof and possessing only an intellectual involvement in his causes. He failed to engender much emotional response in the public and became only a reluctant and disillusioned leader of his party. Harcourt was
Granville Harcourt-Vernon (1816–1861) Granville Harcourt-Vernon (1816–1861) Granville Edward Harcourt-Vernon (23 November 1816 – 1 February 1861), was a British Conservative Party politician. Harcourt-Vernon was the eldest son of Granville Harcourt-Vernon, sixth son of the Most Reverend Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt, Archbishop of York. His mother was Frances Julia, daughter of Anthony Hardolph Eyre. Harcourt-Vernon was a member of the Canterbury Association from 8 November 1851 and immediately joined the management committee. Harcourt-Vernon was returned to the House of Commons at the 1852 general election as one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for Newark, but did not stand again at the 1857 election. Harcourt-Vernon