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Charles Stewart Parnell ( June 27 1846 - October 6 1891) was an Irish political leader and one of the most important figures in nineteenth century Ireland and the United Kingdom. William Ewart Gladstone thought him the most remarkable person he had ever met. A future Liberal prime minister, Herbert Asquith, described him as one of the three or four greatest men of the nineteenth century, while Lord Haldane described him as the strongest man the British House of Commons had seen in one hundred and fifty years.1 Family Background
Charles Stewart Parnell 1 was born in County Wicklow, of gentry stock. He was the third son and seventh child of John Henry Parnell, a wealthy Anglo-Irish landowner, and his American wife Delia Stewart , daughter of the famous American naval hero, Commodore Charles Stewart (the stepson of one of George Washington's bodyguards). Commodore Stewart's mother, Parnell's great-grandmother, belonged to the TudorThe Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor is a series of five monarchs of Welsh origin who ruled England from 1485 until 1603. The three main monarchs ( Henry VII, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I) each played an important part in turning Britain from a European back family and so could claim a distant relationship with the British Royal Family. John Henry Parnell himself was a cousin of one of Ireland's leading aristocrats, Lord Powerscourt. Thus from birth Charles Stewart Parnell possessed an extraordinary number of links with a whole variety of elements of society; from the established Church of IrelandThe Church of Ireland which is part of the Anglican Communion, is the largest Protestant church on the island of Ireland, and the second largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland. History The Church of Ireland would trace its origins to the anci to which he belonged (and most of whose members were unionistsIn the Irish context, Unionists form a group of largely (though not exclusively) Protestant people in Ireland, of all classes, who wish to see the continuation of the Act of Union, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which the Northern) and the aristocracy through his cousins, the Powerscourts, to the American War of Independence and the War of 1812The North American War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom is one of several wars associated with that year. It is more normally known in British texts as the British-American War to distinguish it from Napoleon's war against Russia w (where his grandfather had been awarded a gold medal by the United States CongressA congress is a gathering of people. Congress is the name of the main legislative body in a state that operates under a congressional system of government. A congress is different from a parliament in that legislative initiative is vested into it. In a co for gallantry) right to a distant link with the Royal Family. Yet it was as a leader of Irish nationalism that Parnell established his fame.
The young Parnell studied at Magdalene College, CambridgeMagdalene College (pronounced 'Maudlin') was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The refoundation was largely the work of Sir Tho and in 1874Events January 1 New York City annexes The Bronx January 23 Marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, only daughter of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. January Signing of the Pangkor Tr became high sheriff of his home county of Wicklow. The following year he entered parliament as member for County MeathMeath An Mh in Irish) is a county in the Republic of Ireland, the county is often informally called The Royal County''. Area: 2342 kmē (904 square miles). The de facto county town is Navan, where the county hall is located, although Trim has a historical, supporting the Home Rule party.
