Background
Henry Austin Bruce, the first Baron Aberdare, was born on 16 April 1815 at Duffiyn, Aberdare, in Wales, the second son of John Bruce and his wife, Sarah.
Henry Austin Bruce, the first Baron Aberdare, was born on 16 April 1815 at Duffiyn, Aberdare, in Wales, the second son of John Bruce and his wife, Sarah.
He was educated at Swansea Grammar School and then went on to work in a legal practice run by his uncle, the later Lord Justice Bruce.
In 1837 he became a barrister through Lincoln’s Inn. He retired early, in 1843, to visit Italy and Sicily for his health. In 1847 he became a magistrate for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare.
Bruces political career began in 1852 when he was elected Liberal M.P. for Merthyr Tydfil. In November 1862 he was appointed undersecretary of state for the Home Department in Lord Palmerston’s government. In April 1864 he became vice president of the Council on Education, and a member of the Charity Commission, serving in the latter capacity until 1866.
In November 1868, Bruce was defeated at Merthyr Tydfil, but he won a seat in Renfrewshire on 25 July 1869, whereupon William Gladstone invited him to be home secretary in his Liberal government.
In 1873 he became Lord President of the Council and was raised to the House of Lords as Lord Aberdare. However, he was forced to resign as lord president in 1874, when Disraeli replaced Gladstone as prime minister.
For the rest of his life, Aberdare gave his time to educational, economic, and social issues. He was president of the Royal Historical Society from 1878 to 1892 and chairman of the National Africa Company. In 1893 he was also appointed chairman of the Royal Commission on the Aged Poor. He died on 25 July 1895.