GEORGE DOUGLAS (8TH DUKE OF ARGYLL) CAMPBELL - FREE FRANK SIGNED 1856 - HFSID 23539

JOHN DOUGLAS CAMPBELL (8th DUKE OF ARGYLL)
Franked envelope to M. P. John Steel at the Reform Club
Free Frank signed: "Argyll", 4¼x3¼. Clipped from an envelope addressed in his hand to "John Steel Esq. M. P./Reform Club". Postmarked free 1856. George Douglas Campbell (1823-1900) succeeded his father as the 8th Duke of Argyll in 1847. Argyll was a prominent Whig politician, closely associated with Prince Albert. He served in the governments of four Prime Ministers: Lords Aberdeen, Russell and Palmerston and William Gladstone. Offices included Lord Privy Seal, Postmaster General, and Secretary of State for India. His wife, Lady Elizabeth, was Mistress of the Robes for Queen Victoria, a politically appointed post in that era. The Duke broke with Gladstone over the issue of Irish Home Rule, withdrawing from government in 1874. Actively interested in scientific matters, Argyll was a leading critic of Darwin's theory of evolution. He wrote books on topics as diverse as law, economics, and biology. His eldest son, known as Lord Lorne until he inherited the ducal title in 1900, married Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Louise, in 1871. John Steel represented the borough of Cockermouth in the House of Commons (1854-1868). The Reform Club, formed by supporters of the Great Reform Act of 1832 (expanding the suffrage), was de facto headquarters of the Liberal Party in this era. It exists today primarily as a social club with members of diverse political views. Toned. Soiled. Edges worn. Pencil note (in unknown hand) on verso.