John Gladstone

Captain John Neilson Gladstone, (18 January 1807 – 7 February 1863) was a British Conservative Party politician and an officer in the Royal Navy. A brother of politician William Ewart Gladstone, later British Prime Minister, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for most of the years 1841 to 1863. Early life He was the fourth child of Sir John Gladstone, a Scottish-born businessman who settled in Liverpool and made a large fortune initially from trading in corn with the United States and cotton with Brazil, and later through sugar plantations in Jamaica. His mother was Anne MacKenzie née Robertson, from Dingwall. His younger brother was the politician William Ewart Gladstone, later British Prime Minister, and his elder brother Thomas was also an MP. He attended Eton and then Christ Church, Oxford. Naval career Gladstone attended the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth from 1820. He spent eight years at sea, but thereafter was still able to gain promotion to Captain RN. William decided to undertake a tour of European cities in 1832 with his naval brother, who was temporarily without a ship. They spent 179 days together criss-crossing Europe, travelling by post-chaise. Leaving London on 1 February 1832 they crossed the Channel into Brittany. By 1 March they had arrived at Turin, where they tarried a week, before moving on to Genoa. They were at Rome during April for a whole month, 25 days in Naples and 10 days in Rome before turning for home on 5 June. Via Ravenna and Bologna they visited Venice; and then onto the Lakes Garda and Como, pausing four days in Milan, before travelling across the Alps to Geneva. From Basle they took a boat down the Rhine, and overland to Brussels and Ostend. They arrived back in London on 28 July 1832.