Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff

“ The Bruce family was Scottish, but an ancestor had come south and bought, in 1747, the Duffryn estate in Glamorganshire, where John Bruce long lived, and which ultimately became his property and descended to his son. The old house, which Lord Aberdare rebuilt in 1870-1871, dated from Edward II. Bishop Copleston, writing of a three days' visit to the father, John Bruce, at Duffryn in 1834, says that the 'domestic scene realised his ideal picture of a highland chief among his vassals, all looking up to him with affection and veneration. ”

“ In 1881 he became president of the Royal Geographical Society, in succession to Sir Rutherford Alcock [q. v. Suppl.] , and he occupied from 1878 to 1892 the president's chair of the Royal Historical Society, in which he succeeded Earl Russell. In 1882 he became chairman of the National African Company, a politico-commercial company formed by Sir George Taubman Goldie for the purpose of organising and extending commerce, civilisation, and exploration in West Africa. With the development of West African commerce Aberdare was thenceforth closely connected. ”

“ In jury cases his quickness in apprehending facts and his lucidity in arranging them were very remarkable indeed. He was not one of the most learned of lawyers, but he was a great deal more learned than many people believed him to be, and as an ecclesiastical lawyer had perhaps few or no superiors. ”

“ Evolutionary Forces now active in Man, and in the next year Oliphant produced there his novel Masollam, which may be taken to contain its author’s latest views with regard to the personage whom he long considered as “a new Avatar.” ”

“ He was persuaded that after death he was in much closer relation with her than when she was still alive, and conceived that it was under her influence that he wrote the book to which he gave the name of Scientific Religion. ”

“ The wild mountain scenery gave a charm to the kind hospitality and hearty good humour which pervaded the whole family. A more interesting and affectionate one I have never seen, and am not likely again to see' (Cardiff Times, October 1872) . ”

“ He was buried at Mountain Ash, South Wales.
Aberdare had four children by his first wife, of whom three survived him — one 8on, Henry Campbell Bruce, his successor in the peerage, and two daughters. By his second wife, who died on 27 April 1897, he left two sons and six daughters.
Active and athletic, Bruce was devoted to field-sports, and owed to them more than one serious accident. When in the country Be was fond of long rides among the hills. Well suited to be a great owner of coal property, he maintained excellent personal relations with his colliers. He was the most clubable of men. ”

“ From Nepaul he returned to Ceylon and thence to England, dallied a little with the English bar, so far at least as to eat dinners at Lincoln’s Inn, and then with the Scottish bar, so far at least as to pass an examination in Roman law. He was more happily inspired when he threw over his legal studies and went to travel in Russia. ”

“ In November 1887 he went to England to publish that book. By the Whitsuntide of 1888 he had completed it and started for America. There he determined to marry again, his second wife being a granddaughter of Robert Owen the Socialist. They were married at Malvern, and meant to have gone to Haifa, but Oliphant was taken very ill at Twickenham, and died on the 23rd of December 1888. Although a very clever man and a delightful companion, full of high aspiration and noble feeling, Oliphant was only partially sane. ”

“ BRUCE, HENRY AUSTIN, first Baron Aberdare (1815–1895) , statesman, born at Duffryn, Aberdare, Glamorganshire, on 16 April 1815, was second son of John Bruce (1784–1872) , by his first wife Sarah, daughter of Hugh Williams Austin, rector of St. Peter's, Barbados. Sir James Lewis Knight Bruce [q. v.] , lord-justice, was his father's younger brother. The name of his father's family was originally Knight. This his father exchanged, on coming of age in 1805, for that of Bruce, after his mother, Margaret, daughter of William Bruce, high sheriff of Glamorganshire. ”

“ Gladstone's government resigned, and Lord Aberdare's official political life ended.
Thenceforth Lord Aberdare's public career was devoted to educational, economic, and social questions, many of which had been pressed on his attention while at the home office. In 1875 he delivered an important address on crime and punishment at the Social Science Congress. On 20 Jan. 1876 he was elected F.R.S. In the same year he became chairman of the commission on noxious vapours, in 1882 of another on reformatory and industrial schools. ”