Lord Salisbury

A carte-de-visite portrait of Lord Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (1830-1903), from 1868 the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. Born in 1830, he was known as Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and as Viscount Cranborne from 1865 until 1868. Three times Prime Minister (1885, 1886-92, 1895-1902), he served for a total of over 13 years and was the first British Prime Minister of the 20th century.

As Prime Minister, he tactfully encouraged the adherence of Joseph Chamberlain and the Unionists to strengthen conservative forces at home, and maintained a policy of diplomatic non-alignment, sometimes known as ‘splendid isolation’, in the later period of Britain’s imperial greatness.

Photographed by Elliott and Fry of London.